This entry in the American Film Institute’s Catalog gives production information and a brief summary of the Colored Players’ film, Children of Fate.  It also cites a newspaper article that places the film’s budget at $25,000 (Chicago Defender 27 November 1926, p. 7) as well as Pittsburgh Courier 6 August 1927.  By Elissa Stern

This entry in the American Film Institute’s Catalog gives production information and a brief summary of the Colored Players’ film, Ten Nights in a Barroom.  It also notes the screening of the film in Los Angeles, citing two press sources: California Eagle 25 June 1926, p. 7; California Eagle 26 October 1928.  By Elissa Stern

American Film Institute. (1997). A Prince of His Race. Within our Gates: Ethnicity in American Feature Films, 1911-1960. (Gevinson, A.,Ed.). Berkeley: University of California Press, 794

This entry in the American Film Institute’s Catalog gives production information and a brief summary of the Colored Players’ film, A Prince of His Race from a Chicago Defender article. A note under the entry puts the budget of this film at $14,000, “a costly figure for black films at that time” (794). Two press citations are also listed: (New York Age, 4 Dec 1926, p. 6; Chicago Defender, 27 Nov 1926, p. 7. By Elissa Stern

American Film Institute.  (1997).  The Scar of Shame.  Within our Gates: Ethnicity in American Feature Films, 1911-1960 .  (Gevinson, A., Ed.). Berkeley: University of California Press, 885-886.

This entry in the American Film Institute’s Catalog gives production information and a brief summary of the Colored Players’ film, The Scar of Shame.  The entry further quotes lines from the film:  “If early in life some knowing, loving hand lights the lamp of knowledge and with tender care keeps it burning, then our course will run true 'til the end of our useful time on this earth, but if that lamp should fail through lack of loving hands to tend its hungry flame-then will come sorrow and SHAME!” (p. 886).  This quote is attributed to "a modern source" in a note (p. 886).  By Elissa Stern

Under a headline in enormous font stating “Colored Film Players Corporation Working Again,” this article discusses circumstances surrounding the production of the Colored Players Film Corporation’s Children of Fate, including a rumor that one scene will take over $25,000 to make.  By Elissa Stern

 Carey.  Baltimore Afro-American,10.  Jan 22, 1927. [Cited in Oscar Micheaux and his circle : African-American filmmaking and race cinema of the silent era / Pearl Bowser, Jane Gaines, and Charles Musser editors and curators. [0253339944] Bloomington : Indiana University Press, c2001.] 

Announces the Colored Players Film Corporation’s Ten Nights in a Barroom on the program of the Carey Theater in Pittsburgh and includes a plot summary.  By Elissa Stern

"Ten Nights in a Bar Room" Gets Showing. Philadelphia Tribune, 3.  Nov 20, 1926.  [Cited in Oscar Micheaux and his circle : African-American filmmaking and race cinema of the silent era / Pearl Bowser, Jane Gaines, and Charles Musser editors and curators. [0253339944] Bloomington : Indiana University Press, c2001.]

This article reviews a preview screening of Ten Nights in a Barroom given by the Colored Players Film Corporation at Philadelphia’s Gladstone Theater “before a representative audience.”  The author also mentions a post-screening visit to the CPFC studios where “race artists, electricians, and cameramen” were busily working on a film.  In addition, he notes Starkman’s dissatisfaction with the “indifference and lack of cooperation of certain local theater owners in doing their part to encourage worthwhile Negro pictures”.  By Elissa Stern

Stellar Colored Picture At…Royal Theater Next W…. Philadelphia Tribune, 3. July 17, 1926. [Cited in Oscar Micheaux and his circle : African-American filmmaking and race cinema of the silent era / Pearl Bowser, Jane Gaines, and Charles Musser editors and curators. [0253339944] Bloomington : Indiana University Press, c2001.]

