<I>The Emperor Jones</I>
date: label: Date
content: 1933
name: label: Directed by
content: Dudley Murphy, American, 1897 - 1968
label: Subject of
content: Paul Robeson, American, 1898 - 1976
label: Written by
content: Eugene O'Neill, American, 1888 - 1953
label: Subject of
content: Dudley Digges, Irish, 1879 - 1947
label: Subject of
content: Frank Henry Wilson, American, 1886 - 1956
label: Subject of
content: Fredi Washington, American, 1903 - 1994
label: Subject of
content: Ruby Elzy, American, 1908 - 1943
label: Owned by
content: D.C. Public Library, American, founded 1896
notes: label: Caption
content: The Emperor Jones tells the story of Brutus Jones and his rise to prominence as a Pullman Porter, and later a self-proclaimed Emperor. Unfortunately due to his own greed and carelessness, Jones is later forced to escape the village he once ruled out of fear for his life. By the film’s end, Jones is so haunted by his past that he becomes manic and is subsequently killed by his former guards. Directed by Dudley Murphy in 1933, The Emperor Jones was originally written as a play by Eugene O’Neill and marks the motion picture debut of Paul Robeson.
label: Caption
content: This film was a part of the Washington D.C. Public Library's circulating 16mm film collection housed at the Martin Luther King Jr. Central Library. The collection is particularly noted for the wide variety of African American and African diaspora content.
label: Description
content: A feature film with the title The Emperor Jones. It consists of two (2) reels of black-and-white 16mm acetate film with optical sound.
label: Description
content: The film follows Brutus Jones (Paul Robeson) who was recently hired as a Pullman porter. After inadvertently killing another man, Jones is imprisoned where he kills a guard for attacking another inmate. Brutus then flees to the Caribbean on a steam ship and settles on one of the islands where he befriends a local merchant, Smithers (Dudley Diggers).
place: label: Place used
content: Washington, District of Columbia, United States, North and Central America
label: Place filmed
content: Astoria, Queens, New York City, New York, United States, North and Central America
label: Place depicted
content: Surrey, Jamaica, Caribbean, North and Central America
topic: label: Topic
content: African American
label: Topic
content: Actors
label: Topic
content: Film
label: Topic
content: Pullman Porters
setName: label: See more items in
content: National Museum of African American History and Culture Collection
label: Collection title
content: DC Public Library Film Collection
label: Classification
content: Time-based Media - Moving Images
label: Movement
content: Harlem Renaissance (New Negro Movement)
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Transferred from the DC Public Library
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of African American History and Culture
identifier: label: Object number
content: 2017.55.74.1ab
objectType: label: Type
content: sound films
label: Type
content: black-and-white films (visual works)
label: Type
content: 16mm (photographic film size)
objectRights: label: Restrictions & Rights
content: Restrictions likely apply. Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.
physicalDescription: label: Medium
content: acetate film
label: Dimensions
content: Duration (Reel 1): 26 Minutes
label: Dimensions
content: Length (Film): 950 Feet
label: Dimensions
content: Duration (Reel 2):
label: Dimensions
content: Length (Film):