African-American Studies Collections

Filmography: H

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

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HALLELUJAH.
1929. 90 minutes.
Musical Fable. African-American in films. African-American folk fables. Americana, Rural Black Life. Directed by King Vidor.

In the deep south, a cotton sharecropper and his family have just turned in a good crop. Zeke, the eldest son of the family loses the money earned from the sale in a crooked dice game. In the mayhem that follows his efforts to get the money back, he accidentally shoots his young brother. The rest of the film's story is about his coming to a new found faith as a popular preacher, his backslide into sin with the beautiful, sexy woman named Chick (who had caused him problems earlier). This primitive conception of rural black life was the first Hollywood film with an all black cast. The cast is gifted in playing the period's odd stereotypes of blacks at the time. It is a fascinating piece of sociological cinema, filled with moments of stark beauty and wild racial misconceptions. A must see for those interested in the earliest depictions of African-Americans on the silver screen. The cast includes Daniel L. Haynes as Zeke, Nina Mae McKinney as Chick, William Fountaine as Hot Shot, Harry Gray as Parson, Fanny Belle DeKnight as Mammy, Everett McGarrity as Spunk, Victoria Spivey as Missy Rose and Milton Dickerson, Robert Couch, and Walter Tait as the Johnson Kids. Also with the participation of the Dixie Jubilee Singers.
Notes: Scenario by Wanda Tuchock. Treatment by Richard Schayer. Dialogue by Ransom Rideout. Photographed by Gordon Avil. Story by Vidor.


HALLELUJAH!
1991. 60 minutes. (V4033).
Gospel Music Performances.

Basically, a concert film, not nearly as exuberant or fresh as Say Amen Somebody! but enjoyable none-the-less. The concert was filmed in 1965 in "a 900 year old monastery located in the Black Forest of Alpirsbach, Germany." With: Bishop Kelsey, Inez Andrews and the Andrewettes, Five Blind Boys, and the Hallelujah Group Choir. Songs include: Nobody Knows the Trouble I've Seen, I Promised the Lord, I'm a Soldier of the Lord, There Must Be A God Somewhere, What Love, Mary Don't You Weep, O Why, Jesus Rose With All Powers in His Hands, Lord You've Been Good to Me, and Tell Me How Long.


HANDS THAT PICKED COTTON.
1984. 59 minutes. (V882).
Documentary. Produced and directed by Paul Stekler and Alan Bell.

A film that studies the political legacy of the Civil Rights Movement in the American South. The film also examines the specific effects the changes brought on by developing black political knowledge and skills have had in the North Louisiana Delta country town of Tallulah.
Notes: Produced, written and edited by Alan Bell and Paul Stekler.


THE HARDER THEY COME.
1973. 98 minutes. In Jamaican with English subtitles. (V956).

A Jamaican drama with music about a young Reggae singer who succeeds only after he becomes a local folk bandit. The Jamaican music industry is the villain of this film -- it stands in for all the abuses of the capitalist system. Only when the hero, played by Jimmy Cliff, rebels against all authority do the radio stations begin to play his music. Odd, interesting, and alive with the excellent music written by Cliff. With: Carl Bradshaw, Janet Bartley, Ras Daniel Hartman.
Notes: Songs include Sitting In Limbo, Many Rivers to Cross, and You Can Get It If You Really Want It. The film is actually in English with a fine dose of Jamaican dialect. The accents and dialects are so dominant that English subtitles were necessary.


HARLEM RIDES THE RANGE.
1939. 58 minutes.
Western. All Black Cast. African American Cinema. Directed by Richard C. Kahn.

Herbert Jeffrey a black cowboy of note was the star of several westerns made with all black cast. . Lucius Brooks, Flourney E. Miller, Artie Young, Spencer Williams, Clarence Brooks, Tom Southern.
Notes: Screenplay by Spencer Williams and Flournoy E. Miller. Cinematography by Roland Price and Clark Ramsey. Music by Lew Porter.


HARRIET TUBMAN AND THE UNDERGROUND RAILROAD.
Historical Dramatization, News Broadcast.

A segment of the CBS television program You Are There where historic events are presented as breaking news stories. This program dated November 16, 1856 has Bernard Kalb interviewing Harriet Tubman as she prepares to aid several slaves escape to freedom. The trail of "underground railroad" is followed "correspondents" David Schoumacher at a Wilmington, Delaware way station; Morley Safer in Cambridge, Maryland; David Culhane interviewing abolitionist William Lloyd Garrison; and Douglas Edwards interviews Jefferson Davis in Washington.
Notes: Written by Roger O. Hirson. Directed by Lloyd Richards. With: Novella Nelson as Harriet Tubman, Gilbert Lewis as Peter Pennington, Basil A. Wallace as Joe Bailey, Leonard Jackson as William Harmsworth, Lisa Wilkinson as Mary Philips, Marsha Mason as Sarah Garrett, John Harkins as Thomas Garrett, Peter Turgeon as William Hughlett, Philip Boaco as William Lloyd Garrison, Norman Matlock as Ben Ross, and William Prince as Jefferson Davis.


