Sundays in February / 13 Movies
Black History Month is an annual celebration of achievements by African Americans in recognition of their role in U.S. history. Since 1976 every U.S. president has officially designated the month of February as a time to acknowledge the importance of these accomplishments.
Join TCM host Jacqueline Stewart and special guests each Sunday this month for a collection of films honoring Black History Month. The movies range from history-making silent classics to the important U.S. premiere of Oscar Micheaux: The Superhero of Black Filmmaking (2021). This documentary was written and directed by Francesco Zippel and features comments by Morgan Freeman and Melvin Van Peebles.
Author-producer-director Oscar Devereaux Micheaux (1884-1951) was considered the first major African American filmmaker, with more than 40 movies (both silent and sound) to his credit. Among his films in this tribute are the silents Within Our Gates (1920), The Symbol of the Unconquered (1920) and Body and Soul (1925).
Two other silents included in our salute were produced by the Colored Players Film Corporation of Philadelphia and feature all-black casts. Ten Nights in a Barroom (1926), a version of the Timothy Shay Arthur novel, is directed by Roy Calnek with Charles Gilpin in the leading role. The Scar of Shame (1929) is directed by Frank Peregini and stars Harry Henderson.
Stormy Weather (1943) is a rarity – a musical from the movies’ Golden Age with an African American cast aimed at mainstream audiences and produced by a major Hollywood studio (20th Century Fox). Lena Horne, Bill Robinson and Cab Calloway star under the direction of Andrew L. Stone.
Lilies of the Field (1963) is based on the William Edmund Barrett novel about a group of nuns who believe a black itinerant worker has been sent to them from Heaven. With this film, Sidney Poitier became the first person of color to win an Oscar for a lead performance.
Crisis: Behind a Presidential Commitment (1963), directed by Robert Drew, is a documentary about the troubled integration of the University of Alabama in the 1960s. The key players are President John F. Kennedy, Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy and Governor George Wallace.
Black Panthers (1968) is a documentary short by Agnès Varda focusing on protests in Oakland, CA, over the 1967 arrest of Black Panther co-founder Huey P. Newton for the murder of a police officer.
Malcolm X (1992) is a biographical drama about the African American activist, directed and co-written by Spike Lee and starring Denzel Washington in a highly praised, Oscar-nominated performance.
Freedom on My Mind (1994) is a riveting historical documentary that chronicles the Mississppi voting drive of 1961-1964, which was characterized by violence against those involved in registering Black voters.
Selma (2014) is an historical drama directed by Ava DuVernay and based on the voting-rights marches in Selma, AL, in 1965. Leading roles are played by David Oyelowo as Martin Luther King Jr., Tom Wilkinson as President Lyndon B. Johnson and Tim Roth as Governor George Wallace.
Sunday, February 6
8:00 PM: Lilies of the Field (1963) with Dr. Samantha Sheppard
10:00 PM: Freedom on My Mind (1994) with Dr. Samantha Sheppard
12:15 AM: Ten Nights in a Barroom (1926) with Dr. Samantha Sheppard
Sunday, February 13
8:00 PM: Stormy Weather (1943) with Dr. Racquel Gates
9:30 PM: Oscar Micheaux: The Superhero of Black Filmmaking (2021) with Dr.
Racquel Gates
11:00 PM: Within Our Gates (1920) with Dr. Racquel Gates
12:30 AM: The Symbol of the Unconquered (1922) with Dr. Racquel Gates
Sunday, February 20
8:00 PM: Selma (2014) with David Oyelowo
10:30 PM: Crisis: Behind a Presidential Commitment (1963) with David Oyelowo
12:00 AM: Body and Soul (1925) with Dr. Racquel Gates
Sunday, February 27
8:00 PM: Malcolm X (1992) with David Oyelowo
11:30 PM: Black Panthers (1968) with David Oyelowo
12:15 AM: The Scar of Shame (1929) with Dr. Samantha Sheppard
