African-American Studies Collections

Filmography: J

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JASON'S LYRIC.
1994. 118 minutes.
Romantic Drama. Ghetto Drama [Houston]. African Americans, Social Conditions. African American Directors. Directed by Dough McHenry.

Allen Payne is Jason, Jada Pinkett is Lyric in this drama about the painful evolution of a Houston family's efforts at surviving the ghetto. Payne's Jason is the hard working, ambitious brother of Josh, a wildly emotional and violent young man. Both boys have survived the trauma of their father's accidental death in different ways -- one bears the nightmares of the incident, the other buries the dreams in alcohol, drugs and terror. This is a well directed and acted melodrama about working class blacks in a ghetto other than LA, Chicago or New York. The change of place gives us a story with different rhythms and feeling. For some of the audience it will be just well done melodrama, for others, the cumulative power of the film may have more resonance.. With: Forrest Whitaker as Mad Dog, Bokeem Woodbine as Josh, Anthony "Treach" Criss as Alonzo, Eddie Griffin as Raj, Suzzanne Douglas as Gloria, Lisa Nicole Carson as Marti, Lahmard Tate as Ron, Asheamu Earl Randle as Teddy, Clarence Whitmore as Elmo, Curtis Von Burrell as Darryl.
Notes: Music supervision by Adam Kidbon. Music by Afrika and Matt Noble. Photography by Francis Kenny. Written by Bobby Smith, Jr. Produced by McHenry and George Jackson. Songs include U Will Know, Forget I Was a G, If Trouble Was Money. At the end of the film a music video of U Will Know is performed. Box-office gross: $20,634,663.


JAZZ PARADES: FEET DON'T FAIL ME NOW.
1991. 58 minutes. (V4016).
Documentary. Jazz music, New Orleans Folk jazz and customs -- Mardi Gras. Directed by Alan Lomax. A segment of the series American Patchwork.

Excellent, in depth look at the social, cultural and historical antecedents of New Orleans Jazz. Music traditions from the formation of social clubs in the early 19th century, through the Reconstruction era, and the rise of the official 'Red Light' district, and the birth of the blues/jazz tradition led by the likes of Louis Armstrong in the early 20th Century. Groups such as the Zulu Social and Pleasure Club and Majestic Bands are covered showing how their music and dance traditions are direct descendants of the West African song and dance. Rooted originally in response to repression before and after slavery, the "Afro-Caribbean" styles have devolved into joyous celebrations of life and death as represented by the Sunday Jazz Parades and the spirited funeral marches.
Notes: Written and produced by Lomax. Edited by Jim Brown. Consultants Bill Russell, Allan Jeoffre, and Michael P. Smith and others. Narrated by Lomax.


JESSE JACKSON: OUR TIME HAS COME see under OUR TIME HAS COME


THE JESSE OWENS STORY.
1984. 174 minutes. (V1595).
Biographical Drama. Jesse Owens. Directed by Richard Irving.

A made-for-television film depicting the life and struggles of Olympic champion Jesse Owens. Dorian Harewood, an excellent young actor, gives a very fine performance as Owens. Originally a short mini-series, the program may run on a little too long, but Harewood's work, and the newsreel footage of the games may be of more than passing interest to many. With: Dorian Harewood as Owens and with Georg Stanford Brown and George Kennedy.
Notes: Teleplay by Harold Gast. Music by Michel Legrand.


JEWELS IN A TEST TUBE: BIOCHEMIST LYNDA JORDAN.
1994. 60 minutes.
Documentary. Biographical Documentary. African-American Women of Science. Women in Science. Lynda Jordan. A segment of the WGBH series Discovering Women.

"As a teenager growing up in a dangerous, low-income housing project in Boston, Lynda Jordan was, as she puts it, 'on the cusp of becoming a delinquent child.' Today she's a tenured associate professor in biochemistry, working on a exciting project: unlocking the secrets of a key human enzyme that's vital to one of life's most fundamental processes [PLA2 or placenta research] towards that goal, and of her efforts to encourage the next generation of African-American scientists like herself, is at the heat of this profile. She talks about the importance of her undergraduate years at an historically black university, a place where she could feel 'strong, reinforced, affirmed' in her identity as an African-American woman while learning the skills needed to go on to a Ph.D. from MIT and a fellowship at the prestigious Institut Pasteur in Paris."
Notes: Dr. Moseley Waite [Bowman Gray School of Medicine], Rachelle Pugh [Jordan's sister], Lula Veasley [Aunt], Charlene Smith [mother], Dr. Joseph Warren [Brandeis University, 19760-1974 head of Boston Upward Bound project attended by Jordan as a teenager], Dr. Mary Roberts [MIT, 1978-1990], Dr. Christopher Walsh [MIT 1972-1987], Dr. Jennifer Patrick [MIT, Ph.D. 1979], Dr. Francoise Russo-Marie [Institut Pasteur]. Dr. Vallie Guthrie [NC A & T University]. Narrated by Michelle Pfeiffer. Produced and directed by Yvonne Smith. Written by Michael Winship. Edited by Betty Ciccarelli. Camera by Ngaio Killingsworth. Original Music by Baikida Carroll.


JO JO DANCER.
1986. 91 minutes.
Drama. Autobiographical interpretations. Richard Pryor. Directed by Richard Pryor.

