Paul Robeson: Portraits of the Artist

A larger-than-life figure who triumphed on the athletic field, the theatrical stage, in concert halls, and on the silver screen, Paul Robeson (1898-1976) was also a dedicated spokesman for racial and economic justice in America, often at great personal cost (Robeson discusses the 1950 revocation of his passport in a radio interview included as a DVD extra here). His best-known film—Show Boat (1936), in which he sang his signature piece “Ol' Man River”—isn't included in Criterion's beautifully produced boxed set, but the four-disc collection does feature the famous but stagy film version of The Emperor Jones (1933)—the Eugene O'Neill play Robeson starred in nearly a decade earlier. Also included are Robeson's debut film, the silent Body and Soul (1925) by “race film” pioneer Oscar Micheaux, in which the actor plays a dissolute preacher, as well as another rarity, Borderline (1930), a visually experimental tale of an interracial love triangle. The other fiction entries here are three films Robeson made in England: the dated African adventure Sanders of the River (1935), a paean to British imperialism; the better Jericho (1937), in which he plays a cunning army deserter; and The Proud Valley (1940), a pleasant drama about Welsh coal miners. Perhaps the rarest title here is Native Land (1942), a semi-documentary narrated by Robeson that denounces business/government suppression of progressive movements, particularly unionization. Finally, Paul Robeson: Tribute to an Artist offers a half-hour paean to the multifaceted Robeson. DVD extras include audio commentaries by historians Jeffrey C. Stewart (The Emperor Jones) and Pearl Bowser (Body and Soul), “Our Paul: Remembering Our Paul” (featuring interviews with filmmaker William Greaves, and actors Ruby Dee and James Earl Jones), a video interview with Robeson's son Paul Jr., the documentary “True Pioneer: The British Films of Paul Robson,” a “making-of” featurette on Native Land, and a booklet featuring essays by Robeson and others. Highly recommended. (F. Swietek)