Body and Soul

Source catalog description

This description refers to material held by Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture. Visual details below describe the original material.

Reel two of a 1925 silent film with the title Body and Soul. It consists of a single reel of 16mm black-and-white polyester film without a sound track. The film tells the story of an escaped prisoner on the run (played by Paul Robeson) who returns to his hometown, Tatesville, an African American town in the state of Georgia. Upon his return, the escapee assumes the identity of a clergyman, Reverend Isiah T. Jenkins, but continues attending the local juke joint surreptitiously, gambling and drinking with some frequency. On one occasion he happens upon Yellow-Curley Hinds (Lawrence Chenault), a former cellmate who recognizes him and the two conspire to rob some of the parishioners. Reverend Jenkins decides to rob Martha Jane (Mercedes Gilbert), one of the women in his congregation, of her life savings, while Martha Jane is intent on ensuring her daughter Isabelle (Julia Theresa Russell) marries the reverend.

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