For Immediate Release		     Brian Garrido (bgarrido@emelnitz.ucla.edu)
August 25, 1998			     (310) 206-8588

Star of Stage and Screen was assembled for the centennial of Robeson's birth and is a full retrospective of his film work. Highlights of the film series include two of his definitive stage performances in theatrical landmarks: Brutus Jones in The Emperor Jones (1933) which opens the series at UCLA on Thursday, October 1 and Joe in Show Boat (1936) (A special screening to take place on September 11, before the UCLA series begins, at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in Beverly Hills.) Other highlights include the rare Borderline (U.K., 1930), an experimental silent feature shot in Switzerland; Body and Soul (1925), directed by African American director Oscar Micheaux and also Robeson's tour-de-force movie debut; and My Song Goes Forth (aka Africa Sings, U.K., 1937), a documentary about South Africa as apartheid is being imposed. The film features Robeson singing the title song and adding a prologue that asks the viewers to interpret the remainder of the film against the producer's intentions; and Jericho (aka Dark Sands, U.K., 1937) in which Robeson plays an American soldier who sings his way across the desert to become the chief of a Bedouin tribe. The series will also feature rare newsreels and trailers of Robeson.

On Saturday, October 10th from 1:00pm to 5:30pm, a symposium will take place with noted Robeson scholars discussing his work in theater and film and his political activism. The symposium will take place in Room 1422, Melnitz Hall and is free to the public.

Robeson was a star who worked and triumphed in the theater, in the concert hall and on the silver screen. He made eleven features before quitting film in 1941. As a concert star Robeson was considered to be consummate performer of his period. His rich, deep and seductive baritone, as well as his performance, was found to reproduce just as dramatically for the big screen. It was Robeson's voice and charismatic presence that allowed him to succeed beyond Hollywood's borders. Robeson was extraordinary off-screen; a man who traveled to Europe and Russia for concert tours and as a political activist. This combination coupled with the advent of 50's McCarthyism would lead to his fall from the stage and screen. Nevertheless, his charm and unique persona won over critics who usually dismissed his film roles. Ultimately his movies reveal an artist who was simultaneously intuitive yet self-conscious, critical yet optimistic. Robeson felt he could control his image more effectively in other forums than film, but his struggle - and his groundbreaking achievements - are fascinating to watch.

Tickets are available one hour before showtime at the James Bridges Theater. Admission is $6 general and $4 for students and seniors. The theater is located at the northeast corner on the UCLA campus, near the intersection of Sunset Boulevard and Hilgard Avenue. Parking is available for $5 in Lot 3.

For further information, please call (310) 206 - FILM or visit our website at www.cinema.ucla.edu.

The Special Screening of Show Boat (U.S., 1936) on September 11 is at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in Beverly Hills. Admission is $5. For screening information, call 310-247-3600.

The film retrospective was originated and organized by The Paul Robeson Cultural Center at Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey (Robeson's alma mater), and is presented in cooperation with the Paul Robeson Centennial Committee of Southern California. Paul Robeson: Star of Stage and Screen is being held in conjunction with other city-wide events commemorating the Paul Robeson Centennial Year.

SCREENING SCHEDULE FOR PAUL ROBESON: STAR OF STAGE AND SCREEN

The Path to Stardom

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 1 - 7:00pm - TRIPLE BILL

The Emperor Jones (1933, 35 mm, 80 min.)
Directed by Dudley Murphy.
The cinematic adaptation of the Eugene O'Neill play that helped launch Robeson to stardom in 1924
Body and Soul (1925, 35mm, 95 min, silent/B&W with musical accompaniment, 18 fps.)
Produced, written and directed by African American Film maker Oscar Micheaux
Robeson makes a tour de force movie debut in the double role of twin brothers.
Borderline (U.K., 1930, 35mm, 65 min., silent/B&W with musical accompaniment, 24 fps)
Directed by Kenneth MacPherson. Also with Paul Robeson's wife Eslanda.
A visually experimental, silent feature shot in Switzerland that was the most radical adventure of all of Robeson's contributions to cinema.
In Person: Special Guest TBA

