Gilpin (2019) - full transcript

Whoa!

♪ Carry me back
to old Virginny ♪

♪ There's where the cotton
and corn and taters grow ♪

Roll up, roll up!

Get your tickets now!

To your genuine,
Georgia Minstrel Troupe.

♪ Where his old
darkey's heart go ♪

Roll up, roll up!

♪ That's where I labored ♪

Get your tickets now!

♪ Old, dear Master ♪



♪ Day after day in
the golden corn ♪

♪ No place on Earth ♪

Oh, it's the oldest
and the only authentic

Minstrel Troupe North or S
outh of the Mason-Dixon line.

You'll laugh, you'll
cry, you'll love them!

♪ Carry me back
to old Virginny ♪

Who you be?

Well, I'm Mr. Beauregard.

♪ Taters grow ♪

♪ Back where birds
warble sweetly ♪

♪ Back to Virginny,
the state where I was born ♪

Ladies and gentlemen,

please welcome the man
in whom we put our trust,

Senator Beauregard D. Blowhard.



Senator,
what does the D stand for?

Well, the D stands for the da,

Beauregard da Blowhard,

'cause that's how the
darkeys talk down here.

Really?

I is the h-intellectual's
intellectual.

My lords, ladies, gentlemen,

daughters of the Confederacy,

mothers of the bride,

sisters of mercy,

fathers of the faith,

sons of the soil,

my brothers under the mud.

I is the man most qualified
to be your reprehensative.

You mean a representative?

Nope,
I mean I as a politician,

the most reprehensible person
to speak for my people,

quite candid-didly,
I is indeed the most illegible person.

You mean eligible person?

No, illegible,
can't read or write.

You call it blackface.

I have never seen a Negro
with skin this color of black,

nor this particularly
nappy, ill-fitting hair

and don't get on
me about the lips.

Can't paint on a smile.

It's tradition,
theatrical history.

Tradition my ass,

homage to slave time more
like, they're laughing at us.

They're not laughing at
you, Charlie,

they're laughing with you.

Do I look like I'm laughing?

I was born free in
Richmond, Virginia,

capital of the
defeated Confederacy,

I'm not slave to any man.

This here,
the genuine Georgia Minstrel Troupe

is all about making
fun of the Negro

in his moment of deepest
despair, I am sure not laughing.

Don't do this to me, Charlie,

What do you want,
is it about the money?

It's not about money,
I have survived on less.

I wanna be a serious
actor doing serious plays.

You're a minstrel player,
you wanna be taken seriously?

Best of luck with that, boy.

My name is Charles, Charles S.
Gilpin,

actor, don't forget it.

You're an actor,
you're a black man.

You can't just walk out

on the best Negro
company in New York,

then what?

I'll go to Broadway.

You're a dreamer.

Don't I get a stay in this?

I'm your wife,

well, as good as.

I'll get a service
job, a hotel porter,

elevator guy,
anything, I promise.

That's not acting.

Well, it sure is,
me pretending I like white folk,

while they look down on
me, that's real acting.

Why are you so damn
sure of yourself?

There's plenty of work out
there for Negro actors now,

there was a company down
in Greenwich Village,

did a play with
a all Negro cast.

White company
employing black actors.

Things are changing.

No, they're not,
nothing's changing,

they don't do black on Broadway.

Ooh, start going to
church, honey,

because you haven't
got a prayer.

Hello,
tell us about your experience.

Well,
I've done five or six plays on the stage,

that's about it.

Whenever you're ready.

Stay, murderous villain.

Will you kill your brother?

Now by the burning
taper of the skies.

He died upon my scabbard,

sharp point that touches

this, my firstborn son and hair.

Thank you, that was lovely.

Next!

And you are?

Charles S. Gilpin, ma'am.

Charles S.
Gilpin, tell us a bit about yourself.

Well, I work with Minstrel
shows and Jubilee singers

for over 10 years.

Tell me,
why would a man of your talents

not want to play the leading
hero, Titus Andronicus?

Well, I think Aaron's one
of the most difficult parts

in the play.

Why don't you show us?

Do you know the play?

I do.

Stay, murderous villains!

Will you kill your brother?

Now, by the burning
tapers of the sky,

that shone so brightly
when this boy was got.

He dies upon my
scimitar's sharp point,

that touches this,
my firstborn son and heir!

