Presented as part of Out of the Archive: Envisioning Blackness

Arrive hungry at 6:15 for a pre-screening meal catered by Oasis.

Presented at FilmScene with a live score performed by the Alvin Cobb Jr. Trio!

Featuring a post-show Q&A with composer Alvin Cobb and Corey Creekmur, Associate Professor of Cinematic Arts, English, and Gender, Women’s & Sexuality Studies at the University of Iowa

"Robeson radiates the roguish charm and dangerous looming ferocity of a master con man with a scary streak of violence. Like his singing, Robeson's acting has stature. It is larger than life."—Stephen Holden, The New York Times

Paul Robeson stars in this film by the enterprising Oscar Micheaux, representing Micheaux's cynical view of clergymen as greedy manipulators of the vulnerable. Robeson plays twin brothers, one a Bible-thumping, alcohol-sipping, sexually-predatory minister and the other an ordinary working man, both vying for the affection of a young woman who is trying to abide by the misguided wishes of her devout mother.

This program is supported by Humanities Iowa. The views and opinions expressed by this program do not necessarily reflect those of Humanities Iowa.