Body and Soul

(Oscar Micheaux, US 1925, 95 min., 35mm)

Paul Robeson's debut split-persona role, as sinner and saint, is a tour de force. A newspaper headline tells of a convict's escape; the convict (Robeson) soon assumes the identity of a preacher in a small town, and his fiery sermons quickly attract a growing congregation. A local woman decides that this is the man for her lovely daughter, but little does she know of the “man of God’s” evil ways. The New York Motion Picture Commission found the original nine-reel version of the film likely to “tend to incite to crime,” while calling the film “immoral” and “sacrilegious.” To placate the censors, director Oscar Micheaux made several cuts and shot a “more upbeat ending.” In 2009, the George Eastman Museum created a new print of this film from the surviving elements, restoring the color tinting found in the nitrate original. 

Live piano accompaniment by Philip Carli.