Blood of Jesus, The (1941)
Director: Spencer Williams
Starring: Cathryn Caviness, Spencer Williams
Honors:
It was one of the most successful race pictures in American history,
yet for decades was considered a lost film. Spencer Williams’ motion picture The Blood of Jesus was a feature made by
and for African Americans in a period of United States history in which near
all films of note where produced for a white audience by the movie making
machine that is Hollywood. This religious based picture would be the epitome of
an independent film produced on a shoe-string budget, but drew in vast numbers
black audiences to become, compared to its budget, one of the most profitable
race films of all time.
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| Writer, director, actor Spencer Williams |
The Blood of Jesus is a race
drama about a young lady tempted by the devil one last time before what is
presumably her death. Ras Jackson (Spencer Williams) missed Martha’s (Cathryn
Caviness) riverside baptism service in favor of poaching a neighbor’s boar. As
his wife she is troubled by her husband’s actions and lack of faith in God. A
careless household accident by Ras results in Martha being accidentally shot by
his hunting rifle. While the church congregation prays for the recovery of
Martha and Ras mourns over what he had caused, Martha has a vision of an angel
that takes her to the crossroads of heaven and hell. There she is tempted one
last time by where the devil (James B. Jones) with the aid of his servant Judas
Green (Frank H. McClennan) where she sees the pleasure of a sinful life. With
the encouragement of the angel Martha flees this setting to find salvation back
at the crossroads to heaven. From here Martha awakens back in her bed, restored
of health, where she is reunited with a joyous Ras who is reinvigorated by
faith.
The film itself from a contemporary point of view is a near unwatchable
feature. With poor acting, meager editing, amateur cinematography, and a rather
substandard script this film is not what one would consider anything near a
mainstream picture for 1941. But in truth it was never really meant to be. The Blood of Jesus was a product of the
filmmaker who had next to nothing to work with, producing a picture projected
to be viewed by an African American audience hungry for films that spoke to
them, which mainstream Hollywood had little to no interest in do. Put into the
proper perspective The Blood of Jesus
as a film becomes a far greater achievement in the history of American cinema.
In an age when it would be unheard of to have an African American
director of any motion picture it was Dallas, Texas based Sack Amusement
Enterprises that commissioned Spencer Williams to produce this black motion
picture. Sack Amusement Enterprises, much like the major studios in Hollywood,
both owned theaters and produced pictures to play in them, but the major
difference was that they catered to black audiences, something Hollywood did
not do. Even though the motion pictures they produced where intended for
African American audiences, they were more common than not directed by whites.
That is until Spencer Williams’ became a possibility.
Williams’ career as a black entertainer had led him to Hollywood in the
mid-20s and steered him primarily is small character roles, as the usual
bumbling stereotyped African American role. His experience in the industry headed
him to aiding the authoring of number of scripts of films he worked on, but was
uncredited for his contributions and even directing a small silent short. Sack
Amusement Enterprises saw Williams’ experience as a possible filmmaker giving the
black entertainer the huge opportunity to write and direct his own motion
picture for a black audience.
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| The picture was made on a shoe string budget, as seen by this devil costume. |
With a budget of only $5000 Williams penned and directed this feature
with a running time of just short of an hour. The film features an all amateur
cast and shot in and around the areas of Dallas, Texas not far from the company
offices. The cast manifests it unprofessional nature as many cast members are
caught staring into the camera or just past it, perhaps at the cameraman or
Williams, reciting lines as if they have trouble remembering all the words they
have to deliver. You can assume the wardrobe of the cast was what they brought
from home, perhaps their “Sunday best” if you will. The most elaborate of the
costumes is that of the devil which, at best, is cheap Halloween style garb.
The movie does a poor job at hiding it paltry budget, but it would be the all-black
cast and its African American filmmaker that would make the feature appealing
to black audiences across the nation.
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| A special effects shot used from L'Inferno. |
A hidden trick Williams used to mask the poorer quality of his film was
the addition of shots from the Italian silent feature L’Inferno which were artistic special effects shots of angels
ascending into the clouds and the heavenly gates. Upon first viewing these
shots I was blown away by the cinematic quality of these heavenly visions, but
was disappointed to discover their true origins and simple edits into the
picture.
The film’s religious tone and representation of deep rooted Baptist
ways and music would be an engaging aspect for black audiences, especially in
the South where the film was funded and produced. The picture would play in
black theaters across the nation as well as black churches. With the draw of
its key demographic the feature achieved significant financial profits leading
to a new, prolonged contract for Spencer Williams to write and direct
additional films for Sack Amusement.
Critically the feature is generally praised for its historical nature as
a race film, as well as for capturing the Southern Baptist stylings on
celluloid. Spencer Williams’ career as a director would take off, becoming one
of the most prevalent black filmmakers of the decade thanks for the attention
and success of this picture. His popularity with African American entertainment
led to Williams being casted as Andy when the famous Amos ‘n’ Andy radio show was being made into a television series, a
role that defined his career despite his feature film body of work.
Due to the lack of care for race pictures in the early 20th
century the prints of The Blood of Jesus
would disappear or fall into disrepair with time and for decades was assumed to
be a lost film. In the 1980s a print would be discovered of the Spencer
Williams’ feature deep within a warehouse in Texas which allowed the product to
be restored and serve as a capsule to a film and its time in motion picture
history. In 1991 the film would be elected to be preserved by the National Film
Registry, becoming the first race film to receive the honor.
Although the film does not compare to contemporary motion pictures, the
story may be a bit bland, the acting poor, and the production quality a bit
laughable, but for its time and audience The
Blood of Jesus was a serious feature. Today the film stands of a reminder
of a different time when movie audiences were segregated and race pictures were
made by small independent companies to feed minority markets with the unique
entertainment that might better speak to them. It showcases one of the earliest
major African American filmmakers to make an impact on movie industry and is
preserved to remind future generations of how far America and the industry has
come.
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