The Emperor Jones (1933)
The 1933 pre-code adaptation of Eugene O'Neill’s 1920 play “The Emperor Jones” features a queer-coded character named Marcella, played by queer actor/comedian Jackie “Moms” Mabley.
THE EMPEROR JONES
1933. USA.
Director: Dudley Murphy
Screenplay: DuBose Heyward
Starring: Paul Robeson, Dudley Digges, Frank H. Wilson, Fredi Washington, Ruby Elzy, and Jackie
“Moms” Mabley
After acquiring the American distribution rights to the German sapphic drama MÄDCHEN IN UNIFORM (1931) and profiting off of the film’s extreme popularity, producers Krimsy & Cochran were in the market for another film outside the typical Hollywood mainstream. The duo purchased the film rights for O'Neill’s play THE EMPEROR JONES under two stipulations: Black actor Paul Robeson would play the lead and, as per his request, the production wouldn’t be filmed in the southern states.
THE EMPEROR JONES follows Brutus Jones (Robeson) who leaves his girlfriend and community to pursue work as a railroad porter. Jones falls in with some shady characters and soon finds himself on the run from the law. During his escape he jumps from a steamship, swims to shore, and proclaims himself emperor of a small Caribbean island.
When Jones first leaves home he is introduced to Marcella (Mabley), a queer-coded butch madam who introduces him to one of her girls. Queer-coded female characters weren’t seen as often as their male “sissy” counterpart in early film; it was even more rare that these characters were a person of color. Marcella’s character likely only exists on screen because this independent film was free of the usual Hollywood influence. That being said, it was still subjected to censorship by the Hays office and individual state censorship boards that cut up the film considerably.
TCM noted that so many scenes were cut that in the end the film didn’t make much sense. Different versions were altered depending on target audiences; racial slurs were removed to attract Black audiences, and scenes of shifted power dynamics between Robeson and a White man were removed for White audiences. In 2002 the Library of Congress restored the film and added back the cut footage that was still in existence though there are reportedly two dream sequences that were never recovered.
THE EMPEROR JONES is streaming on Tubi and Criterion (Canada/USA), Prime (UK), for rent/purchase through Amazon (USA/UK), and also available on DVD.
