Black Classic Movies

The Blood of Jesus (1941) Description:  African-American director Spencer Williams wrote, produced and directed this movie featuring an all-black cast.  Spencer Williams was one of few, most prolific Black film directors of the 1940s. This film was made specifically for African-American audiences. Available on DVD: Yes

Boyz N the Hood (1991) Description: This movie won an NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Motion Picture.  Also, African-American director John Singleton won the Best Director Academy Award for this movie.  Only 24 years old at the time, he became the youngest person ever (of any race) to win a Best Director Academy Award. Available on DVD: Yes

Carmen Jones (1954) Description: This is another, rare all-black cast movie that was made by a Hollywood studio in the 1950s. Carmen Jones is considered one of Dorothy Dandridge’s greatest movie roles.  She became the first African-American actress to be nominated for a Best Actress Academy Award for her performance in this film. The cast includes many notable African-American actors and actresses such as Harry Belafonte, Pearl Bailey, Diahann Carroll and Brock Peters. Available on DVD: Yes

Daughters of the Dust (1991) Description: This was the first movie directed by an African-American woman to be released in theatres nationally.  African-American director Julie Dash spent ten years doing research on the Gullah culture and gathering financial support to do this film.  She has also received many accolades for this movie’s beautiful cinematography. Available on DVD: Yes

Do the Right Thing (1989) Description: This is an impactful drama about race relations in a multi-ethnic Brooklyn, New York neighborhood.  African-American director, Spike Lee, wrote the screenplay in two weeks and also stars in the film. This critically-acclaimed movie is often mentioned as one of Spike Lee’s best films to date. Available on DVD: Yes

The Emperor Jones (1933) Description: This is considered one of Paul Robeson’s finest performances.  This movie broke many stereotypes of the time because it dared to show an African-American man who was strong and shrewd.  Many white theatres in the South refused to show this film unless the scenes showing Paul Robeson speaking harshly a white man were removed. Available on DVD: Yes

Gone With the Wind (1939) Description: This movie is controversial in the African-American community because of its depiction of Black Americans in the South.  However, it was a breakthrough performance for Hattie McDaniel that led to her winning the Best Supporting Actress Academy Award for her role in this film.  She was the first African-American to ever win an Academy Award. Available on DVD: Yes

Hoop Dreams (1994) Description: This documentary took over five years to complete and allowed viewers an intimate peek into the lives who two young African-American men who aspired to become professional basketball players.  Never before had a documentary provided such an intimate view of the real struggles and triumphs of two young, inner-city Black men. Available on DVD: Yes  

Imitation of Life (1934) Description: During the 1930s, it was rare to see an African-American woman who wasn’t a stereotypical mammy figure.  This movie broke new ground because of the multiple relationships that were portrayed – between Louise Beavers and Claudette Colbert (women of different races) and between Louise Beavers and Fredi Washington (mother and daughter). Available on DVD: Yes

In the Heat of the Night (1967) Description: “They call me Mister Tibbs!” is a famous line that originated from this film. Racial bigotry is explored one-on-one when a Northern black detective has to help solve a murder with a Southern white bigot.  Quincy Jones did the music score and was nominated for a Grammy Award.  Available on DVD: Yes

Jeffries-Johnson World’s Championship Boxing Contest (1910) Description: This film shows the fight that ultimately resulted in Jack Johnson becoming the undisputed heavyweight champion of the world.  Historically and socially, it was a momentous occasion for African-Americans because of the racial nature of the fight between a Black and a White man. This victory became a source of racial pride in the African-American community. Available on DVD: No

Killer of Sheep (1977) Description:This film, by African-American director, Charles Burnett, is considered a cultural cinematic classic.  Shot in the 1970s on a very small budget, Killer of Sheep poetically dramatizes the life of a man named Stan who works long hours at a slaughterhouse in Watts, California.  The film was never released theatrically because of problems with getting music rights, but was shown underground in churches and museums.  It contains over 22 songs from many African-American musical greats like Dinah Washington, Louis Armstrong and Earth, Wind & Fire. Available on DVD: Yes

King: A Filmed Record…Montgomery to Memphis (1970) Description: This documentary chronicles one of the most important times and figures in African-American history.  It contains archival footage of Dr. Martin Luther King’s life from the bus boycott in 1955 to his assassination in 1968. Available on DVD: No

The Learning Tree (1969) Description:  This was the first feature film directed by an African-American director that was also funded by a major studio.  African-American Gordon Parks wrote and directed this movie.  The story is based on his own life growing up in a small town in Kansas. Available on DVD: No

Superfly (1972) Description: Priest (Ron O’Neal) is a prince of the streets, a charismatic businessman who wants out of cocaine-dealing. But a mysterious kingpin doesn’t want Priest to change his ways. And that triggers murder, revenge and double-crosses that push Priest into a corner – and heat the neighborhood to flashpoint. Superfly is one the more enduring streetwise films of its era, due to the dynamic central performance of Ron O’Neal, the sizzling score by Curtis Mayfield and the gritty direction of the late Gordon Parks, Jr. Available on DVD: Yes

Nothing But a Man (1964) Description: This independent film was one of the few movies of the 1960s to show an African-American man with enormous emotional depth and strength.  It realistically captures the human side of racial prejudice in the Deep South. It also warmly tells a love story between an African-American man and woman.  This film was the only American competitive entry in the Venice film festival in 1964, and it won two awards – the Prix San Giorgio and the City of Venice Prize. Available on DVD: Yes

A Raisin in the Sun (1961) Description:  Written by African-American playwright, Lorraine Hansberry, this powerful, dramatic movie was a successful, long-running stage play before becoming a movie.  It stars some of the greatest African-American actors of all time – Sidney Poitier, Claudia McNeil, Ruby Dee, Diana Sands and Louis Gossett Jr. Available on DVD: Yes

Shaft (1971) Description: Directed by African-American director, Gordon Parks, Shaft is credited with ushering in the blaxploitation film era.  It also broke new film ground with its on-screen portrayal of a Black man who was fearless, smart and sexy.  Isaac Hayes wrote and produced the soundtrack for Shaft. He won an Academy Award for Best Music, Original Song for the theme song. Available on DVD: Yes

Show Boat (1936) Description: African-American actors Paul Robeson and Hattie McDaniel are featured in this movie.  This was the first popular film to depict Black roles that were as important as the White roles.  Paul Robeson sings, “Ol’ Man River” which many consider to be one of the best scenes in the entire movie. Available on DVD: No

St. Louis Blues (1929) Description: This movie depicts the life of famous African-American composer, W.C. Handy, who is known as the father of jazz music. St. Louis Blues is another rare, all-black cast film made during the early 1920s.  It also contains performances by famous African-American singers and musicians such as Nat King Cole, Pearl Bailey, Ella Fitzgerald, Mahalia Jackson and Cab Calloway. Available on DVD: No

Stormy Weather (1943) Description: A virtual Who’s Who of African-American stars appear in this film – Bill “Bojangles” Robinson, the Nicholas Brothers, Lena Horne, Cab Calloway, Fats Waller… the list goes on.  This was an all-black cast film and excerpts of some of the outstanding performances in this movie are still referred to today. Available on DVD: Yes

Within Our Gates (1920) Description:  This is the oldest known surviving African-American film directed by pioneering African-American film director, Oscar Micheaux.  He made this film in reaction to D.W. Griffith’s film, Birth of a Nation, which showed the Klu Klux Klan as heroes of the South.  It is also historically important because it depicts a time after World War I when racism and lynchings were still rampant. Available on DVD: Yes

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