I tell you, younglings,
not Enceladus,

with all his threatening
band of Typhon's brood,

nor great Alcides,

nor the god of war

shall seize this prey out
of his father's hands!

What?

What, ye sanguine,
shallow-hearted boys?

Ye white-limed walls!

This before all the
world do I prefer,

this mauger all the
world will I keep safe.

Oh, some of you

shall smoke for it in Rome.

Ain't I the Emperor?

The laws don't go for him,

you hears what I tells
you, Smithers?

There's little
stealing like you does,

there's big stealing
like I does,

for the little stealing,
that gets in jail sooner or later,

for the big stealing,
that makes you Emperor

and puts you in the Hall
of Fame when you croaks.

If there's one thing
I learned in 10 years

doing the Pullman cars,

listening to the white
quality talk is that same fact

and when I gets the
chance to use it,

I'll winds up the Emperor
in two years' time.

Gene, Gene,
wait, what is this?

Oh, it's, it's an
idea, Jig, Agnes, she...

I read it somewhere.

Okay, so he's the dictator
of a small Island, right?

- Like somewhere like...
- Haiti,

it's his last day in power.

But here's the thing,
he thinks he can only be killed

by a magic sort of a...

A silver bullet.

- Yes.
- It has special powers.

He's a Negro?

Of course.

Oh no, no, no, no.

Well, no, no, hey,
he's an American,

who ended up down
there by accident.

He's a Pullman porter,
something like that.

I said no,
we've been down that road before.

Well, this is a totally
different road, Jig.

It's a completely
different idea.

We've tried black
actors before.

Oh,
that's rich coming from you, Ida.

You were very keen
on Negro actors.

Yes, and I was dispatched
all the way to Harlem

to scout them out for you.

At Jig's behest.

"The Dreamy Kid"
wasn't a success,

but it wasn't because
of the actors.

Oh, you mean it was the play?

It was a combination
of things.

Not least being
how it was directed.

We are a collective,
if working with black actors

is going to make us
turn on each other.

It's not an all Negro
cast, Jig.

It's not really about the
numbers, Gene.

Well then,
what's it about, Susan?

Are you saying it's
about the writing?

Because I'll tell you something,
if you don't like my idea,

I'll find someone who does.

Gene.

- Crazy son of...
- Well, that was great,

well done, thank you, thank you.

I shall go after him and
I shall calm him down.

There you are.

So,

are you alright?

They don't like
me or what I do.

A black emperor?

I loved it.

We just, um,

we didn't get it this time.

I shouldn't have
to pitch my ideas

to the Provincetown Players.

They have a reputation
because I am the reputation,

I find it's rather
impossible to be experimental

with bourgeois reactionaries.

So who do you have in mind
for the part of the emperor?

I don't know, it's a huge
part, requires a big ego.

You know, my father could have.

In blackface?

Oh, yes.

I's a fine actor.

- Oh, yes.
- Hm-mm.

Oh, you do the small stealing,
I'll do the big stealing.

Good evening, my cutie pie.

My, what has gotten into you?

Today I got
offered a promotion

backstage to front of house.

- Really?
- Yes, ma'am.

Hotel doorman with
a cap and overcoat

dripping with gold braid.

And better pay, steady hours?

I don't know,
'cause I turned it down.

Oh, you got to be kidding me.

No, turned them down flat.

Why on Earth
would you do that?

'Cause I also got
offered another job,

even better pay, steady hours,

all evening work except
a couple of afternoons.

I don't understand.

What?

Who you know

working all evenings,

except a couple of afternoons
and every Sunday off?

I got me a part in
a Broadway show!

Everybody's gonna see me now.

This guy,
this guy's a sensation

and they haven't even opened.

He's done classics, vaudeville,

even Minstrel
Shows in blackface.

And we're here why exactly?

Because you need an actor
for your "Silver Bullet"

and this is your guy.

Mr. Lincoln live here?

Are you his servant?

Hm-mm, very fine thing to
be a servant to Mr. Lincoln.

We get along
very well together.

Hm-mm.

A very bad thing to be
a slave in the South.

Now let's
have you draw tea service

just to say how shocked you
are, that'll teach the English.

Let me explain the reverence

and importance of
tea in England.

Tea is served at four p.m.

♪ Well, I've got a man ♪

♪ He's as fine as he can be ♪

The only direction I
got from Mr. Lonergan,

our esteemed director,

was how to drink tea.

