In line with the other reviews of this film on here, I thought this was only ok. It was not great and the plot was only passable. But it focuses on a interesting social issue: black people whose skin is white enough that they "pass" as White, which they use to their advantage. Both had, in some ways, left their Black heritage behind. This was as much the case as the brother, John (played by Walter Fleming), who is "white-passing" like his sister, Rena (played by Lucille Lewis) was a successful lawyer who dropped his previous name and tried to get his sister to embrace a White man to marry.
Rena refused this, drawn to a mild-mannered Black man, Frank (played by Carl Mahon), and wanting to stay with him. Ultimately she won over her brother through argument and Frank and her go away happily ever after. This film is interesting in that it focuses on the Black community. In that sense, the love between Rena and Frank is not interracial.
The film has deeper themes than what I have noted before, with the place I watched it describing it as a 1932 Oscar Micheaux dramatic film "dealing with skin color, class struggles and identity in the black community." Unfortunately the movie is a bit jumbled because a full print of the film has not been found, including musical numbers performed by house servants of Rena, who are people of color themselves. While Micheaux's silent film adaptation has not been found, this film was also based on Charles W. Crestnutt's The House Behind the Cedars. And with that, this film gets a rating of a 6 out of 10.
Rena refused this, drawn to a mild-mannered Black man, Frank (played by Carl Mahon), and wanting to stay with him. Ultimately she won over her brother through argument and Frank and her go away happily ever after. This film is interesting in that it focuses on the Black community. In that sense, the love between Rena and Frank is not interracial.
The film has deeper themes than what I have noted before, with the place I watched it describing it as a 1932 Oscar Micheaux dramatic film "dealing with skin color, class struggles and identity in the black community." Unfortunately the movie is a bit jumbled because a full print of the film has not been found, including musical numbers performed by house servants of Rena, who are people of color themselves. While Micheaux's silent film adaptation has not been found, this film was also based on Charles W. Crestnutt's The House Behind the Cedars. And with that, this film gets a rating of a 6 out of 10.