''Harlem After Midnight'' (1934) is a black-and-white silent film directed by author and director

Oscar Micheaux Oscar Devereaux Micheaux (; January 2, 1884 – March 25, 1951) was an author, film director and independent producer of more than 44 films. Although the short-lived Lincoln Motion Picture Company was the first movie company owned and controlled ...

. A

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super ...

, it featured an "all-colored cast". As in most of the films created by Micheaux there is an all-black

casting Casting is a manufacturing process in which a liquid material is usually poured into a mold, which contains a hollow cavity of the desired shape, and then allowed to solidify. The solidified part is also known as a ''casting'', which is ejected ...

for the drama film. It is a

lost film A lost film is a feature Feature may refer to: Computing * Feature (CAD), could be a hole, pocket, or notch * Feature (computer vision), could be an edge, corner or blob * Feature (software design) is an intentional distinguishing char ...

. Because this film was a

silent film A silent film is a film with no synchronized Sound recording and reproduction, recorded sound (or more generally, no audible dialogue). Though silent films convey narrative and emotion visually, various plot elements (such as a setting or era) ...

the Bailey's Royal Theater accompanied it with music by Walter Barnes and his Royal Creolians. Many of the

night club A nightclub (music club, discothèque, disco club, or simply club) is an entertainment venue during nighttime comprising a dance floor, lightshow, and a stage for live music or a disc jockey (DJ) who plays recorded music. Nightclubs gener ...

scenes were shot at the popular and most visited venues of this time where Micheaux hand-picked the leading cabaret singers in the film based on if they resembled the already set members of the cast. The settings of each scene were chosen by the producers to add in hilarity to the drama-filled and tense toned film. ''Harlem After Midnight'' is a film that focuses on

gangster A gangster is a criminal who is a member of a gang. Most gangs are considered to be part of organized crime. Gangsters are also called mobsters, a term derived from '' mob'' and the suffix '' -ster''. Gangs provide a level of organization and ...

s, kidnapping and the drama that comes along with the streets of

Harlem Harlem is a neighborhood in Upper Manhattan, New York City. It is bounded roughly by the Hudson River on the west; the Harlem River and 155th Street on the north; Fifth Avenue on the east; and Central Park North on the south. The greater Ha ...

. Throughout the film there are hidden secrets that are directly related to the Negro gangsters and henchmen who all have an unsuspecting background in the nightclubs in the city of Harlem. The

nightlife Nightlife is a collective term for entertainment that is available and generally more popular from the late evening into the early hours of the morning. It includes pubs, bars, nightclubs, parties, live music, concerts, cabarets, theatre, ...

scenes in this film are described as an hilarious reflection of what the nightlife is actually like in Harlem and it plays a huge part in the theme of this film.

Plot

Vivian Poret dates her employer's son (Nelson Gentry) after her own husband (Jerry Martin) is sent to prison three years prior for being a part of a gang that he had snitched on. Jerry escapes from prison and learns that Vivian is doing well and living in Harlem, he decides to go visit her unknowing that her boyfriend is trying to convince her to get an

annulment Annulment is a legal procedure within secular and religious legal systems for declaring a marriage null and void. Unlike divorce, it is usually retroactive, meaning that an annulled marriage is considered to be invalid from the beginning al ...

from him. After reuniting with Vivian she offers him everything that is from her accounts to go through with the divorce she wants, Jerry refuses and demands more than the amount that was being offered informing her that she will need to get the money from her boyfriend's family. Nelson has been having an affair which he later decides to call off with one of the kept women (Kate Elkins). Kate does not take the news of the arrangement being called off well and decides to take her revenge out on Vivian's younger sister Sacha, who has arrived to Harlem in hopes of becoming a famous entertainer. Jerry and Kate team up to take revenge against Vivian, they agree to use one of Jerry's friends (Harold Stokes) to gain the trust of Sacha and lead her off the path of stardom that she desperately wants to be a part of. Harold succeeds in gaining the trust of Sacha after taking her out for a night on the town, he has plans to sell her to an old man who will use her for his own pleasure. Sacha finds out about this plan before Harold has enough time to start and goes to her sister after learning a lesson of the danger of trusting strangers. Meanwhile, Jerry is being hunted down by a man who he had given out information about years before and he hides at the home of Kate who is nervous after finding out about the manhunt that is going after Jerry. Jerry evades capture and goes to find Vivian once again in the search of money which she does not give him.

Cast

The cast included

Dorothy Van Engle Dorothy Van Engle (August 14, 1910 – May 10, 2004) was an American actress who performed throughout the 1930s. She starred in Oscar Micheaux films, including ''Murder in Harlem'' and ''Swing!''. History Early life Born Donessa Dorothy Van En ...

References

{{Oscar Micheaux 1934 films Lost American drama films Films directed by Oscar Micheaux 1934 drama films 1934 lost films 1930s American films Silent American drama films