♪ He makes me feel
so good inside ♪

One takes tea at four p.m.
precisely,

not five past four or 3:55.

♪ By my man, yeah ♪

Come along, come on,
don't be antisocial.

- Okay.
- Come along.

Yeah, on stage I play my part,

but when them lights go out,

I'm just like any other
black man in New York,

some days my have
swagger is all I got.

Jasper,
what are you doing here?

Well,
we saw Charles' performance

and we thought that we
would congratulate him

in the traditional way
while we still can.

Well,
I will double drink to that.

Your health.

This is my friend,
Eugene O'Neill who I think you know.

Oh, I know who his father is.

Stop it, Charles,
the Provincetown Players,

"Dreamy Kid," Mr. O'Neill.

You don't have to be a Negro
to write for the black man.

- Hm.
- Ah-huh.

I quite agree, Eugene,
what do you think?

Well, I think I've
been carrying this around

for quite some time

and I'm very happy to have
finally found my Emperor.

Excuse me, Charles,
congratulations,

you are a blessing
to our profession.

Wait, wait!

What was it, was it the wise
crack about your old man?

No, for God's sakes,
are you kidding me?

I kind of like that coming
from a black man, Jeez.

He's great.

Yeah, he's magnificent,
he's perfect,

I mean, you see the way
he looks you in the eye?

No, I'm telling you,
Jasper, with him,

with him I can do "The Silver
Bullet," I'm telling you.

Now I've got to get to the Cape,

I've got a lot of work to do,
I've got to clear the decks,

there's a lot to be done.

Thank you, Jasper.

Sure, you go to work

Yes.

Ah, here we go.

What is it you're looking for?

Some notes, it's a story idea.

One idea or several ideas?

It was one idea, Jesus Christ,

why is this place
always such a mess?

Calm down, have a drink.

This is too important for
drinking, Agnes,

if I can't find the notes,
I can't execute the idea,

if I can't execute the idea,
nothing ends up on stage,

that's how it works.

When did you have this idea?

It was your idea,
you gave me the idea, it was,

it was about the man
who thought he was magic

and that he can only be
killed by a silver bullet,

do you remember this?

Yeah, I can't, I can't,
I can't, I can't,

I can't think in this place
anymore, I can't do it,

it just stinks like sour
milk and shitty diapers,

it's completely lost the
salty smack of the sea,

it's pointless.

So your family
isn't enough for you?

We were never a family, Agnes.

I mean, where were you,
when I opened "Horizon" on Broadway?

That was my biggest
success, you weren't there.

Oh, are you a success now
in this shitty little shack?

I thought nobody understands
you and your moody little face.

The truth is you can't
stand any sort of success,

least of all your own.

Yeah, neither can you.

I was home being our child's
mother, you bastard.

That's success too.

You want the stench
of the ocean waves?

Go ahead,
it's right outside the back door,

go walk into the sea,
drown yourself in the past.

Yeah well, I've done it
before, I'll do it again.

I don't think you will, Gene,

I think you love
yourself too much.

Look what a success
your suicide was,

you're still here

and now it's a play.

You're a fraud.

Okay.

"The Silver Bullet."

Where'd you find it?

You always think we're lost.

He leaves the way he comes

and that black trash
dare not stop it,

not yet least ways.

Listen to that roll call, will you?

sounds like a mighty,
big drum to carry that far.

Well, if there ain't no whole
brass band to see me off,

at least I got to
drum part anyhows.

Curtain.

No, that's it,
"Abraham Lincoln," the play has closed.

- Oh!
- I'm done with it.

I got you something,
a memento of my greatest success.

It's from the play.

Oh!

They gave this to you?

You think they're gonna give
a Negro something expensive?

I took that.

I took the whole last week of
the box office savings too.

- Charlie.
- And right now,

the whole theater's on fire.

You burned the theater?

Course they gave it to
me, what's wrong with you?

Oh.

Now you can polish
your own siver.

Still, we had a good
run, you done good.

193 performances,

193.

Wish we'd have done 200,
they say we would have,

if the play had have
got the Pulitzer Prize.

What's that now?

Oh, it's just something white
folk give other white folk,

slap themselves on the
back, don't mean much,

except it would have kept me
in work a few weeks longer.

Well, who did win it then?

No matter.

This most excellent
canopy, the air!

Look you,
this o'erhanging firmament,

- Ooh!
- fretted with golden fire.

Get off the stage.

Settle down, settle down.

