<I>Underworld</I>
date: label: Date
content: 1937
name: label: Directed by
content: Oscar Micheaux, American, 1884 - 1951
label: Written by
content: Oscar Micheaux, American, 1884 - 1951
label: Produced by
content: Oscar Micheaux, American, 1884 - 1951
label: Subject of
content: Bee Freeman, American, 1899 - 1986
label: Subject of
content: Sol Johnson, American, 1905 - 1964
label: Subject of
content: Alfred George Chester, American, 1900 - 1978
label: Subject of
content: Ethel Moses, American, 1904 - 1982
label: Subject of
content: Oscar Polk, American, 1899 - 1949
label: Subject of
content: Lorenzo Tucker, American, 1907 - 1986
label: Owned by
content: Pearl Bowser, American, 1931 - 2023
notes: label: Caption
content: In this 16mm black and white feature film, a young African-American man is persuaded by a gambler to move to Chicago after graduating from a Southern university. Once there, he gets involved in the criminal underworld of Chicago, falls for a dame, and is framed for murder.
label: Description
content: A motion picture film with the title Underworld. It consists of two (2) reels of 16mm black-and-white acetate film with optical sound (2012.79.1.33.1a and 2012.79.1.33.1b). When recent college graduate Paul Bronson (Sol Johnson) moves from the South to Chicago, he becomes involved with Leroy Giles (Alfred 'Slick' Chester), a local gambler. He also begins dating Dinah Jackson (Bee Freeman), a singer who is seeing Leroy although she is married to Sam Brown (Oscar Polk), a nightclub owner. While living in Chicago, Paul reconnects with Evelyn Martin (Ethel Moses), a beauty parlor owner and acquaintance from his college days. One day, Leroy spots the duo having lunch and informs Evelyn, who instructs Leroy to drug and rob Paul and to kill Sam. Just as Dinah walks into the room, Paul wakes up to Sam's dead body and the murder weapon beside him; she accuses him of the murder. Paul is however acquitted when an eyewitness comes forward with an exculpatory testimony. He reunites with Evelyn and the couple relocates to Oklahoma together.
place: label: Place filmed
content: Harlem, New York City, New York County, New York, United States, North and Central America
label: Place depicted
content: Chicago, Cook County, Illinois, United States, North and Central America
topic: label: Topic
content: African American
label: Topic
content: American South
label: Topic
content: Business
label: Topic
content: Film
label: Topic
content: Nightlife
label: Topic
content: Race films
label: Topic
content: Urban life
label: Topic
content: Violence
setName: label: See more items in
content: National Museum of African American History and Culture Collection
label: Collection title
content: Pearl Bowser Collection
label: Classification
content: Time-based Media - Moving Images
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Gift of Pearl Bowser
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of African American History and Culture
identifier: label: Object number
content: 2012.79.1.33.1ab
objectType: label: Type
content: sound films
label: Type
content: black-and-white films (visual works)
label: Type
content: feature films
label: Type
content: 16mm (photographic film size)
objectRights: label: Restrictions & Rights
content: Public Domain
label: Restrictions & Rights
content: Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.
physicalDescription: label: Medium
content: acetate film
label: Dimensions
content: Physical extent (film) (a): 1250 ft
label: Dimensions
content: Physical extent (film) (b): 1300 ft
label: Dimensions
content: Duration: 70 min.