Paul Robeson

Acting

Paul Robeson

Born 1898-04-08 · Princeton, New Jersey, USA

Paul Robeson (April 9, 1898 - January 23, 1976) was an American concert bass-baritone, athlete, actor and political activist. Born in Princeton, New Jersey he was educated at Rutgers College and Columbia University Law School. After briefly practising as a lawyer he left the trade due to racism and instead pursued his acting and singing career.

Acting credits

Big Fella poster
7.3

Singing Marseilles docker Joe is hired by wealthy English couple, the Oliphants, to find their missing son Gerald. When Joe finds him, he learns Gerald escaped of his own will and takes him to stay with a local singer, who offers a refuge from his repressed white parents.

Big Fella

1938

Camille: The Fate of a Coquette poster
4.2

A home movie version of the Dumas play. A young woman becomes a courtesan and tragedy befalls her. Appearances are made by many socialites of 1920s Paris and New York.

Camille: The Fate of a Coquette

1926

Paul Robeson: 20th Century Renaissance Man, Entertainer & Activist poster
NR

Paul Robeson was a celebrated African-American Actor, Athlete, Singer, Writer, and Civil Rights Activist. Robeson's many achievements are chronicled in this program, ranging from playing with the NFL to graduating from Columbia Law School, performing on Broadway and in Hollywood films to founding the American Crusade against Lynching as well as Council on African Affairs. Robeson was one of the most talented performers of his time and a dedicated humanitarian who ultimately sacrificed fame and fortune for what he believed in. His association with Leftist Politics during the era of the Cold War, and frequent denouncing of American political parties led to his eventual blacklisting with other prominent writers and artists during the McCarthy Era. His talents in all areas are remarkable, and his dedication to attaining a peaceful coexistence between all the people of the world is truly admirable.

Paul Robeson: 20th Century Renaissance Man, Entertainer & Activist

1994

Song of the Rivers poster
6.3

An allegorical documentary about the workers of the world, whose common destinies and hopes for peace are symbolically united by the rivers that run through their respective lands. The film was shot on the Volga, the Mississippi, the Nile, the Yangtze, the Amazon and the Ganges and combines these images of five continents with the music of Dmitri Shostakovich and the poetry of both Bertolt Brecht and Paul Robeson.

Song of the Rivers

1954

The Real Charlie Chaplin poster
7.7

A look at the life and work of Charlie Chaplin in his own words featuring an in-depth interview he gave to Life magazine in 1966.

The Real Charlie Chaplin

2021

Tales of Manhattan poster
6.4

Ten screenwriters collaborated on this series of tales concerning the effect a tailcoat cursed by its tailor has on those who wear it. The video release features a W.C. Fields segment not included in the original theatrical release.

Tales of Manhattan

1942

Scandalize My Name: Stories from the Blacklist poster
8.3

A look at the confluence of the Red Scare, McCarthyism, and blacklists with the post-war activism by African Americans seeking more and better roles on radio, television, and stage. It begins in Harlem, measures the impact of Paul Robeson and the campaign to bring him down, looks at the role of HUAC, J. Edgar Hoover and of journalists such as Ed Sullivan, and ends with a tribute to Canada Lee. Throughout are interviews with men and women who were there, including Dick Campbell of the Rose McLendon Players and Fredrick O'Neal of the American Negro Theatre. In the 1940s and 1950s, anti-Communism was one more tool to maintain Jim Crow and to keep down African-Americans.

Scandalize My Name: Stories from the Blacklist

1998

Show Boat poster
6.7

Despite her mother's objections, the naive young daughter of a show boat captain is thrust into the limelight as the company's new leading lady.

Show Boat

1936

King Solomon's Mines poster
5.4

White hunter Allan Quartermain and his enigmatic guide help a young Irish woman locate her missing father in unexplored Darkest Africa.

King Solomon's Mines

1937

Brother, Can You Spare a Dime? poster
6.3

Period music, film clips and newsreel footage combined into a visual exploration of the American entertainment industry during the Great Depression.

Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?

1975

AFI's 100 Years... 100 Songs: America's Greatest Music in the Movies poster
8.3

The top 100 songs of the past 100 years chosen by the American Film Institute are presented by host-actor John Travolta.

