Greenwich Village, New York City, New York County, New York, United States, North and Central America
Place depicted:
Chicago, Cook County, Illinois, United States, North and Central America
South Dakota, United States, North and Central America
Date:
1931
Description:
A race film with the title The Exile. It consists of three (3) reels of 16mm black-and-white acetate film with optical sound. The film tells the tale of Jean Baptiste (Stanley Morrell), a man living in Chicago, and Edith Duval (Eunice Brooks). Edith, who worked as a servant for a white family, inherits their mansion after they flee their neighborhood because of an influx of African Americans. Jean and Eunice eventually grow at odds with each other because of their different personalities and the two break off their relationship. Jean relocates to South Dakota where he reinvents himself as a rancher and falls in love with Agnes Steward (Nora Newsome), a white woman. Believing that their relationship is doomed because of anti-miscegenation hostility, Jean moves back to Chicago where he reconnects with Edith and the two make plans to get married. One evening, Edith's ex-boyfriend breaks into her room and threatens to kill himself. She challenges him to go through with it, however, he turns the gun and kills her instead. Jean is initially charged with the murder but is eventually acquitted. Meanwhile, Agnes' father confesses that he himself is part black and she travels to Chicago and reunites with Jean.
