Slideshow
THE NOTORIOUS ELINOR LEE
U.S., 1940
Written and directed by Oscar Micheaux
Starring Gladys Williams, Robert Earl Jones, Edna Mae Harris
Cinematography by Lester Lang
Approx. 72 min. DCP restoration from materials preserved by the Library of Congress.
Micheaux’s last extant film stars Robert Earl Jones as Benny Blue, a heavyweight contender modeled after Joe Louis, and Gladys Williams as gangster moll Elinor Lee, who buys Blue’s 10-year contract with plans to make him throw a championship fight. Lee’s scheme is derailed when Blue loses a key fight to a German boxer, clearly modeled off of Max Schmelling. Shot in Biograph studios in the Bronx and produced by pioneering Black aviator Hubert Julian, who hosted the film’s lavish world premiere in Harlem.