Black in Period Films

William Kinsolving’s book The Rhinelander Affair is being adapted to the big screen. The book follows the controversial 1925 Rhinelander v. Rhinelander divorce trial. The project is being produced by Mark and Christine Holder, Octavia Spencer, Queen Latifah,  and Shakim Compere’s Flavor Unit Entertainment and Dave Broome. Spencer and Latifah will act as producers. Rhinelander v. Rhinelander was a divorce case between Kip Rhinelander and Alice Jones. Rhinelander was an American socialite from the socially prominent and wealthy New York City Rhinelander family. His marriage to Alice Jones, a biracial woman from a working-class family made national headlines in 1924. The couple was able to hide their marriage for a while, but once the media caught wind of their marriage they began looking into who Alice Jones was. That is when it was discovered that she was born to a white mother and ‘mulatto’ father. Rhinelander stood by Alice’s side until his family threatened to disinhe...

Here is the first image of David Oyelowo in the newest adaption of Victor Hugo’s classic novel Les Miserables. Masterpiece PBS and BBC One are working together to adapt the classic novel with David Oyelowo (The Butler,Selma, A United Kingdom) playing the role of Javert in the upcoming six-part event.    This version by Andrew Davies is as adaption of the original novel; not the musical. I am excited about David Oyelowo’s casting as this adaption will be “delving deep into the many layers of Valjean and Javert’s cat-and-mouse relationship”. It will be interesting to see what Oyelowo brings to the role in this adaption. Oyelowo is not the first black man to carry the mantle of Inspector Javert. Norm Lewis has played the character several times to much acclaim. First starring as the inspector in the 2006 Broadway revival, which made Norm Lewis the first African American actor to play the role in a professional English production. He went on to reprise his r...

Show Summary: Inspired by true events, I Am the Night tells the story of Fauna Hodel (India Eisley) a white child; who was passed off as mixed race and given away at birth to a black family. As Fauna begins to investigate the unbelievable secrets to her past, she meets a ruined reporter (Chris Pine), haunted by the case that undid him. Together they both follow a sinister trail that swirls ever closer to an infamous Hollywood gynecologist, Dr. George Hodel, a man involved in some of Hollywood’s darkest debauchery and possibly it’s most infamous unsolved crime. Because Fauna Hodel was adopted by a black family, raised in the black community, and grew up thinking that she was mixed race there will be many black characters in the flashbacks for this miniseries. I got chills watching the trailer and look forward to seeing how the various characters will influence Fauna's story.  Cast: Shoniqua Shandai as Tina Justin Cornwell as Terrence Shye Arlen Escarpeta as Xa...

Dayo Okeniyi (The Hunger Games, NBC’s Shades of Blue) has been casted as Shields Green, in an upcoming Sobini Films project; titled Emperor. Shields Green Photo from West Virginia State Archives Shield Green’s Story : Shields Green was born into slavery in Charleston,South Carolina. His exact birth year is unknown, but it varies from 1825 to 1836. When he was a young man he escaped slavery through the Underground Railroad. Green was between the ages of 24-34, as he escaped a little over a year before the Harper’s Ferry Raid. As with his age, there is some question about whether he left behind a son when he ran. After making it through the Underground Railroad network to Rochester, New York, Green meet Frederick Douglass was provided with shelter and introduced to radical abolitionists like John Brown. This alone is biopic material; however his next decisions make his story even more film worthy. Instead of continuing to freedom in Canada, Shields Green decided to stay in America...

According to Entertainment Weekly , we have two new Outlander castings to look forward to! The Starz series recently announced their casting of the show’s fourth season; which debuts in November.  Among the new additions are Natalie Simpson as Phaedre and Simona Brown as Gayle. Phaedra is Jocasta Innes's enslaved maid and seamstress   at River Run. I won’t talk much about her backstory as I’m not sure what will be considered a spoiler. However beyond noting that the character is soft-spoken and kind, I will also list her physical description from the novels (Phaedra first appears in Drums of Autumn and subsequently appears in The Fiery Cross, A Breath of Snow and Ashes, and An Echo in the Bone). Phaedra is described as having thick, long, dark hair which is often covered with a headscarf, dark brown eyes, and cinnamon-brown skin. Based on Simpson’s looks I’d say they casted the role perfectly. We know and love Simona Brown from Roots (2016), where she played J...

Today's Photo of the Day was from the October 2013 production of 'Blue Monday'. Photo of the Day: ‘Blue Monday,’ at the Cotton Club Blue Monday was the original name of a one-act “jazz opera” by George Gershwin in 1922, renamed 135th Street during a later production. Alyson Cambridge ( @AlysonCambridge ) as Vi pic.twitter.com/L9yRWKRnQD — Blacks in Period Films (@BlackPeriodFilm) May 22, 2018 Blue Monday (Opera à la Afro-American) was the original name of a one-act "jazz opera" by George Gershwin, renamed 135th Street during a later production. The English libretto was written by Buddy DeSylva. Though a short piece, with a running time of between twenty and thirty minutes, Blue Monday is often considered the blueprint to many of Gershwin's later works, and is often considered to be the "first piece of symphonic jazz" in that it was the first significant attempt to fuse forms of classical music such as opera with American popular music, with t...

Variety has reported that Charles Murray, Luke Cage executive producer and writer will be adapting Truevine. Truevine tells the story of George and Willie Muse, two African-American brothers who were kidnapped at ages 9 and 6, and forced to perform as sideshow attractions because they were albinos. Leonardo DiCaprio and Jennifer Davidson’s Appian Way banner is producing.