Rating summary

Movie		5.0
Video		4.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		5.0
Overall		4.5

Pioneers of African American Cinema Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Brian Orndorf July 17, 2016

“Pioneers of African-American Cinema” provides historians, admirers, and the curious with an opportunity to explore the Black experience in the movie industry as it was from 1915-1946, focusing on individuals to claimed power for themselves, financing and producing pictures for their own audience, taking control of creative endeavors. It’s a five-disc odyssey highlighting restored “features, shorts, fragments, and documentaries,” bringing rarities to light that underline cultural attitudes of the eras, but also showcase developing storytelling confidence, experimentation, and courage as a few names, including Oscar Micheaux, emerged as leaders of a burgeoning movement, working to find its own perspective away from discrimination and expectation.

Disc 1:

“Two Knights of Vaudeville” (1915, 10:56)
“Mercy, the Mummy Mumbled” (1918, 13:29)
“A Reckless Rover” (1918, 14:07)
“Within Our Gates” (1920, 73:41)
“The Symbol of the Unconquered: A Story of the Ku Klux Klan” (1920, 59:15)
“By Right of Birth” (1921, 4:40)
“Body and Soul” (1921, 93:01)
“Screen Snapshots" (1920, 1:40) – Taken from newsreel footage of Oscar Micheaux on the set of “The Brute.”

Disc 2:

“Regeneration” (1923, 11:33)
“The Flying Ace” (1926, 65:48)
“Ten Nights in a Bar Room” (1926, 63:56)
“Reverend S.S. Jones Home Movies” (1924-1928, 16:11)
“The Scar of Shame” (1929, 86:36)

Disc 3:

“Eleven P.M.” (1928, 66:42)
“Hell-Bound Train” (1930, 50:57)
“Verdict: Not Guilty” (1933, 8:41)
“Heaven-Bound Travelers” (1935, 15:18)
“The Darktown Revue” (1931, 18:26) – Subtitles are included.
“The Exile” (1931, 78:26) – Subtitles are included.
“Hot Biskits” (1931, 10:03) – Subtitles are included.

Disc 4:

“The Girl from Chicago” (1932, 70:43) – Subtitles are included.
“Ten Minutes to Live” (1932, 57:58) – Subtitles are included.
“Veiled Aristocrats” (1932, 44:10) – Subtitles are included.
“Birthright” (1938, 13:39)

Disc 5:

“The Bronze Buckaroo” (1939, 58:03) – Subtitles are included.
“Zora Neale Hurston Fieldwork Footage” (1928, 3:02)
“Commandment Keeper Church” (1940, 15:41)
“The Blood of Jesus” (1941, 56:29) – Subtitles are included.
“Dirty Gertie from Harlem, U.S.A.” (1946, 60:24) – Subtitles are included.
“Moses Sisters Interview” (1978, 32:05)

Pioneers of African American Cinema Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Bringing shorts and features from over three decades to this Blu-ray, the AVC encoded image presentation offers a diverse range of viewing experiences. Time and effort has gone into the restoration of the collection, credited to the likes of the Library of Congress and the George Eastman Museum (to name a few), and aside from few encounters with banding, "Pioneers of African-America Cinema" makes a strong impression in HD. Source quality varies considerably from selection to selection, with a few, including "Mercy, the Mummy Mumbled," almost completely lost to damage, preserved here for historical reasons, with disc producers trying to make this set complete. The rest of the offerings look approachable, even with understandable issues, preserving detail and textures throughout, freshening up these titles with care. Considering the obscurity of these productions, what's presented on the discs is often amazing, rescuing the titles from total loss.

Pioneers of African American Cinema Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Tracks vary is scope and mood, but there's nothing distracting about the various listening events presented on the set. Music is a primary concern, delivering clean, crisp instrumentation throughout. Expectedly, once the set delves into sound, pristine quality isn't found, but the producers do what they can with damaged elements, providing English subtitles to help viewers follow the stories.

Pioneers of African American Cinema Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Booklet (76 pages) contains essays by Paul D. Miller, Charles Musser, Jacqueline Najuma Stewart, Rhea L. Combs, Mary N. Elliot, and a filmography.

Disc 1

• "An Introduction" (7:30, HD) provides an overview of disc content, featuring film historians Jacqueline Najuma Stewart and Charles Musser. Sound quality is iffy, but the information is valuable.

• "The Films of Oscar Micheaux" (8:49, HD) returns to Musser, who discusses the work of the pioneer moviemaker.

Disc 2

• "The Color Line" (5:17, HD) supplies Musser's thoughts on racial collaboration in film.

• "Ten Nights in a Bar Room: An Introduction" (4:14, HD) – Musser offers a BTS explanation for the short.

• "About the Restoration" (8:06, HD) provides an overview of the recovery effort, hosted by Bret Wood. Also of interest are examples of moviemaking mistakes that remain in the pictures, with disc producers resisting the urge to correct these admittedly humorous issues.

Disc 3

• "Religion in Early African-America Cinema" (6:45, HD) returns to Stewart, who offers historical perspective on depictions and criticism of faith in the collected films.

• "Eleven P.M.: An Introduction" (3:04, HD) – reunites with Musser for a brief discussion of the Richard Maurice film.

• Interview (5:08, HD) with film historian S. Torriano Berry inspects the work of James and Eloyce Gist.

Disc 4

• Trailers for "Veiled Aristocrats" (4:07, HD) and "Birthright" (3:52, HD) are included.

• "We Work Again" (1937, 15:11, HD) is newsreel focusing on WPA projects across America.

Disc 5

• "Tyler Texas Black Film Collection" (1985, 5:57, HD) is a promotional film hosted by Ossie Davis.

• "The Films of Zora Neale Hurston" (1:50, HD) welcomes Library of Congress employee Mike Mashon, who discusses the discovery of a forgotten filmmaker's work.

• "The Films of Spencer Williams" (6:58, HD) reunites with Stewart, who identifies creative accomplishments from the former star of "Amos 'n Andy."

• "The End of an Era" (4:42, HD) closes out the set with additional thoughts from Stewart.

Pioneers of African American Cinema Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

"Pioneers of African-American Cinema" is an impressive offering of film history and racial perspective, providing example instead of theory when it comes to understanding creative achievements and career interests of the filmmakers. The restoration reaches as far as it can, working to give new life to these examples of moviemaking imagination and passion. Those already in step with the discussion are sure to be pleased with the results, but the box set is also an educational tool, providing a journey of screen communication and artistry for those unaware of the effort of early black storytellers to build a home of their own.