Paul Robeson films

[g50henry]

The recent UK Studiocanal BD release of THE PROUD VALLEY (beautifully done, nice extras) sent me looking
for what else is available, and raised a question about whether a particular DVD actually was released.
I list below the releases I am aware of and hope list members will supply missing information, and
correct any errors.
So-called Public Domain releases have NOT been listed as they are usually of poor quality
and/or incomplete, but if anyone knows of any hidden gems please provide that information.
Thanks!


1925 Body and Soul VHS 1997 KINO K105
DVD 2007 CRITERION box
DVD/BD 2016 KINO xxxx
in Pioneers of African-American Cinema

1926 Camille (Short) dir. Ralph Barton DVD 2004 WARNER/MK2 37653
(EXTRA on Charlie Chaplin Collection - A King in New York/A Woman of Paris)

1930 Borderline DVD 2007 CRITERION box

1933 The Emperor Jones VHS 1987 EMBASSY 6884
VHS HOME VISION
VHS 1998 XENON Black Vintage Collection XE XX 1528
LD 1993 Criterion CC1354L
Library of Congress restoration DVD 2002 IMAGE ID0729DZ
DVD 2007 CRITERION box

1935 Sanders of the River VHS xxxx HBO Video/Samuel Goldwyn
DVD 2007 CRITERION box
DVD 2016 NETWORK(UK)

1936 Show Boat LD 1995 MGM/UA ML 104870 Complete Show Boat
DVDr 2014 WARNER Archive
DVD xxxx (Portugal, as MAGNOLIA)

1936 Song of Freedom VHS 1997 KINO K104
DVD 2000 KINO K151

1937 Big Fella VHS 1997 KINO K107
DVD 2000 KINO K151

1937 King Solomon's Mines DVD 2001 MGM
DVD 2006 NETWORK(UK)

1937 Jericho (Dark Sands) VHS 1997 KINO K106
DVD 2007 CRITERION box

1940 The Proud Valley DVD 2007 CRITERION box
DVD/BD 2019 STUDIOCANAL(UK)

1942 Native land DVD 2007 CRITERION box

1942 Tales of Manhattan VHS 1996 FOX 8935 *
DVD 2009 20th Century Fox(Spain) (as SEIS DESTINOS) *
DVDr 2013 TCF Cinema Archive
DVD 2014 Simply Media(UK)
The film release deleted a W.C.Fields segment. The segment was found and reinserted
for the FOX VHS release, and the Spanish TCF DVD. The UK DVD and the US DVD-r do NOT have this segment.


Documentaries
1977 Paul Robeson The Tallest Tree in our Forest (Gil Noble) DVD 2015 FilmRise
1979 Paul Robeson: Portrait of an Artist, narrated by Sidney Poitier VHS 1987 EMBASSY
LD 1993 Criterion CC1354L
DVD 2007 CRITERION box
1998 Paul Robeson: Speak of Me As I Am, narrated by Pam Grier. DVD 2007 KULTUR
xxxx Paul Robeson: Here I Stand (American Masters) DVD 1999 WINSTAR
xxxx James Earl Jones as Paul Robeson (one man show) DVD 2005 KULTUR



QUESTION ?????????????????????????????????
The Kino K151 DVD insert indicates another DVD release containing Body and Soul and Jericho.
I have been unable to find any indication that this DVD was actually issued (i.e. no offerings on
eBay, Amazon, nor listed in worldcat).
Does anyone have a copy, catalog number ?????

[Rick Lanham]

Currently streaming on the Criterion Channel:

Sanders of the River
The Emperor Jones

Our Paul: Remembering Paul Robeson (19:09)
Paul Robeson: Tribute to an Artist (29:27)
Robeson on Robeson (11:26)
True Pioneer: The British Films of Paul Robeson (33:34)

Rick

[maliejandra]

I like Paul Robeson. Unlike many black actors of his time, he was allowed to have dignity on the screen in the way that Sidney Poitier would have later. I think his version of King Solomon's Mines is the best one, the most faithful to the excellent book. And of course who can forget his heartbreaking "Old Man River" from Show Boat?

