It's 1936 Harlem. John Houseman (Daniel Kuhlman) and veteran black actress Rose McClendon (Inger Tudor) are trying to start an all-black Shakespearian production with the New Deal money. They decide to recruit a nobody actor by the name Orson Welles (Jewell Wilson Bridges) to be the director. At first, Orson refuses but his wife Virginia (June Schreiner) sees the potential. It's a series of superstitious bad luck, personal dramas, local resistance, sabotage by a racist Congressman, and Orson's drunken bombastic demanding style.
This is a relatively small production of a very interesting theatrical history. It needs a bigger name to play the lead. I don't know why there are so many directors and writers in this movie. I am assuming that it was some sort of collaborative theater collective. That does leave it with a theater vibe more than a cinematic presence. It needs music. There is a singer, but this needs to be jazzed up. It brings in the African drums, but it needs to play it up. I like this concept and it's generally fine. I just wish the movie was better.
This is a relatively small production of a very interesting theatrical history. It needs a bigger name to play the lead. I don't know why there are so many directors and writers in this movie. I am assuming that it was some sort of collaborative theater collective. That does leave it with a theater vibe more than a cinematic presence. It needs music. There is a singer, but this needs to be jazzed up. It brings in the African drums, but it needs to play it up. I like this concept and it's generally fine. I just wish the movie was better.