''The Emperor Jones'' is a 1960 Australian TV play based on the play ''

The Emperor Jones ''The Emperor Jones'' is a 1920 tragic play by American dramatist Eugene O'Neill that tells the tale of Brutus Jones, a resourceful, self-assured African American and a former Pullman porter, who kills another black man in a dice game, is jailed, ...

'' by

Eugene O'Neill Eugene Gladstone O'Neill (October 16, 1888 – November 27, 1953) was an American playwright and Nobel laureate in Nobel Prize in Literature, literature. His poetically titled plays were among the first to introduce into the U.S. the drama tech ...

. It starred

Joe Jenkins Joseph Daniel Jenkins (October 12, 1890 – June 21, 1974) was an American right-handed Major League Baseball catcher who played for the St. Louis Browns in 1914 and the Chicago White Sox in 1917 and 1919. Jenkins was born in Shelbyville, Tennes ...

, a dancer who was living in Australia. He played a triple role. Joe Jenkins was a rare black actor who played lead roles in Australia at the time; he had also appeared in ''

The Square Ring ''The Square Ring'' is a 1953 British tragi-comic drama, directed by Basil Dearden and made at Ealing Studios. It stars Jack Warner, Robert Beatty and Bill Owen. The film, based on a stage play by Ralph Peterson, centres on one night at a f ...

'', ''Cafe Continental'', ''The BP Super Show'', '' The Two Headed Eagle'' and '' The End Begins'' on Australian TV. ''The Emperor Jones'' has been called the first Australian TV drama to have a black actor in the lead.

Plot

Jones runs an "empire" on an island in the West Indies. The action begins when Smithers, a trader, arrives on the island to discover Jones' subjects have revolted and Jones has to escape. Jones is terrified of the pursuing natives. He has nightmares where he meets Jeff, the man he killed in a razor fight, and another man he killed with a shovel. The nightmare then becomes a medium of regression. Jones goes beyond his own past until he finds himself on the first slave ship from Africa.

Cast

as the Emperor Jones/the witchdoctor/porter *Moray Powell as Smithers *Nellie Small *Albert le Guerre

Production

The production was filmed in Sydney at the ABC's studios at Gore Hill. It was directed by Alan Burke, who also adapted Eugene O'Neil's play. Except for the opening scene between Jones and Smithers, and some scenes at the end involving some natives, the action was carried by Jones alone. Jenkins said, "This is a role that really gets you and you live every moment of the terror of the man and the jungle. Some of those jungle films were filmed on the coldest nights we experienced but I wasn't cold, the intensity of the acting calls for such concentration." Joe Jekins doubles in a number of scenes. He plays a witch doctor opposite himself which Burke achieved by filming the roles separately and later joining the film. The play was also adapted for Australian radio on the ABC in 1960.

Reception

The TV critic for the ''Sydney Morning Herald'' thought "loyalty to stage play conventions, in a medium where they do not belong, restrained the director from seeking the filmic fluency asked for in the quick succession of sketched scenes" in which Jenkins gave a "fine performance."

References

1960s Australian television plays Australian television films 1960 television plays Films based on works by Eugene O'Neill Films directed by Alan Burke (director) {{Australia-tv-film-stub