HERDSMEN OF THE SUN.
1988. 52 minutes. In French, English and Peul with English subtitles.
Documentary. Woodabe Peoples. Anthropological Documentary. Anthropological Studies. Directed by Werner Herzog. A film in the series Chroniques Nomades by Claude Herviant.

Herzog and his crew capture the uniqueness of this tribe of nomads. The film depicts the celebration of courtship rites among the tribes, noting especially the role of women in judging the beauty of men as possible mates. French title: Woodaabe: Les Bergers du Soleil.
Notes: Photographed by Thomas Weber. Produced by Patrick Sandrin.


HERITAGE OF THE NEGRO.
1965. 30 minutes.
Documentary. Instructional. African-American Studies. African-American History. (On 16mm only).

A short history of the Negro in America produced, directed and written by A. Rabin. Narrated by Ossie Davis.


A HERO AIN'T NOTHING BUT A SANDWICH.
1977. 107 minutes. (V1072).
Family Drama. African-American Family. Popular Fiction. Directed by Ralph Nelson.

In the ghetto of Los Angeles one family's struggle to keep their young son from being consumed by drugs and gangs is especially difficult. The boy has some difficulty adjust to his mother new husband and resists his fatherly entreaties often. Well acted, well intentioned melodrama. Cicely Tyson, Paul Winfield, Kevin Hooks, Larry B. Scott, Glynn Turman, David Groh.
Notes: Screenplay by Alice Childress from her novel of the same name.


HIGHER LEARNING.
1994. 126 minutes.
Drama. Race Relations, College Campuses. African American Directors. Directed by John Singleton.

Columbus University is the scene of a crisis of diverging groups tearing at the fabric of reason and sanity at the school. This hyperbolic drama, from the gifted John Singleton seems to be more rabble rousing pandering than serious evocation of the problems over race, sex and relative value of college education. Singleton tries to be objective -- he attributes as many faults his angry-young-black men as he does to his angry-young-white males. The film is a mess of stereotypes and misrepresentations of university life. It presents a sense of panic, hate, and division that could not exist on any real campus. With: Kristy Swanson as Kristen Connor, Omar Epps as Malik Williams, Jennifer Connelly as Taryn, Ice Cube as Fudge, Michael Raparport as Remy, Tyra Banks as Deja, Jason Wiles as Wayne, Cole Hauser as Scott Moss, Jay Ferguson, Regina King as Monet, Busta Rhymez as Dreads, and Laurence Fishburne as Professor Phipps.
Notes: Screenplay by Singleton. Music by Stanley Clarke. Photographed by Peter Lyons Collister. Box-office gross: $38,100,000.


HOLLYWOOD SHUFFLE.
1987. 86 minutes. (V1641).
Satire. African-American Directors. Directed by Robert Townsend.

Townsend's efforts to make his first film have been much chronicled. Using his personal credit cards and getting money from whatever sources he could he finally put together what will surely become a cult classic Hollywood Shuffle. Townsend is an inventive young comic actor who wanted to make a parody of how young black actors struggled in the Hollywood casting system. The result was this film -- an episodic story of a young actor (Townsend) who tries to retain some dignity playing slaves , pimps, and drug addicts -- the only roles some black actors could get. The film is both funny funny and just plain dumb. Types are debunked but in some degree perpetuated too. Overall, the sense of play and fun dominate. The parody of genres and of film critics (the parody of At the Movies) are mostly entertaining. The cast includes Anne Marie Johnson, Franklin Ajaye, Bobby McGee, Keenan Ivory Wayans and John Witherspoon.
Notes: The screenplay by Wayans who was the creative force behind another satire of blacks in the movies -- I'm Gonna Get You Sucker. Wayans' contributions to the scattershot humor and style can also be witnessed on his Fox Network TV show In Livin' Color (down to the post-credits rap song and dance routine). Box-office gross: $8,500,000.


HOME OF THE BRAVE.
1949. 86 minutes. (V504).
War in the Pacific. Blacks in the Military. Social Dramas. Directed by Mark Robson.

A black war veteran tries to overcome the mental breakdown caused by his war experiences and the racial behavior of the white members of his combat platoon. One of a number of socially conscious melodramas form the late 1940s (Intruder in the Dust, Pinky, Gentleman's Agreement etc.) This film is intelligently done and very well acted. James Edwards, underused as an actor throughout his long career, is especially fine as the black soldier whose paralysis stems from the psychological horrors or racism, not combat. With: James Edwards, Jeff Corey, Steve Brodie, Frank Lovejoy and Lloyd Bridges.
Notes: The screenplay is by Carl Foreman based on a play by Arthur Laurent. Stanley Kramer produced this film. It is one of several Kramer productions that are sometimes mistakenly assumed to be films he directed -- The Men and High Noon (Zinnemann), Wild Ones (Laslo Benedict) -- Cyrano de Begerac (Michael Gordon) and Champion (Mark Robson). Screenplay by Carl Foreman. Music by Dimitri Tiomkin.