The article includes a summary of A Prince of His Race by the Colored Players Film Corporation and an announcement for its exhibition at the local Royal Theater. Moreover, the article states that “an excellent supporting cast of local talent” was used in the film. By Elissa Stern

Gilpin Enters Movie’s Realm. Philadelphia Tribune, 3. June 19, 1926. [Cited in Oscar Micheaux and his circle : African-American filmmaking and race cinema of the silent era / Pearl Bowser, Jane Gaines, and Charles Musser editors and curators. [0253339944] Bloomington : Indiana University Press, c2001.]

This article discusses the involvement of Charles Gilpin, the famed stage actor, in the Colored Players Film Corporation’s Ten Nights in a Barroom and announces a preview screening. Includes brief quotes from Gilpin. By Elissa Stern

At the Elmore. Pittsburgh Courier, 10A. Aug 13, 1927. [Cited in Oscar Micheaux and his circle : African-American filmmaking and race cinema of the silent era / Pearl Bowser, Jane Gaines, and Charles Musser editors and curators. [0253339944] Bloomington : Indiana University Press, c2001.]

An announcement for the presentation of the Colored Players Film Corporation’s Children of Fate at Pittsburgh’s Elmore Theater touts the film as “a super movie play with an all-star colored cast” and includes a plot summary. By Elissa Stern

Briefly discusses the cast and the Colored Players while announcing the premiere of The Scar of Shame. By Elissa Stern

Advertises a screening and “monster benefit” for The Scar of Shame at the Gibson’s Theater at Broad and Lombard streets in Philadelphia. Calls it “the Greatest of Race Movies” with “An All Star Colored Cast” and includes seven screen shots in the ad. By Elissa Stern

Royal. Baltimore Afro-American, 13. April 13, 1929. [Cited in Oscar Micheaux and his circle : African-American filmmaking and race cinema of the silent era / Pearl Bowser, Jane Gaines, and Charles Musser editors and curators. [0253339944] Bloomington : Indiana University Press, c2001.]

This elaborate full page advertisement for the Colored Players Film Corporation’s The Scar of Shame in Baltimore includes a plot summary and a screen shot reproduction and bills the film as the “First All-Colored Talking Picture!”. By Elissa Stern

Dudley, S. H. (1927, June 26). Dud’s Dope. Chicago Defender, 8A. [Cited in Oscar Micheaux and his circle : African-American filmmaking and race cinema of the silent era / Pearl Bowser, Jane Gaines, and Charles Musser editors and curators. [0253339944] Bloomington : Indiana University Press, c2001.]

S. H. Dudley, who later becomes closely involved with the Colored Players Film Corporation advocates the production of race pictures. By Elissa Stern

Dudley, S. H. (1927, June 25). Dud’s Dope. Chicago Defender, 8A. [Cited in Oscar Micheaux and his circle : African-American filmmaking and race cinema of the silent era / Pearl Bowser, Jane Gaines, and Charles Musser editors and curators. [0253339944] Bloomington : Indiana University Press, c2001.]

S. H. Dudley discusses returning from a conference in Philadelphia in which he was invited to become involved with the Colored Players Film Corporation and appeals to readers to contribute financially to make “a one million dollar corporation”. By Elissa Stern

Dudley, S. H. (1927, March 12). Dud’s Dope. Chicago Defender, 8A. [Cited in Oscar Micheaux and his circle : African-American filmmaking and race cinema of the silent era / Pearl Bowser, Jane Gaines, and Charles Musser editors and curators. [0253339944] Bloomington : Indiana University Press, c2001.]

In his column, S. H. Dudley, who became closely involved with the Colored Players Film Corporation of Philadelphia, advocates the production of race films and cites the Colored Players as a praiseworthy example. By Elissa Stern

Production-November 1926, March 1927
Premiere-April 18-24, 1927

This film was shot at the studios of Philadelphia-based production company, the Colored Players Film Corporation, at 5813 Woodlawn Avenue and was screened at Philadelphia’s Royal Theater in 1927. By Elissa Stern

Production-June 1926
Preview-November 17, 1926

Ten Nights in a Barroom was shot at the studios of the Colored Players Film Corporation at 58^th and Woodlawn Streets in Philadelphia. The Colored Players were a Philadelphia-based production company, and used local actors, artisans, and cinematographers. It also had its preview at Philadelphia’s Gladstone Theater in 1926. By Elissa Stern

