MURDER IN HARLEM (1935) Clarence Brooks, Dorothy Van Engle & Andrew Bishop | Drama, Mystery | B&W

Basing the works on the 1913 trial of Leo Frank for the murder of Mary Phagan, Micheaux used the detective genre to introduce different voices and conflicting accounts by his characters. In July 2021, the film was shown in the Cannes Classics section at the 2021 Cannes Film Festival.

SYNOPSIS
A black night watchman at a chemical factory finds the body of a murdered white woman. After he reports it, he finds himself accused of the murder.

An African-American man is framed of the murder of a white woman, but a white man is found to be responsible. Author-turned-attorney Henry Glory is hired by the accused man's sister to defend him. Glory pieces the crime together, and the white killer is revealed. The film is loosely based on the real life case of Leo Frank. However, it changes the titular aspect of the real case, in that it was highly prejudicial due to Frank being a non-white Jewish man in rural Georgia. Unlike in the film, Frank's guilt is often viewed with great skepticism due to him never receiving a fair trial. Another difference between this film and the real life case it was inspired by, is that Frank's film character is portrayed as white and played by a white actor, whereas the real Frank was racially Jewish.

CAST & CREW
Clarence Brooks as Henry Glory
Dorothy Van Engle as Claudia Vance
Andrew S. Bishop as Anthony Brisbane
Alec Lovejoy as Lem Hawkins
Laura Bowman as Mrs. Epps
Bee Freeman as The Catbird
Alice B. Russell as Mrs. Vance
Eunice Wilson as Singer
Lorenzo McClane as Arthur Vance
David Hanna as Undetermined Role
"Slick" Chester as Detective

Directed by Oscar Micheaux,
Written by Oscar Micheaux (novel The Story of Dorothy Stanfield), Oscar Micheaux (screenplay)
Produced by Alice B. Russell
Cinematography Charles Levine
Release date 1935
Running time 102 minutes
Country United States
Language English