On this date in history in 1991, “The Blood of Jesus” became the first race film to be added to the Library of Congress’ National Film Registry. The race film or race movie was a film genre which existed in the United States between about 1915 and 1950. It consisted of films produced for an all-black audience, featuring black casts. “The Blood of Jesus,” a 1941 movie directed by Spencer Williams – one of the few black directors of the 1940s – is about an atheist who accidentally shoots his Baptist wife. She dies and goes to an afterlife crossroads, where the devil tries to lead her astray. “The Blood of Jesus” was produced in Texas on a budget of $5,000. To present the afterlife, Williams used scenes from a 1911 Italian film called “LInferno,” which depicted souls entering Heaven. Time magazine counts it among its “25 Most Important Films on Race.” Historian Thomas Cripps, in his book, “Black Film as Genre,” praised The Blood of Jesus for providing “a brief anatomy of Southern Baptist folk theology by presenting Christian myth in literal terms. From its opening voiceover, the film became an advocate for the most enduring traditions of Afro-American family life on Southern ground.” Below is that film.
Posted on: Thu, 25 Sep 2014 16:21:47 +0000
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