Charles W. Chesnutt to Oscar Micheaux, 17 January 1923
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January 17, 1923.
Micheaux Film Corporation,1
3457 South State Street,
Chicago, Ill.
Attention Mr. Oscar Micheaux
Gentlemen:
What progress are you making with the production of my "The House Behind the Cedars?"2 I have been patiently awaiting payment of your last note for $100.00, which, according to the terms of our contract is long overdue.3 I appreciate what you say in your letter of October 7, 1922, with reference to the difficulty and expensiveness of the task, but hope you have been able to get it to the point where you are able to take care of this note.4
Kindly let me hear from you.
Yours very truly, CWC/FLCorrespondent: 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. 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. 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]
4. A May 1922 check for $104.26 was the last payment Chesnutt ever received from Micheaux Film Corporation for the film rights to The House Behind the Cedars. An unlocated letter by the Micheaux Film Corporation from April 19, 1922, acknowledged by Chesnutt on April 28, enclosed two checks, one to be cashed May 15, the other June 15, 1922. But the May 15 check (covering the December 1921 promissory note) bounced. Both checks were then replaced by new cashier's checks with interest by Micheaux auditor Charles Henson on May 17, 1922, but only the first of these (for $104.25) could be cashed. Chesnutt passed on 25% ($26.06) to Houghton Mifflin Company on May 24, 1922, as per the contractual agreement, and requested that Micheaux pay the protest fee for the bounced check in his letter of May 23, 1922, but there is no record that the company did so. Instead, Charles Henson's letter of May 27, 1922, asked for more time to cover the June cashier's check (covering the January 1922 promissory note). Chesnutt's repeated inquiries to the company after this date failed to produce a payment on the last note. [back]