AFI's 100 Years... 100 Songs: America's Greatest Music in the Movies

2004

Native Land poster
6.3

By the start of World War II, Paul Robeson had given up his lucrative mainstream work to participate in more socially progressive film and stage productions. Robeson committed his support to Paul Strand and Leo Hurwitz’s political semidocumentary Native Land. With Robeson’s narration and songs, this beautifully shot and edited film exposes violations of Americans’ civil liberties and is a call to action for exploited workers around the country. Scarcely shown since its debut, Native Land represents Robeson’s shift from narrative cinema to the leftist documentaries that would define the final chapter of his controversial film career.

Native Land

1942

I’m a Negro, I’m an American – Paul Robeson poster
7.0

Biographical notes on the American singer, actor and civil rights activist Paul Robeson (1898-1976). At the height of his fame and skill, Robeson’s career was cut short by Cold War anti-communist hysteria. This documentary includes historic footage of the US civil rights movement; clips of Robeson’s speeches, performances and visits to East Germany (GDR) and the Soviet Union; and interviews with his son, Paul Robeson Jr., and the musicians and activists Harry Belafonte, Pete Seeger and Earl Robinson. Co-produced by the GDR’s DEFA Studio for Documentary Film and the West Berlin production company Chronos, with scenes shot in the U.S.

I’m a Negro, I’m an American – Paul Robeson

1990

Musical Comedy Tonight III poster
NR

Sylvia Fine hosts this musical show featuring some great American singing and dancing stars, featuring music by Gershwin, Rodgers & Hart, Berlin and Kern.

Musical Comedy Tonight III

1985

Sanders of the River poster
5.6

A British District Officer in Nigeria in the 1930s rules his area strictly but justly. He struggles with gun-runners and slavers with the aid of a loyal native chief.

Sanders of the River

1935

Easy to Get poster
9.0

U.S. Army training film about avoiding venereal disease, intended primarily for Black servicemen.

Easy to Get

1947

Contradictory America. Faith, hope, love and hate. Film 2 poster
9.0

In the second film, the author tells about the struggle of blacks for the right to feel equal with all US citizens. Commentary of the mayor of Cairo, one of the cities in the American South, about the suppression of the rebels, about the most brutal methods of fighting African American protesters. Jesse Jackson's speech. Jesse Jackson's commentary on the Black Rights Organization. Comments by female residents of Jackson, the capital of Mississippi, on the degree of mental development of whites and blacks. A story about the Ku Klux Klan, about Robert Shelton - the head of the Ku Klux Klan. Speech by American singer and dramatic actor Paul Robson, his commentary. Shots of the Olympics, victories in the competition of black athletes. About reprisals against Negro organizations. The widow of the American writer Ernest Hemingway Mary and the American scientist Henry Winston speak out about support for African Americans and the fight against racism.

Contradictory America. Faith, hope, love and hate. Film 2

1973

Emperor Jones poster
5.6

Unscrupulously ambitious, Brutus Jones escapes from jail after killing a guard and, through bluff and bravado, finds himself the emperor of a Caribbean island.

Emperor Jones

1933

No artwork available
NR

Featuring Paul Robeson, this is the first documentary film to take a serious look at social conditions and race relations in South Africa.

My Song Goes Forth

1937

The Proud Valley poster
6.3

In a Welsh coal mining valley, a young man with a beautiful singing voice is called upon to make the ultimate sacrifice when a pit disaster threatens.

The Proud Valley

1940

The Tallest Tree in Our Forest poster
NR

A detailed biography of famed singer, actor, athlete and activist Paul Robeson. Complete with several interviews and footage of concerts and film clips.

The Tallest Tree in Our Forest

1977

Paul Robeson: Tribute to an Artist poster
7.3

This Academy Award-winning documentary short Paul Robeson: Tribute to an Artist, narrated by Sidney Poitier, traces the career of Paul Robeson through his activism and his socially charged performances of his signature song, “Ol’ Man River.”

Paul Robeson: Tribute to an Artist

1979

Howard Zinn: Voices of a People's History of the United States poster
NR

An impressive roster of celebrities -- including Lili Taylor, Paul Robeson, Sarah Jones, Brian Jones, John Sayles and Wallace Shawn -- lend their voices to this performance of readings inspired by Howard Zinn's best-selling book. Segments bring to life Tecumseh's speech to the Osages, Frederick Douglass' thoughts about July 4 and Paul Robeson's Unread Statement before the House Committee on Un-American Activities.

Howard Zinn: Voices of a People's History of the United States

2006

Mining Review 2nd Year No. 11 poster
6.5

The 23rd issue of the long running industry cinemagazine. Features the articles: 'Safety First', 'Paying For It' and ' A Star Drops In'.

Mining Review 2nd Year No. 11

1949

Behind the camera