The Homesteader
Cast & Crew
Oscar Micheaux
Charles D. Lucas
Evelyn Preer
Iris Hall
Inez Smith
Vernon S. Duncan
Film Details
Technical Specs
Synopsis
Agnes Stewart, a Scottish girl who has come to South Dakota with her father, takes refuge in an isolated house during a blizzard. Hearing cries outside, she rescues Jean Baptiste, a black man who was in danger of freezing to death. Baptiste, who owns the house, falls in love with Agnes but despairs of overcoming the social barriers that prevent their union. He returns East to his people and marries Orlean, the daughter of preacher N. Justine McCarthy, a vain man who soon takes offense at Baptiste's refusal to praise him. Enlisting the aid of Orlean's sister Ethel and brother-in-law Glavis, McCarthy begins a campaign of persecution against Baptiste that Orlean is too weak-willed to battle. Finally Orlean goes insane, kills her father, and commits suicide. Baptiste returns to South Dakota and meets Agnes, who has discovered that she is really black. The two find happiness together at last.
Cast
Charles D. Lucas
Evelyn Preer
Iris Hall
Inez Smith
Vernon S. Duncan
Charles S. Moore
Trevy Woods
William George
Film Details
Technical Specs
Quotes
Trivia
This was the first feature-length movie made for black audiences. Stills from this film appear in Midnight Ramble (1994) (TV).
Notes
This was Oscar Micheaux's first film. Micheaux's company was located in Chicago. Contemporary sources disagree on whether Micheaux or Jerry Mills was the director. One contemporary source cites black film pioneer William Foster as doing "detailed service" on the production. Micheaux's production company is alternately called the Micheaux Book and Film Co. and the Micheaux Film Co. in ads. Modern sources call Evelyn Preer's character Orleans instead of Orlean. Some information in the plot synopsis comes from a 1927 interview with Preer. Micheaux's 1948 film The Betrayal is sometimes described as a loose remake of The Homesteader (see below).
Miscellaneous Notes
Released in United States 1919
Feature directorial debut for pioneer black filmmaker Oscar Micheaux.
Shot in 1918.
Released in United States 1919 (Chicago)
