Murder in Harlem (also released as Lem Hawkins Confession and Brand of Cain) is a 1935 American race film written, produced and directed by Oscar Micheaux, who also appears in the film. It is a remake of his 1921 silent film The Gunsaulus Mystery.
Basing the works on the 1913 trial of Leo Frank for the murder of Mary Phagan,"Oscar Micheaux and Leo Frank: Cinematic Justice Across the Color Line", Film Quarterly, Summer 2004. Micheaux used the detective genre to introduce different voices and conflicting accounts by his characters. In July 2021, the film was shown in the Cannes Classics section at the 2021 Cannes Film Festival.
Plot An African-American man is framed for the murder of a white woman, but a white man is responsible. Author-turned-attorney Henry Glory is hired by the accused man's sister to defend him. Glory pieces the crime together, and the white killer is revealed. The film is loosely based on the real life case of Leo Frank. However, it changes the details of the real case, which was highly prejudicial against Frank due to his being a Jewish man in Georgia. Unlike in the film, Frank's guilt is often viewed with great skepticism due to his never receiving a fair trial."Overview: Lem Hawkins’ Confession", Turner Classic Movies.J. Ronald Green, Straight Lick: The Cinema of Oscar Micheaux, Indiana University Press, 2000, p. 174.
Cast Clarence Brooks as Henry Glory Dorothy Van Engle as Claudia Vance Andrew S. Bishop as Anthony Brisbane Alec Lovejoy as Lem Hawkins Laura Bowman as Mrs. Epps Bee Freeman as The Catbird Alice B. Russell as Mrs. Vance Eunice Wilson as Singer Lorenzo McClane as Arthur Vance David Hanna as Undetermined Role "Slick" Chester as Detective
Soundtrack "Harlem Rhythm Dance" (Music and lyrics by Clarence Williams) "Ants in My Pants" (Music and lyrics by Clarence Williams)
See also List of films in the public domain in the United States
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