The Emperor Jones (1933 Drama, Musical pre-Code film)

The Emperor Jones is a 1933 American pre-Code film adaptation of Eugene O'Neill's 1920 play of the same title, directed by iconoclast Dudley Murphy, written for the screen by playwright DuBose Heyward and starring Paul Robeson in the title role (a role he played onstage, both in the US and UK), and co-starring Dudley Digges, Frank H. Wilson, Fredi Washington and Ruby Elzy.

The film was made outside of the Hollywood studio system, financed with private money from neophyte wealthy producers in Gifford A. Cochran and John Krimsky, who was best known for bringing the 1932 German film Mädchen in Uniform to American audiences. It was the only film produced by the two (Cochran stopped as a producer after a failed American rendition of The Threepenny Opera that same year). It was filmed at Kaufman Astoria Studios with the beach scene shot at Jones Beach Long Beach, New York.

Plot
At a Baptist prayer meeting, the preacher leads a prayer for Brutus Jones, who has just been hired as a Pullman porter. Jones proudly shows off his uniform to his girlfriend Dolly before joining the congregation for a spiritual. But Jones is quickly corrupted by the lures of the big city, taking up with fast women and gamblers. One boisterous crap game leads to a fight in which he inadvertently stabs Jeff, the man who had introduced him to the fast life and from whom he had stolen the affections of the beautiful Undine.

Cast
Paul Robeson – Brutus Jones
Dudley Digges – Smithers
Frank H. Wilson – Jeff
Fredi Washington – Undine
Ruby Elzy – Dolly
George Haymid Stamper – Lem
Jackie "Moms" Mabley – Marcella
Blueboy O'Connor – Treasurer
Brandon Evans – Carrington
Rex Ingram – Court Crier
Harold Nicholas dancer in a club