Oscar Micheaux to Charles W. Chesnutt, 13 November 1921
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[1]
Danville, Va.,1
Nov. 13, "21
Mr. Chas. W. Chesnutt,
Cleveland, Ohio
Dear Mr. Chesnutt:
All payments on the notes will be made direct from me henceforth and I find the middle of the month somewhat inconvenient, therefore if you will accept these the first of each month, instead, you will oblige me. Accordingly, you may look for our check by the first of each month, beginning with December 1, for the note that is due Nov. 15th.2
As our financial circumstance is greatly improved, you may rest assured that the check will reach you on or before that date.
I have not heard from you with regard to novelizing the first story in "THE CONJURE WOMAN"3 If you have not, permit me to suggest that you wait until you hear from me again. I am succeeding so well in the disposition of our Gold Notes until I am returning to New York4 Thanksgiving and will finsish up the issue there while I am Scenarioizing my next seasons productions and I am going to read the book again and may chose about three of the best of these stories ther in and make them into a picture along the lines of Marshall Neilan's "BITS OF LIFE"5 of Wm. Fox' "WHIL NEW YORK SLEEPS"6
[2]
Chas. W. Chesnutt - page 2
These stories are pictures mark a new idea in pictures in that they consist of three or four distinct stories in one production. Nazimova is now making such a picture7 and after considering it, it has occured to me that we might be able to do something like this with your book.8 The possible changes are that at least two of the same should be or there should be some sort of romance interwoven, which I might be able to do according to my own idea, In the meantime, you will hear from me soon regarding the matter.
Very truly, Oscar MicheauxCorrespondent: 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. Danville, Virginia, is a city on the southern border of Virginia, about 75 miles from Roanoke, Virginia, where the Micheaux Film Corporation had a branch office at this time. It is not known why Oscar Micheaux was in Danville in November of 1921. [back]
2. 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]
3. Chesnutt's collection of short stories, The Conjure Woman, was published by Houghton, Mifflin & Company in March 1899. [back]
4. 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]
5. The White actor, director, screenwriter and movie producer Marshall Ambrose "Mickey" Neilan (1891–1958) starred in silent movies beginning in 1912 and founded his own movie company 1920. He directed and produced Bits of Life, a now lost film released in September 1921 that brought together four unrelated short stories as four episodes. [back]
6. While New York Sleeps was a silent crime drama directed by White actor, screenwriter, and director Charles J. Brabin (1882–1957) for the Fox Film Corporation (founded by William Fox [1879–1952] in 1915) that told three distinct stories. It was released in September 1920. [back]
7. Alla Nazimova (1879–1945) was a White actor, director, and screenwriter from Russia who immigrated to the U.S. in 1906. A silent movie actor in the 1910s, she began to produce her own films, partly through her own company (1917–1921). [back]
8. 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]