Premiere-July 19-24, 1926
Production-January-February 1926

This film is firmly embedded in the milieu of Philadelphia film production. It was shot in a studio at 5813 Woodlawn Avenue by the Colored Players Film Corporation of Philadelphia. It also previewed and premiered at local Philadelphia theaters-the Astor Theater and the Royal Theater, respectively. By Elissa Stern

Elmore Theater. Pittsburgh Courier, 10A. Aug 6, 1927. [Cited in Oscar Micheaux and his circle : African-American filmmaking and race cinema of the silent era / Pearl Bowser, Jane Gaines, and Charles Musser editors and curators. [0253339944] Bloomington : Indiana University Press, c2001.]

Advertises a film by the Colored Players Film Corporation of Philadelphia entitled Children of Fate, with the interesting misprint “Children of Hate” as mentioned in Musser (2001). Cites the film as the “most talked-of movie of the year” and “The Greatest Colored Picture Ever.” By Elissa Stern

Scores of Race Theaters Install Talkies. Pittsburgh Courier, p. 9A. March 30, 1929. [Cited in Oscar Micheaux and his circle : African-American filmmaking and race cinema of the silent era / Pearl Bowser, Jane Gaines, and Charles Musser editors and curators. [0253339944] Bloomington : Indiana University Press, c2001.]

This article provides a reference relating to the film historical context in which the Colored Players Film Corporation was working in the second half of the 1920s, when the silent film industry was on its last legs as sound film took over. By Elissa Stern

Goldwyn, R. (1974, November 17). The Scar of Shame: Why the Fuss over this Old, Made-in-Philadelphia, Silent Black Film.  Sunday Bulletin, Philadelphia Bulletin, p. 16.  [Cited in Oscar Micheaux and his circle : African-American filmmaking and race cinema of the silent era / Pearl Bowser, Jane Gaines, and Charles Musser editors and curators. [0253339944] Bloomington : Indiana University Press, c2001.278-85.]

By Elissa Stern  

Canby, Vincent. ‘Scar of Shame,’ a Black Pioneer Film, at Whitney. The New York times [0362-4331] (March 18, 1976).

This article summarizes the Colored Players Film Corporation’s 1927 film The Scar of Shame and reviews a 1976 screening of the film at the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York City, providing an example of the place the company’s work has taken in the discourse of film history. By Elissa Stern

Black Film Series.  The New York times [0362-4331] (March 21, 1979).

This advertisement announces a 1970 screening of the Colored Players Film Corporation’s Ten Nights in a Barroom (1926) at the Jewish Museum in New York, providing an example of how their work has engaged in inter-ethnic discourse within film history.  By Elissa Stern

Fraser, Gerald C.  Two Weekends of Black Film Classics at Symphony Space ...  The New York times [0362-4331] (Nov 30, 1979).

This article announces a 1979 screening of the Colored Players Film Corporation of Philadelphia’s 1927 film The Scar of Shame in association with a screening of Oscar Micheaux’s Body and Soul(1925), briefly summarizing the two films and the context of their production.  These are billed as “Black Film Classics” providing an example of the place the work of the Colored Players has come to hold in film historical discourse.  By Elissa Stern

Leab, D. J. "All-Colored"-But Not Much Different: Films Made for Negro Ghetto Audiences, 1913-1928. Phylon [0031-8906] 36.3 321-339. 3rd Qtr., 1975

Leab discusses the representation of blacks in film during the period from 1913-1928 and the audience that were the targets of such representations. This discussion of spectatorship and black representation in film is relevant to the context in which the Colored Players Film Corporation of Philadelphia worked during the second half of the 1920s. By Elissa Stern

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Bowser, P. & Spence, L. Oscar Micheaux’s Body and Soul and the Burden of Representation. Cinema journal [0009-7101] 39.3 3-29. Spring 2000.

This article provides a good discussion of film production in the context of stratification within black urban communities at a time contemporary with the production of the Colored Players Film Corporation.

