Oscar Micheaux to Charles W. Chesnutt, 29 January 1921
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Micheaux Film Corporation1
PRODUCERS & DISTRIBUTORS OF HIGH CLASS NEGRO FEATURE PHOTOPLAYS
538 SOUTH DEARBORN STREET
CHICAGO
115 W. 135 St.,
New York City,
Jan. 29, "21
Mr. Chas. W. Chesnutt,
Cleveland, Ohio
Dear Mr. Chesnutt:
Receipt of your communication, I acknowledge, in reply to which I accept the suggestion of Messers Houghton Mifflin & Co., and am ordering our Chicago office to draw up contract option as per: $100,00 payable down on signing of contract, the balance June 15, or on date of release, which, however, can hardly be expected before August, so by completing payment for this Film right on June 15th, you are fully protected which I trust will be satisfactory to you.2
$500 is not a large price in this day for a good story, but, as set forth by your publishers, they realize that the most meritorious work any race man might accomplish in this country, is met with a restriction which is, in the face of our boasted freedom, deplorable. I like your story and as an evidence of my appreciation and confidence in your ability, I am prepared to contract for a series of at least four more stories by you, a mature gentleman with a keen sense of literary art, you should be able to write these, at $500 a story.3 It is not, when writing directly for the screen, nessecary to write a long book—synopsis being sufficient. I find that mine approxiamte from 8,000 to 15,000 words, a detailed synopsis setting forth a concrete tho't from which I can make an adaption for the screen, it not being nessecary and preferrable that you attempt this.
There will be, of course, eliminations, but few changes for the reason that the story is largely descriptive while most novels run to conversation which must be so largely eliminated. That is why so many of the "Best sellers" when filmed are a dissapointment, while on the other hand, a discriptive story which may have not met with such a popular reading demand, very often surprises every body for its picture interest. Bear this in mind if you decide to write more stories for us—discription and not such much conversation, plenty of action, intensity and strong counterplot. I will neither change the title and will feature your name conspiciously. Write of the things you have known more intimately, I like stories of the south—strange murder cases, mystery with dynamic climaxes—but avoid race conflict as much as possible, which does not mean that I want stories "all colored"—I do not. I desire them as the races live in relation to each other in every day life. Very truly,
Oscar Micheaux
Micheaux Film Corporation
PRODUCERS & DISTRIBUTORS OF HIGH CLASS NEGRO FEATURE PHOTOPLAYS
538 SOUTH DEARBORN STREET
CHICAGO
P.S.
Supplimenting the letter herewith, please have your publishers draft the option and send to our Chicago office where it will be acknowledged and along with Check for $100 will be mailed to you are them as however it may be directed.
Correspondent: Oscar Micheaux (1884–1951) was a Black American writer and film director known for his films about race and racism. Originally from Illinois, he began his career as a novelist and later founded the Micheaux Film and Book Company (ultimately renamed Micheaux Film Corporation) in 1919. He first adapted his early novel The Homesteader to film, and directed and produced over three dozen films in the 1920s and 30s, typically writing the scripts as well as overseeing the low-budget production and distribution of the films. Several of his films were loosely based on the works of Black authors, including Chesnutt. After the demise of his company in 1940, Micheaux founded a publishing business and wrote several more novels.
1. The Micheaux Film Corporation began in 1919 as the Micheaux Book and Film Company. Founded by Black novelist, film director, and film producer Oscar Micheaux (1884–1951), it was based in Chicago, with offices in New York City and Roanoke, Virginia, and became the most successful Black-owned film company of the 20th century. In the 1920s and '30s, Micheaux produced at least three dozen films featuring Black actors and themes he believed to be of particular interest to Black audiences, three of them based loosely on Chesnutt's work. In 1928, the company voluntarily filed for bankruptcy, reorganized, and survived until 1940. Most of the films are lost. [back]
2. Between January and September 1921, Oscar Micheaux negotiated with Chesnutt to pay $500 in five installments for the film rights to Chesnutt's novel The House Behind the Cedars. This was a low sum for movie rights to a novel, but Chesnutt likely took into account that Black-produced films had low budgets. Ultimately, 25% (rather than the originally suggested 33%) of the money received went to Chesnutt's publisher, Houghton Mifflin Company. Several of the payments were delayed, and Chesnutt never received the final installment. Micheaux's film adaptation was released in December 1924. [back]
3. When the Micheaux Film Corporation first negotiated with Chesnutt in 1920, Oscar Micheaux (1884–1951) seemed interested in adapting portions of Chesnutt's short story collection The Conjure Woman before settling on an adaptation of The House Behind the Cedars. Oscar and Swan E. Micheaux brought up the collection frequently in the fall of 1921, but no précis, script, or treatment by Chesnutt has been located. It is unclear whether Micheaux's lost 1926 film The Conjure Woman, starring Evelyn Preer (1896–1932), was an unauthorized adaptation, since no plot description has survived and he sometimes used known titles to draw attention to unrelated film plots. [back]