Richard Pryor wrote, directed and stars in this fictionalized account of his life. It's filmmaking of an especially personal nature, equally gratuitous, fascinating, provocative. Pryor uses flashbacks in a fashion not unlike that Bob Fosse used in All That Jazz (which was as maddeningly self-focused as this film is). Pryor's talents are extraordinary. He must have wanted to publicly rid himself of a million devils to have so wantonly laid out his life on celluloid in this fashion. The film is not especially self-serving, it is, on the contrary, fairly open and honest in its depiction of the excesses and egoism of its central character. The question is, why was it necessary? The film, overall is rather ramshackle in style and pace. It seemed rather early for Pryor to so memorialize himself on film. The supporting cast is fine and includes: Paula Kelly as Satin Doll, Carmen McRae as his grandmother, Diahanne Abbott as his mother, Scoey Mitchl as his father, E'Lon Cox as young Jo Jo, Fay Hauser as Grace, Debbie Allen as Michelle, and Barbara Williams as Dawn.
Notes: Music supervision by Jerry Wexler. Music by Herbie Hancock. Photographed by John Alonzo. Written by Rocco Urbisci, Paul Mooney, and Richard Pryor.


JOE'S BED-STUY BARBERSHOP: WE CUT HEADS.
1985. 90 minutes. (V1175).
African American Directors. Comedy Drama. Directed by Spike Lee.

The story of a Bed-Stuy barber's efforts to survive making a living in his barbershop. He's constantly tempted by the ease with which he could make extra jack by running numbers. He yields to the pressure finally and his personal and 'business' troubles take a definite turn for the worse. The film has gently comic moments and moments of mild tension. At some points it seems to be heading towards action genre. It's a pleasant hodgepodge that gives us no clue into what direction the filmmaker might be heading. With: Monty Ross, Donna Bailey, Stuart Smith, Tommie Hicks.
Notes: Written by Spike Lee. Music by Bill Lee. Photographed by Ernest Dickerson.


JUICE.
1992. 95 minutes.
Gang Films. Youth gangs. Black directors. Directed by Ernest Dickerson.

Omar Epps is Q, Jermaine Hopkins is Steele, Khalil Kain is Raheem, Tupac Shakur is Bishop: four black New York youths who have been best friends since grade school. This film is the story of how their friendship and lives are destroyed by the desire to get a fast chance. Ernest Dickerson, the director, has been the cameraman for most of Spike Lee's films. Juice, Dickerson's directorial debut is, an energetic if somewhat predictable ghetto drama. The young actors are good especially Omar Epps as Q, who wants to keep things in focus and Tupac Shakur as Bishop whose rage brings on the boys' destruction. With: Cindy Herron, Queen Latifah, Samuel L. Jackson.
Notes: Original score by Hank Shocklee and the Bomb Squad. Photographed by Larry Banks. Story by Dickerson. Screenplay by Dickerson and Gerard Brown.


JUKE JOINT.
1947. 50 minutes. (V1827).
Race Pictures. Blaxploitation. All Black Casts. African-American Directors. Directed by Spencer Williams.

The title of this one was just one variation on a theme for the black film genre in the 1940s. Every other all black film made was some variation on this dance-hall and "juke joint" theme. With: Spencer Williams who plays a guy who steps off a bus in Texas in pursuit of a place to set up a fancy dance hall or juke joint. Also with July Jones and Mantan Moreland. With: Inez Newell as Mama Lou Holiday.
Notes: Produced by Bert Goldberg. Screenplay by Williams. Photographed by George Sanderson. Music by Red Calhoun and his Orchestra.


JUNGLE FEVER.
1991. 171 minutes.
Inter-racial Drama. Romantic Melodrama. Directed by Spike Lee.

Flipper Purify is a successful black architect in New York. His firm hires him a new secretary but against his wishes it's an Italian girl, not an African-American. Hostile to her at first, Flipper finds the lovely girl quite appealing and very soon he and Angie Tucci fall in love. This love affair is the central argument in Spike Lee's most recent effort. It's really just a New York romantic comedy with enough topical and politically correct hitches to carry any other film for a whole two hours. Lee aims at more sententious posturing -- this time on the allegedly debilitating nature of inter-racial relationships on these two sexually attractive people. What they have is just carnal lusting, not love. But in little ways Lee undercuts his own thesis. Angie leaves a mild-mannered owner of a newsstand for a better life and relationship -- a man whose sensitivity and sense of honor draw him to a lovely young black woman who frequents his store. As always, the film is good to look at and the actors are quite appealing. One thing we can be thankful to Lee for -- he has provided the great Ossie Davis and Ruby Dee with honorable roles in late in their careers. Lee tries to take on many themes in this film. He had a potentially great story in his inter-racial romance, but shied away from a film about a meaningful and difficult kind of love and opted for his usual wide brush strokes. The songs by Stevie Wonder give the film a romantic kick. Wesley Snipes and Annabella Sciorra are a convincing pair of lovers and damned good actors. With: Spike Lee, Ossie Davis, Ruby Dee, Samuel L. Jackson, Lonette McKee, Anthony Quinn, and John Turturro.
Notes: Screenplay by Lee. Photographed by Ernest Dickerson. Original Score by Terence Blanchard. Songs by Stevie Wonder.