Paul.Robeson.Portraits.of.The.Artist.4DiSC.D3.Pioneer.DVDR.DVD9.CRiTERiON-372.nfo
PAUL ROBESON: PORTRAITS OF THE ARTIST
complete 4-disc boxset
http://www.criterion.com/boxsets/443
Criterion Collection # 369
http://www.amazon.com/Paul-Robeson-Portraits-Borderline-Collection/dp/B000KRNGOA
http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film2/DVDReviews28/paul_robeson_portraits_of_the_artist.htm
DVD Release Date: February 13, 2007
ABOUT THE BOXSET:
All-American athlete, scholar, renowned baritone, stage actor, and social activist, Paul Robeson (1898-1976) was a towering figure and a trailblazer many times over. He was perhaps most groundbreaking, however, in the medium of film. The son of an escaped slave, Robeson managed to become a top-billed movie star during the time of Jim Crow America, headlining everything from fellow pioneer Oscar Micheaux's silent drama Body and Soul to British studio showcases to socially engaged documentaries, all the while striving to project positive images of black characters. Increasingly politically minded, Robeson eventually left movies behind, using his international celebrity to speak for those denied their civil liberties around the world and ultimately becoming a victim of ideological persecution himself. But his film legacy lives on and continues to speak eloquently of the long and difficult journey of a courageous and outspoken African-American.
READ:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Robeson
Paul LeRoy Bustill Robeson (April 9, 1898 -- January 23, 1976) was an American actor of film and stage, All-American and professional athlete, writer, multi-lingual orator, lawyer, and basso profundo concert singer who was also noted for his wide-ranging social justice activism. A forerunner of the civil rights movement, Robeson was a trade union activist, peace activist, fellow traveler, Phi Beta Kappa Society laureate, and a recipient of the Spingarn Medal and Stalin Peace Prize. Robeson achieved worldwide fame and recognition during his life for his artistic accomplishments, and his outspoken, radical beliefs which largely clashed with the colonial powers of Western Europe and the Jim Crow climate of pre-civil rights America.
CONTENTS OF THE BOXSET:
7 feature films and two documentaries:
Body and Soul (Oscar Micheaux; 1925, 79 min.)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0015634/
http://www.criterion.com/films/809
Borderline (Kenneth Macpherson; 1930, 66 min.)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0020701/
http://www.criterion.com/films/810
The Emperor Jones (Dudley Murphy; 1933, 105 min.)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0023985/
http://www.criterion.com/films/807
Paul Robeson: Tribute to An Artist (Saul J. Turell; 1979, 30 min.)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0079704/
http://www.criterion.com/films/808
Sanders of the River (Zoltan Korda; 1935, 91 min.)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0026966/
http://www.criterion.com/films/811
Jericho (Thornton Freeland; 1937, 75 min.)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0029064/
http://www.criterion.com/films/812
The Proud Valley (Pen Tennyson; 1940, 76 min.)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0031828/
http://www.criterion.com/films/813
Native Land (Leo Hurwitz and Paul Strand; 1942, 89 min.)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0035112/
http://www.criterion.com/films/814
Format: NTSC
DVD Size: 7.40 + 7.46 + 7.52 + 7.72 GB - Exact Untouched Copy
Time (total): 586 minutes
Type: Black and White
Aspect Ratio: various
Sound (main features): English (mostly)
Subtitles: English
DISC DETAILS
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Each disc contains two fims and select special features.
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DISC ONE: ICON
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THE EMPEROR JONES
Dudley Murphy, 1933
PLUS commentary for "The Emperor Jones" by historian Jeffrey C. Stewart
PAUL ROBESON: TRIBUTE TO AN ARTIST
Saul J. Turell, 1979
Saul J. Turell's Academy Award-winning documentary short Paul Robeson: Tribute to an Artist, narrated by Sidney Poitier, traces his career through his activism and his socially charged performances of his signature song, 'Ol' Man River.' Contains interviews various black filmmakers and performers including James Earl Jones, and an interview with Robeson's son, Paul Robeson Jr.
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DISC TWO: OUTSIDER
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BODY AND SOUL
Oscar Micheaux, 1925
Body and Soul, directed by the legendary African American filmmaker Oscar Micheaux, is a direct critique of the power of the cloth, casting Paul Robeson in dual roles as a jackleg preacher and a well-meaning inventor.
PLUS commentary for "Body and Soul" by Micheaux historian Pearl Bowser.
PLUS new score.
BORDERLINE
Kenneth Macpherson, 1930
Borderline, the sole feature of British film theorist Kenneth Macpherson, boldly blends Eisensteinian montage and domestic melodrama, and features Paul Robeson and his wife, Eslanda, as lovers caught up in a tangled web of interracial affairs.
PLUS new score.
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DISC THREE: PIONEER
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SANDERS OF THE RIVER
Zoltan Korda, 1935
Paul Robeson moved his family to London in 1928, headlining six British films in twelve years. Robeson's first British production, Zolta'n Korda's Sanders of the River, however, ended up an embarrassment, its story of an African tribal leader transformed into a celebration of the British Empire.
JERICHO
Thornton Freeland, 1937
Jericho features Paul Robeson, in what turned out to be his most satisfying film role, as a World War I officer who escapes his fate as a black man by fleeing to Africa and creating a new world for himself.
PLUS
"True Pioneer: The British Films of Paul Robeson": a progarm featuring interviews with Robeson Jr. and other persons.
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DISC FOUR: CITIZEN OF THE WORLD
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THE PROUD VALLEY
Pen Tennyson, 1940
As David Goliath, in the popular British drama The Proud Valley, Paul Robeson is the quintessential everyman, an American sailor who joins rank-and-file Welsh miners organizing against the powers that be.
NATIVE LAND
Leo Hurwitz and Paul Strand, 1942
With Paul Robeson's narration and songs, Paul Strand and Leo Hurwitz's beautifully shot and edited political semidocumentary exposes violations of Americans' civil liberties and is a call to action for exploited workers around the country.
PLUS
An interview with cinematographer Tom Hurwitz.
PLUS
1958 radio interview with Paul Robeson 'Robeson On Pacifica Radio, 1958'.
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SPECIAL FEATURES
# All new, digital transfers created from the best surviving elements.
# Audio commentaries by historians Jeffrey C. Stewart (The Emperor Jones) and Pearl Bowser (Body and Soul)
# Musical scores by Wycliffe Gordon (Body and Soul) and Courtney Pine (Borderline).
# 1958 Pacifica Radio interview with Paul Robeson (Courtesy of Pacifica Radio Archives).
# Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing.
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Posted in: a.b.dvd.criterion
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