Robeson and Africa

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 3 - 7:30pm - TRIPLE BILL

Sanders of the River (U.K., 1935, 16mm, 98 min.)
Directed by Zoltan Korda
Robeson is Bosambo, a quick-witted escaped convict who becomes the head of a tribe in the British colony of West Africa
My Song Goes Forth (U.K., 1937, 35mm, 40 min.) aka Africa Sings
Directed by Joseph Best
Robeson sings the title song counters the director's ideological perspective by adding a prologue (which Robeson wrote) that asks the audience to interpret the film against the filmmaker's obvious intentions
local cinema trailer promoting one of Robeson's concerts in England (U.K., 1935) Song of Freedom (U.K., 1936, 16mm, 80 min.)
Directed by J. Elder Willis
Robeson plays a London stevedore, who becomes a stage star caught between high and low culture, working-class life and international stardom, western "civilization" and African "primitivism."

Star Vehicles

SUNDAY, OCTOBER 4 - 7:00pm - DOUBLE BILL

King Solomon's Mines (U.K., 1937, 16 mm, 90 min.)
Directed by Robert Stevenson
Africa is the setting for a cinematic celebration of the British Empire. A black man (Robeson) and an Irish woman (Anna Lee) set off to find her father. Director Stevenson earned an Oscar nomination for Mary Poppins. Co-Starring Anna Lee, who will be at the screening IN PERSON (subject to Ms. Lee's schedule -- Ms. Lee is presently featured in The General Hospital TV series)
Big Fella (U.K., 1937, 35 mm, 73 min.)
Directed by J. Elder Wills
The film contrasts sensual and spontaneous black people with sterile and materialistic whites. An English boy flees his parents and finds refuge with a able support.

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 10

1:00pm to 5:30pm - SYMPOSIUM -- Admission is free
Symposium to be held in Room 1422 (Mix Room), Melnitz Hall, UCLA
The afternoon's discussion will situate Robeson's work in theater and film into the larger context of his life and times. Participants as of presstime include:
• Hazel Carby - Professor of African, African American Studies and American Studies, Yale University.
• Mayme Clayton - Director/Founder, Black American Cinema Society
• Teshome Gabriel (Moderator) - Professor, Critical Studies Program, Department Of Film and Television, UCLA
• Charles Musser - Associate Professor of American Studies and Film Studies, Yale University
• Beverly Robinson - Professor of Theater, UCLA
• Robert Rosen - Dean, School of Theater, Film and Television, UCLA
• Paul von Blum - Professor of African American Studies, UCLA
• Lamont Yeakey - Associate Professor of History, California State University, Los Angeles
7:30pm --
Jericho (U.K., 1937, 35mm, 77 min.) aka Dark Sands
Directed by Thorton Freeland
Robeson is Jericho, an American soldier in France during WWI. Unjustly convicted of a crime, he escapes to Africa where he uses his knowledge of Western medicine to become the headman of a Bedouin tribe
Mining Review, 2nd Year, No.11 (U.K., 1949, 35mm., approx. 20 min.)

In this newsreel, Robeson visits Welsh mines and sings to the workers
The Proud Valley (U.K., 1940, 16mm, 70 min.)
Directed by Penrose Tennyson
Robeson plays a wanderer who finds work in the Welsh coal mines. His fellow miners want to win a singing competition; thus the film provides lots of singing opportunities for Robeson. Tennyson, grandson of the famed poet, showed promise as a film director but died in WWI.

Robeson and the Popular Front

SUNDAY, OCTOBER 11 - 7:00pm

Tales of Manhattan (1942, 35mm, 118 min.)
Directed by Julien Duvivier
A coat filled with money lands in Robeson's cotton field. The "simple colored folk" resist temptation and share the wealth. Robeson was distressed by the film's final outcome, so much so that he quit the movies - forever
Native Land (1942, 35mm, 88 min.)
Directed by Leo Hurwitz and Paul Strand
Robeson was not just a voice for hire but an active participant in documentary filmmaking. This radical social documentary combines fictional and documentary elements to show the web of conspiracy that compromised the anti-labor movement. Because it was released just after Pearl Harbor, the film has been little shown.