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Gaines, Jane. The Scar of Shame: Skin Color and Caste in Black Silent Melodrama. Cinema journal [0009-7101] 27.2 54-56. Summer 1987.

Gaines analyzes issues of aesthetics and spectatorship surrounding the 1927 Colored Players Film Corporation’s 1927 film The Scar of Shame. She notes that the portrayals of black figures in the film are specific to a particular historical moment and are “haunted by white society” and a pervasive class consciousness among the black community (p. 5). She addresses the political views of the owners of the company in reference to those portrayed in the film citing the influence of a racist society as a cause for the melodramatic “stylistic excess” in the film (p. 16). By Elissa Stern

Bowser, P. Lost, Then Found: The Wedding Scene from The Scar of Shame (1929). Oscar Micheaux and his circle : African-American filmmaking and race cinema of the silent era / Pearl Bowser, Jane Gaines, and Charles Musser editors and curators. [0253339944] Bloomington : Indiana University Press, c2001. 188-9.

This brief article includes a description of a “rediscovered” scene from the Colored Players Film Corporation’s 1929 silent film The Scar of Shame. Bowser also provides bits of information about the history of the actual prints of the film. The American Film Institute acquired 35mm prints of the film around 1970 and this became the commercially available video version. The wedding scene, however, discovered a few years later by Bowser in a 16mm version, is missing from the AFI version.  By Elissa Stern

Cripps, Thomas. Black film as genre / Thomas Cripps. [0253375029] Bloomington : Indiana University Press, c1978.

This book contains a brief discussion of the Colored Players Film Corporation in its Preface, highlighting the white ownership of the supposedly colored production company. The book also contains analyses of 6 race films (The Scar of Shame, The St. Louis Blues, The Blood of Jesus, The Negro Soldier, Nothing But a Man, Sweet Sweetback’s Baadasssss[sic] Song) in the context of being “black genre films”, a filmography of black genre film (title, date, director), and an appendix with credit information for these 6 films. The chapter devoted to the analysis of the social and historical context of the production of the Colored Players’ 1927 film The Scar of Shame focuses on the use of white cinematographers and directors in the tale of a black middle-class melodrama. He also discusses an attempt to increase black attendance at film screenings.  By Elissa Stern

Musser, C. Appendix C: A Colored Players Film Corporation Filmography. Oscar Micheaux and his circle : African-American filmmaking and race cinema of the silent era / Pearl Bowser, Jane Gaines, and Charles Musser editors and curators. / Pearl Bowser, Jane Gaines, and Charles Musser editors and curators. [0253339944] Bloomington : Indiana University Press, c2001. 278-85.

This filmography of the four films produced by the Colored Players Film Corporation of Philadelphia is by far the most detailed source of information regarding Philadelphia film production in the second half of the 1920s. Musser’s filmography includes cast listings, production credits, the length of the features (all are 8 reels), plot descriptions transcribed from newspaper advertisements, production and screening dates and locations, as well as copious lists of relevant contemporary newspaper citations. By Elissa Stern

Musser, C. Colored Players Film Corporation: An Alternative to Micheaux. Oscar Micheaux and his circle : African-American filmmaking and race cinema of the silent era / Pearl Bowser, Jane Gaines, and Charles Musser editors and curators. [0253339944] Bloomington : Indiana University Press, c2001. 178-87.

This article relays detailed information about the organization of the Colored Players Film Corporation, the inter-racial and inter-ethnic context in which its films were produced, and also provides interesting discussion about the rivalry between Colored Players and the company of Oscar Micheaux, including the “st[ealing of] each other’s actors” (Musser, 2001, p. 182). By Elissa Stern

Production-February-March 1929
Premiere-April 13-17, 1929 (New York Premiere), April 15-20, 1929 (Philadelphia Premiere)

This film was shot at the studios of Philadelphia-based production company, the Colored Players Film Corporation, at 5813 Woodlawn Avenue with local actors and was screened at Philadelphia’s Gibson’s Theater in April 1929 and the Pearl Theater in June of the same year.  By Elissa Stern