HOOP DREAMS.
1994. 176 minutes.
Documentary. Basketball, United States. Athletes, African-American. Ghetto Life. Directed by Steve James. Arthur Agee and William Graves.

The filmmakers spent 5 years with two promising young boys whom seemed destined for celebrity as basketball athletes. Every aspect of the boys' lives is held up before the camera's eye for examination by audiences. It's an impressive work overall, objectively recording some remarkable events in the lives and dreams of the two young men. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences created a storm of controversy when the film, one of the most well reviewed and popular films of the year was not nominated for an Oscar. Most pundits assumed it would win hands down. Hoop Dreams, for whatever reasons, shared the fate of two other highly regarded American documentary features The Thin Blue Line and Roger and Me, popular with both the public and critics but not Academy voters.
Notes: Music Producer, Ben Sidran. Edited by Frederick Marx, Steve James, and Bill Haugse. Photographed by Peter Gilbert. Box-office gross:


HOUSE PARTY.
1990. 100 minutes. (V2647).
Comedy -- Black Teenagers -- Hip Hop Culture. Directed by Reginald Hudlin.

Kid is a young man who wants to attend the big party being put on by his best friend Play. Everybody will be there but because of an incident at school with campus beauties Full Force he's been grounded by his gruff dad. Kid goes to the party anyway and the evening is an adventure. The brothers Hudlin (producer Warrington and writer/director Reginald) have made a funk and rap version of Risky Business and the John Hughes teen comedies. His young protagonists are the kids in a predominantly black big city high school who are all as excited by Play's big party as the Kid is. House Party is an extremely enjoyable amount of nonsense, clever and vibrant with the sounds of the black youth culture -- it is about music, dancing and teenage love and teen sex. It is about working class and middle class kids who joke about their parents and other adults but respect them. Its about growing up -- the vernacular is just not as common as one usually sees in mainstream films. The young cast is gifted especially Kid (Christopher Reid) and Tisha Campbell. With: A.J. Johnson, Martin Lawrence, John Witherspoon, Barry Diamond, and Michael Pniewski, George Clinton and Kelly Jo Minter, and with Full Force (as the 'bad guys') and Robin Harris (who was the randy comic in Spike Lee's Mo' Better Blues) gives a funny, touching performance as Kid's over-protective father. Almost all of his dialog sounds improvised.
Notes: Harris died not long after finishing the Lee film. Music by Marcus Miller and Lenny White. Produced by Warrington Hudlin. Screenplay by Reginald Hudlin. Photographed by Peter Deming. Box-office gross: $12,000,000.


HOUSE PARTY 2: THE PAJAMA JAM!
1991. 94 minutes. (V3357).
Comedy. Black Directors. College Students. Directed by Doug McHenry and George Jackson.

Kid (Christopher Reid) 'N Play (Christopher Martin) in a follow up of the hugely popular House Party. Kid goes off to college with a church scholarship that he leaves in the trunk of Play's car. Play, hurt that Kid won't stay and get their rap singing chances on the road is talked out of the cash by slick con men. The rest of the story is straightening out the mess. Not as richly good-humored as the earlier film, but it has its moments. Full Force, Tisha Campbell, Iman, Queen Latifah, Georg Stanford Brown, Ralph Tresvant, Martin Lawrence and special appearance of Tony!, Toni! Tone!
Notes: Photographed by Francis Kenny. Screenplay by Rusty Cundieff based on characters created by Reginald Hudlin. Box-office gross: $19,400,000.


THE HUNTERS.
1983. 72 minutes. (V2643).
Documentary.

"In this classic documentary, the Kalahari Bushmen of Africa wage a constant war for survival against the hot, arid climate and unyielding soil. The Hunters focuses on four men who undertake a hunt to obtain meat for their village. The chronicle of their 13-day trek becomes part of the village's folklore, illustrating the ancient roots and continual renewal of African tribal culture." Blue Ribbon--American Film Festival, Grand Prize--Florence Film Festival, Robert Flaherty Award.


HYENAS.
1992. 113 minutes. In Wolof with English subtitles.
Senegalese Cinema. African Cinema. Drama. Directed by Djibril Diop Mambety.

"An old woman, Linguere Ramatou, returns to Colbane, the decaying village where she was born, now that she has become the richest woman in the world. She seeks revenge against Dramaan Drameh, the lover of her youth who betrayed her, forcing her out of the village and into a life of prostitution. She offers the villagers a trillion dollars if they will execute Dramaan. At first outraged, hey easily become addicted to the pleasures of consumer society. In the end, they literally consume Dramaan, leaving behind only his tattered clothes, like hyenas. Linguere's victory, though, is hollow; she has conquered the world but she has destroyed her ability to love it. In the end, the imaginary Colobane becomes the real Colobane of today, a notorious black market and transit point on the edge of Dakar. Djibril Diop Mambety, one of the true masters of world cinema, has created a stunning, if pessimistic, cinematic metaphor for the fate of his continent."