Spencer Williams

Razz accidentally shoots his wife Martha when his hunting rifle drops on the floor and discharges. The church congregation gathers at Martha’s bedside to pray for her recovery, and during this period an angel arrives to take Martha’s spirit from her body, but she ...  (more)

Ossie Davis narrates a history of "race films," films made before 1950 which catered to a primarily black audience.  (more)

Bob Blake and his sidekick and four singing cowboys arrive at the Jackson ranch where Bob learns from Betty Jackson that her brother, Joe, is missing. Bob investigates and learns that there is gold on the Jackson ranch, and the neighboring rancher has kidnapped Joe ...  (more)

A cowboy is wrongfully accused of murder. He winds up in Harlem, where he assumes the identity of a preacher-turned-gangster who looks like him. He infiltrates the gang to catch the men who framed him.  (more)

A newlywed couple is visited by a strange old woman who harbors a secret about the young girl's father.  (more)

Johnny Fraser leaves his mother in their small home town and sets out for the big city. He obtains a job with a large firm of architects. Steve Carson, a fellow employee, is constantly flaunting the money he has won at the race track. Johnny also bets the races, ...  (more)

A wandering cowboy and his sidekick try to resolve a murder.  (more)

Bad News Johnson, a con artist from Memphis, Tennessee, arrives in Dallas, Texas, accompanied by his dim sidekick July Jones with only twenty-five cents between them. The duo arrange to become boarders at the home of Louella "Mama Lou" Holiday, who is fooled into ...  (more)

Daisy Mae Walker is an aspiring singer from a small town in Texas, who comes to New York City to pursue a show business career, but falls prey to a sleazy nightclub owner. Thanks to the intervention of a kindly taxi driver, Daisy Mae is able to achieve her goals.  (more)

The owner of a juke joint arranges to frame an innocent preacher with a scandalous photograph, but his scheme backfires when his own adoptive mother interferes.  (more)

A Harlem nightclub entertainer arrives on the Caribbean island of "Rinidad" to perform as the headliner in a revue at the Paradise Hotel. She quickly attracts the attention of several men.  (more)

During World War II, a young African American is forced to continue his family’s tradition of military service when he is drafted into the United States Army. Despite complications that arise during his basic training, including his jealousy following his ...  (more)

A filmed variety show featuring the Dizzy Gillespie Orchestra with special guests.  (more)

A cowboy helps a pretty young woman find lost gold. Restored by the Academy Film Archive with additional funding from the National Endowment for the Arts.  (more)

After losing their parents in a flood at a young age, two brothers grow up to become a police officer and a lawyer, working with a local newspaper owner to help rid the city of bootlegging gangsters.  (more)

US Navy produced short stars Joel Fluellen as a draftee from his civilian job at a black newspaper through boot camp and an assignment in the Pacific. Completed after the surrender of Japan, the film celebrates the teamwork, diversity, and the actions of several ...  (more)

The film is set in Memphis, Tennessee and focuses on a street sweeper who comes upon a large parcel of money. He uses the newly acquired wealth to go on a spending spree, with the hope of getting back at an old girlfriend who dumped him for another man. However, ...  (more)

Film by Spencer Williams.  (more)

An uncle discusses the life of Martin de Porres with his niece. de Porres was a late sixteenth-century Peruvian who was elevated to sainthood in 1962 by Pope John XXIII.  (more)

Virtually unseen for more than eighty years, Spencer Williams’s first film is a one-reel comedy short in which a rivalry between two men is played out in a high-stakes game of mini golf.  (more)