In Entertainment Weekly’s 100 Years of Hollywood, there was only one small section that stood out to me. It was a little box with two pictures. The caption was “Too cool for Hollywood”. The pictures were of Paul Robeson and Louise Brooks. I had heard of Paul Robeson and had heard his singing voice, but I did not know much about him. I read The Undiscovered Paul Robeson by Paul Robeson Jr. It is very good. At Rutgers College he was on the football, track, baseball, basketball and debating team. He graduated from Columbia Law School in 1923 and got a job with a prestigious New York law firm. He felt such prejudice by the people in the office and that he would only be given race cases that he quit the law firm, not take the bar exam and decided to make a go in the theater. In June 1956 Paul appeared before the house committee on un-American actives (the committee was un-American if you ask me). Part of the transcript of the event is in the book. He basically told off the committee and stood up for himself. He was denied a passport due to his not signing a noncommunist affidavit. Finally in 1958 the supreme court threw out the required form and he was given his passport so he could perform around the world. He and his wife toured Europe and USSR and even with health issues did not return to US until 1963. The renewal of their passports once again due to noncommunist affidavit. To celebrate his 60th birthday in 1958 27 countries honored him. In China the radio played his songs for 3 days, there were numerous articles in the newspaper and a 3 hour tribute at the Beijing Capital Theater.
Epitaph: Paul Robeson (1898-1976) The artist must elect to fight for freedom or slavery. I have made my choice. I had no alternative.
I read the biography because I could not find any films available. I visited some friends about 200 miles away and they had a Ruku box (Ruku is the main reason I don’t have internet. If I had internet in my house I would have a Ruku box and I would probably never leave my house.) I found 3 Paul Robeson films. I watched The Emperor Jones. The film starts off with a tribal dance and morphs into a modern church service. At the end of the service Paul comes in and sings his farewell to his friends in the church he is going to be a porter on the railroad. He gets a lesson from an experience porter on how much of tip he should expect from a person based on the shoe that he polishes. On a day off he goes to a friends home for a party. My favorite song plays St. Louis Blues. Paul stands above the crowd, he is at least a foot taller than the rest of the men at the party. His friend girlfriend is smooching with another man. Paul keeps his friend from killing the other man and the woman is basically turned over to Paul. Paul an ambitious man becomes porter in the President car. His girlfriend chastises him saying that he won’t get tips. He was looking for more. On one trip he hears about a merger. He approaches the man and they make a deal. When he gets back home Paul and his girl argue, she doesn’t believe him and they breaks up. She goes back to Paul’s friend. At a nightclub, a 7 year old boy is the orchestra leader and tap dances with the chorus girls, Paul his new girlfriend and his friend and old girlfriend meet up. When she gets jealous that Paul is with another woman, the two woman fight (orchestra switches to fast music) and the old girlfriend is dragged out. Paul leaves alone “I’ll be traveling light”. During a craps came Paul and his friend meet up. The man used crocked dice and he ends up pulling a knife on Paul. They struggle and man gets killed. Paul runs and the games and singing continue. A police officer comes along and finds the body. The next scene is Paul in jail, breaking rocks, singing. A guard asks him to open a locked box, a man comes out and falls to the ground. The guard looks at the man on the ground “sleeping ay?” and asks Paul to waken him with a stick. Paul refuses and the guard starts hitting the man with a stick. Paul grabs a shovel and uses it on the guard. Paul gets into a dump truck and makes his get away. He ends up shoveling coal in a steam ship. I never thought a sweaty man was very appealing, but the light bouncing off Paul’s sweaty chest is quite a site.
Paul jumps ship off the cost of Jamaica. While he is resting on the beach, a group of local soldiers take him to the leader. The leader states that he is to be on the next boat out. A trader, Smith, buys Paul and notices the chain marks on his leg. He agrees to feed Paul but no money until after a fight the trader arranges. In Paul’s spare time he plays craps in the locals. He amasses so much trade that he decides to open a business right next door to the trader. They strike a partnership and go into business together with Smith’s name first on the store front. Smith and Paul goes to collect payment from the palace. The Treasure disagrees with the amount and Smith is going to give a discount, but Paul states that it is more. The soldiers circle the men and shoots at Paul. They miss. Paul states that he is charmed and he can only be killed by a silver bullet. He has the leader arrested and states it is his turn now. He had the guns filled with blanks. Emperor Jones is the title he takes. He doubles the tax on homemade rum and coffee to help pay off debt. He re does the castle and puts the house servants in uniform. The people don’t like the tax and the tax collectors are beaten up. There is a great shot of Paul talking about his plans where above his head is the top of his chair which has a large crown decoration. Smith tries to get him to leave now but Paul states he has 6 months to go to complete is goal. As he goes to meet his court in his dress uniform, he looks at his reflection in every mirror he passes and he smiles. He has is court also dressed in uniforms and their wives and the women in fancy dress gowns, very napoleon court. The men who beat the tax collectors are brought before them and he sentences them all to 50 lashes. He then states to the soldiers to burn down a city. This is all as an example to the people. When the soldiers are told to go, they hesitate. Paul states to go again and they march out. Smith comes to see him and states that all the soldiers are gone from the grounds and the palace. Paul rings for the guards. No one comes. Paul decides to cash in and resign as emperor right now. He has six bullets, 5 are real and 1 is blank. He decides to wait until dark, head for the forest and the next morning get on a boat. The drums start and Paul looks worried. The men are starting the war dance. He won’t sneak out the back door, he goes out the front door. That night the drum beats get faster and faster. He is in the forest worn out. He goes to where he has supplies stored and they are gone. Paul wonders further in the forest. He starts hallucinating. He sees his friend always shooting dice who he shoots and it disappears, the prison gang with the guard, he starts breaking rock, and realizes he doesn’t have a hammer and then shoots the guard and it disappears. He turns to God and a scene from the church in his hometown comes up and he confesses his sins and repents (there are no drums in this hallucination). A native ghost takes him to an alligator and right before it can get him he shoots it and the ghosts disappears. The drums seems to make him an animal, he crawls instead of walking. Smith tries to convince the rebels that Paul is miles away at the coast but they don’t believe him. The rebels spot Paul and they shoot at him (with silver bullets). He wonders into camp, pushes the man away that is pounding the drums and falls on the drums, which now fall silent. Smith states “(you) died in the height of style” as he takes off his hat in respect.
Both the movie and the books are well worth delving into. I always liked his singing voice and had listened to some gospel type music he had recorded. If I didn’t find the movie I had planned to write more about his life. I just covered the points that I found interesting about his personal life.
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