Song of Freedom (1936)

Does anyone else remember the period back in the '80s when both BBC2 and Channel 4 featured themed movie seasons?  It's been a long time since either channel has seen fit to do so, apart from the occasional run of a few films with the same well-known lead.  Anyhow one of these seasons back then was dedicated to Paul Robeson, a name that probably doesn't mean much to anyone under 40 and probably not much to many over that age.  He was a huge, black American-born baritone who was larger than life in every sense.  Being effectively very left-wing, his career was virtually destroyed by the Communist witch-hunts of the l950s and his many accomplishments long forgotten -- but his voice, once heard, lives on forever.

His main film career, oddly enough, was in Britain and the above movie is one of several made here in the '30s.  His only major American role of the period was in the l936 version of "Show Boat", of course singing 'Old Man River'.  Anyhow when the films were shown on TV I taped them all and they are now languishing on unplayable beta tapes; I think I can forget about their being screened again.   I was therefore delighted to find an American "black heritage" label that has packaged some of these in double-disc sets with minor all-black movies of the period.  The non-Robeson movies are unfortunately pretty pathetic, with poor prints, poor production and even unmemorable musical numbers.  But the Robeson films are great; the big difference is that he starred with a mixed black and white cast in the British offerings and back then there would never had been a black hero in a mainstream film in the States.  In this one he plays a British-born docker who yearns to learn more about his African past.  When an impressario hears him in full voice, he trains him to become an internationally-acclaimed opera singer which allows him to not only discover his origins and claim his kingship, but also to do something for his people despite the opposition of local ignorance.  I am just so thankful that someone has seen fit to preserve these performances for posterity.