Charles W. Chesnutt to Oscar Micheaux, 9 March 1922
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March 9, 1922.
Micheaux Film Corporation,1
538 So. Dearborn Street,
Chicago, Ill.
Attention Mr. Oscar Micheaux.
Gentlemen:
I have Mr. Oscar Micheaux' letter of February 28th, in which he states reasons why you have not met your notes for December and January, for motion picture rights for "The House Behind the Cedars,"2 according to the terms of our contract.3 I am of course sorry that you have fallen behind in this matter, as I had been relying on this money. I am willing to wait until April 15th, as Mr. Oscar Micheaux suggests in his letter, but I hope I shall not be asked to wait any longer. This is not entirely my money as I have to remit a portion of it to my publishers.4
It is, of course, annoying that you cannot conveniently produce your pictures in the South, which of course is the ideal place to make them.5 I am afraid that for our generation anything like a liberal or generous attitude towards the colored people is a hopeless thing to expect, down there, and I hope that you will be able to make your pictures under fairly good conditions in the New York studio.6
Trusting that I can rely upon your attention to this matter by April 15th, I am
Yours very truly, CWC/FLCorrespondent:
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. The House Behind the Cedars (Houghton Mifflin, 1900) was Chesnutt's first published novel. House evolved over more than a decade from a short story, "Rena Walden," first drafted in the late 1880s. It was the only novel by Chesnutt to be serialized, once in 1900-1901 in the monthly Self Culture and again in 1921-1922 in the Black weekly Chicago Defender. House was also his only novel to be adapted to film (1924 and 1932). [back]
3. Chesnutt came to an arrangement regarding the movie-rights contract for his novel The House Behind the Cedars with Micheaux Film Corporation, which produced a series of five $100.00 promissory ("cognovit") notes, each due on the 15th of the month (September to January). These were paid with delays and incurred additional interest and penalties: the September note was paid on October 1; the October note around November 13; November's on December 4; and December's not until May 1922. The last note was not paid at all. Chesnutt declined several offers of stocks or bonds in the company in trade for the notes, and passed 25% of each payment on to Houghton Mifflin Company. [back]
4. 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]
5. Oscar Micheaux explored and then abandoned the option of shooting in Jacksonville, Florida out of concern that his Black cast and crew would encounter discrimination. But many of Micheaux's films, including the film version of The House Behind the Cedars, were shot at least partly in the South, namely around Roanoke, Virginia, where the Micheaux Film Corporation had a branch office. [back]
6. The Micheaux Film Corporation's New York City branch was located at 115 W. 135th St. in 1921; Oscar Micheaux (1884–1951) shot several of his movies in the city and primarily lived there when not traveling to promote his films. [back]
