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Similar to Body and Soul
A minister is malevolent and sinister behind his righteous facade. He consorts with, and later extorts from, the owner of a gambling house, and betrays an honest girl, eventually driving them both to ruin.
Reverend Isaiah T. Jenkins / His brother Sylvester
Sister Martha Jane
Isabelle
Speakeasy Proprietor
Yello-Curley' Hinds - the Phony Reverend's Former Jailmate
Deacon Simpkins - a Church Elder
Brother Amos - a Church Elder
"Sis" Ca'line
"Sis" Lucy
I love silent films, though this one heralding the first film performance of Paul Robeson is simply good or decent, not great or essential. Robeson's performance is excellent in an otherwise average melodrama, and it's clear he's going to be a star of the silver screen. In her only cinematic appearance, Julia Theresa Russell, who was the director's sister-in-law, deserves mention, however. She's gorgeous and her acting wasn't bad at all. The jazz/blues/spiritual score on the Criterion Collection release, I believe by Wycliffe Gordon, is outstanding. Recommended if you like either silent films or Paul Robeson.
November 9, 1925
Reverend Isaiah T. Jenkins / His brother Sylvester
Sister Martha Jane
Isabelle
Speakeasy Proprietor
Yello-Curley' Hinds - the Phony Reverend's Former Jailmate
Deacon Simpkins - a Church Elder
Brother Amos - a Church Elder
"Sis" Ca'line
"Sis" Lucy
I love silent films, though this one heralding the first film performance of Paul Robeson is simply good or decent, not great or essential. Robeson's performance is excellent in an otherwise average melodrama, and it's clear he's going to be a star of the silver screen. In her only cinematic appearance, Julia Theresa Russell, who was the director's sister-in-law, deserves mention, however. She's gorgeous and her acting wasn't bad at all. The jazz/blues/spiritual score on the Criterion Collection release, I believe by Wycliffe Gordon, is outstanding. Recommended if you like either silent films or Paul Robeson.
