William B. Pratt to Charles W. Chesnutt, 10 March 1922
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HOUGHTON MIFFLIN COMPANY
SYNDICATE BUREAU
W. B. PRATT • MANAGER
4 PARK STREET • BOSTON
FICTION
BIOGRAPHY
NATURE SERIES
CHILDREN'S STORIES
JUVENILE VERSE
SPECIAL ARTICLES
March 10, 1922.
Mr. Charles W. Chesnutt,
1106 Wiliamson Building,
Cleveland, Ohio.
Dear Mr. Chesnutt:
Thank you for keping me informed of the motion picture situation. The motion picture industry is now in the doldrums, and I am not at all surprised to hear that the Micheaux Film Corporation1 has asked for an extension.2 I am not counting my chickens before they are hatched, but hope that these two eggs will eventually incubate.3
Very truly yours, Manager, Syndicate Bureau. WBP/G
1000
Correspondent: William Brace Pratt (1886–1961) was a White Bostonian who graduated from Yale in 1906. He worked for Houghton Mifflin's Special Sales department from 1907 to 1929; as the manager of the syndicate bureau, he frequently correspondended with Chesnutt about the film rights to his works in the 1920s.
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. See Chesnutt's letter of March 9, 1922, to Oscar Micheaux in response to this request for an extension. [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]
