Black in Period Films

Lovie Simone has been casted in the Apple TV+ true crime limited series "Manhunt" based on Manhunt: The 12-Day Chase for Lincoln's Killer  by James Swanson. The series follows the Lincoln assassination and the resulting aftermath. It will be lead by Tobias Menzies ("Rome, “The Crown,”, “Outlander”) as Edwin Stanton, Lincoln’s war secretary and friend. Simone has been casted as Mary Simms, the first Black American to testify on May 25, 1865 during the conspiracy trial for the assassination of President Lincoln. Mary Simms was the former slave of Samuel Mudd, the doctor who treated the leg injury of John Wilkes Booth (to be played by Anthony Boyle) and gave him safe harbor after his crime. Simms remembered her former enslavers dislike for Lincoln and discussed specific conversations during her testimony. Mary Simms' brothers Elzee Eglent,14 year old Milo Simms, and seven other formerly enslaved people also testified in the case so I'm looking forward to their c...

Crystal Clarke as Miss Lambe Sanditon (1817) is an unfinished novel by the English writer Jane Austen. In January 1817, Austen began work on a new novel  but only completed eleven chapters before stopping work in mid-March 1817. Her illness most likely prevented her from continuing. In the unfinished novel, Georgiana Lambe is described as “a young West Indian of large fortune, in delicate health,” who is “about seventeen, half mulatto, chilly and tender.” In the series, Georgiana is far wealthier than many of the white English people she interacts with, and her relationship to polite society is a big part of the plot. Crystal Clarke as Miss Lambe with Rose Williams as Charlotte Heywood Miss Georgiana is not a "race-bent" character or a modern insert. The Jane Austen wrote her as a woman of African ancestry. A wealthy West-Indian character included in a novel from the early 1800s.  Austen's works are considered the pinnacle, so Miss Lambe's inclusion is n...

Watch “Something Good-Negro Kiss,” the newly discovered 1898 silent film “believed to be the earliest cinematic depiction of African-American affection”. Something Good-Negro Kiss is a very early Selig film that was discovered and restored by USC archivist Dino Everett, and properly identified by University of Chicago scholar Allyson Field. The performers are Saint Suttle and Gertie Brown.   I am very please that the film has been added to the Library of Congress’ National Film Registry. I am glad that this historical treasure will be preserved! This video adds to the credibility of so many more different types of black historical fiction characters.  I have to wonder how much more cinematic footage of black people there is from this period. 

Jennifer Beals as Amanda Dickson  Doesn't Jennifer look beautiful! I would very much love to review this film for you all but unfortunately I can not find it anywhere! I have looked everywhere for it. I am glad however that there are pictures that I can enjoy! I will speak on the casting of Jennifer Beals and LisaGay Hamilton as mother and daughter. I think the casting is brilliant as both actresses are wonderful.    One of the things I really appreciate is how Jennifer Beals is a bi-racial woman playing a bi-racial woman. Furthermore she is a bi-racial actress that could pass as white during that time. I really dislike films that have white women playing bi-racial women or black/biracial women playing bi-racial women that can't pass as white. That was one of my pet peeves with the film Queen. Halle Berry could not pass as a white woman in any context but Jennifer Beals can.  IMDb describes A House Divided as:...