[Jonathan]

Other UK DVD releases:
The Emperor Jones ODEON ODNF320 (2011)
The Paul Robeson Collection NETWORK 7952762 (2008) (3 DVDs: Body and Soul/Sanders of the River/Song of Freedom/Big Fella/King Solomon's Mines + 1 CD "The One and Only Paul Robeson" - 20 tracks)

The BFI's Land of Promise 4 DVD set (BFIVD756) includes the 1949 documentary Mining Review 2nd Year No.11 which contains footage of Robeson visiting Woolmet Colliery near Edinburgh and performing the trade union ballad "Joe Hill" which became something of a signature tune for him in his later years.

[moviepas]

The WC Fields Tales of Manhattan sequence was on an early Fox films documentary on an early DVD release. I was also once to insert the piece into the film and make a new DVD but never got around to it.

The famous "River" song by Paul Robeson is 'Ol' Man River'. Robeson was not in the original Broadway Show Boat(1927) but rather the UK premiere staging later. Show Boat is my favourite musical of that era and I have the special Laserbox set. Considering all the people in all positions that have been shown the door at Warner Bros, the producer of that box set moved there all those years ago with Ted Turner and remains today. Nobody has mentioned that Sanders of the River was, originally, released in USA as Bosambo, Robeson's part. Leslie Banks played Sanders. I have never seen any footage with the Bosambo title.

[g50henry]

Thanks for the replies.
I have learned that the old KINO company issued only 1 DVD of Robeson films containing 2 of the 4 films they
released on VHS. The non-DVD films remained available only on VHS.
Information suggesting there was to be a second DVD is a misreading of the DVD insert.
Kino Lorber currently has BODY AND SOUL available in the African American Cinema box-set.

[earlytalkiebuffRob]

I like Paul Robeson. Unlike many black actors of his time, he was allowed to have dignity on the screen in the way that Sidney Poitier would have later. I think his version of King Solomon's Mines is the best one, the most faithful to the excellent book. And of course who can forget his heartbreaking "Old Man River" from Show Boat?

I recall reading that Robeson was highly displeased when he saw how SANDERS OF THE RIVER has turned out. And I remember seeing KING SOLOMON'S MINES at London's NFT in 1978 with a friend who was both scornful of the film and of Robeson's part in it, bursting into song at (un)suitable moments. I liked it a lot more and it certainly moves better than the Stewart Granger - Deborah Kerr version which I now find handsome but sluggish...

[Frame Rate]

The only Paul Robeson feature films not on YouTube at present are Show Boat and Proud Valley, probably due to takedown claims, but even those movies are represented by lots of "fair use" excerpts.

[dodonoseo]

I like Paul Robeson. Unlike many black actors of his time, he was allowed to have dignity on the screen in the way that Sidney Poitier would have later. I think his version of King Solomon's Mines is the best one, the most faithful to the excellent book. And of course who can forget his heartbreaking "Old Man River" from Show Boat?

I recall reading that Robeson was highly displeased when he saw how SANDERS OF THE RIVER has turned out. And I remember seeing KING SOLOMON'S MINES at London's NFT in 1978 with a friend who was both scornful of the film and of Robeson's part in it, bursting into song at (un)suitable moments. I liked it a lot more and it certainly moves better than the Stewart Granger - Deborah Kerr version which is handsome but sluggish...

The old story about SANDERS being turned into a pro-British Colonial film behind Robeson's back doesn't make any sense. The film was based on an obviously pro-Colonialist series of books by Edgar Wallace, and a British viewpoint affects practically every frame of the film(well, I'm exaggerating). Maybe they only gave Robeson his own sides. Anyway, what would one expect from a 30s British film?

[earlytalkiebuffRob]

I certainly wouldn't expect anything else from a 1930s Imperialist British film. I missed it when shown on TV in the 1970s and 1990s, but now it is easy to find I find there is so much other material to watch as well...