Alarms changed.

Settle down, Christine.

Okay, that's okay.

So I guess
we've all read the play?

- Hm-mm.
- Yes.

- Yeah.
- And we all of one mind?

Well, that is a first.

Jig will direct.

Casting, I thought you could go.

Aha, just in
time, our playwright.

Well done, Gene.

My dear, marvelous.

Someone dust off a chair
for our Pulitzer Prize boy.

Oh, Pulitzer, come on.

Don't be so belittling, Gene,

the Prize brought the
company great credit.

Yes, it's just a
shame you didn't offer

"Beyond the Horizon" to
the Provincetown Players.

Well, you wanna know what
the Pulitzer got me, Jig,

it got me $1000 and my
father finally admitting,

that I had made something
of myself on his deathbed.

Oh, deepest condolences.

Oh, yeah.

Great theater, man.

How are you bearing
up, darling?

Oh, well I wrote this
play, didn't I?

Come on, let's on with it.

So we would just
like to vote on casting.

Ah, yes, we'll be casting
a Negro for this role.

A Negro?

Hm-mm.

For Christ's sake!

Gene, you had me black up.

Yeah, blackface,
that's precisely the problem.

How could you do that?

I have worked for this company for
years, for years,

Yeah,
we need a Negro in this role.

I worked for your company
for nothing, nothing

and this is the
way you treat me?

Oh, for Christ's sake!

Aren't you going
to go after him, Ida?

I'm not the one
that made him run out.

No, I'll go.

I'll go,
explain the cruder points of blackface.

Charles Gilpin,

Charles Gilpin is who
Eugene wants for the role.

We saw him in the Drinkwater
piece, "Abe Lincoln."

Oh yes, we saw that, Jig.

Yeah, well, I didn't like
him, too deferential,

bit of a house Negro.

That was the role.

Well, Paul Robeson is
the latest sensation.

He's young, athletic,
he has the most impressive voice.

You must see Robeson, presence,
talent, he's the future.

Charles Gilpin is who
Eugene wants for the role.

I'm directing,
casting is my choice.

I wanna see this Paul
Robeson character.

Jasper, you know these
people better than most,

- see if you can get him.
- These people?

What's wrong with that?

Yes, these people, Negroes.

Oh, really, Jig, it's 1920,

nobody says these
people anymore.

- What would you have me say?
- Well, when you say that...

- Goodnight.
- It's my work...

Absolutely ridiculous.

One, two, three,
four, five, six, seven,

come on, rep, one,
two, three, four,

five, six, seven, come on.

One, two, three, four,
five, six, seven.

Go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go,

go, go, go, go, go, yeah.

Go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go,

come on, put some power in
it, power, power, power,

that's it, come on.

Come on, push, push, push, push.

- Are you Paul Robeson?
- Push, push.

Yeah,

and you are?

I am Jasper Deeter,

actor and producer from
the Provincetown Players.

Do you have a moment?

If you don't mind me
going through my routine.

Oh, okay, well,
the Provincetown Players

are downtown in the Village

and we would like you to try
out for our next production.

Oh, what play?

It's the latest
from Eugene O'Neill.

Never heard of him.

You.

Well, would you like
to hear some now?

Away you go.

Okay, well,

it's Haiti, the Island of Haiti,

the last days of evil
dictator, Emperor Jones's rule.

The play opens
with, with, with me

and then,

the Emperor comes in.

Who dare whistle that
way in my palace?

Who does wake the Emperor?

I'll get the heart off
him with my song, nigger.

And, um, oh Lordy,

oh Lordy,

oh Lordy, I scared,
I scared in this place.

Oh Lord, hear my prayer,

I been a poor sinner,
I been a poor sinner,

Lord, I done wrong, I done wrong

and I stand here with
these fool bush niggers

raising up the seat
of the Almighty.

Lordy, I done wrong.

Paul, do it.

What do you think?

Man,
I have never seen or heard

such a despicable
character in my life

and I'm not gonna
conjure that monstrosity

on your stage or anywhere else.

How much do you weigh?

- Er, one, one...
- How much?

160, 70.

'Cause I bench 250,

so I'm pretty sure that I
can toss you out of this park

and if I see you here
again, I will.

Oh, and tell that
O'Neill character,

I'm looking for a
new punching bag

in case he decides to come by.

I'm all for free love,

but really, - Susan,

- I want you to stop this.
- In front of the company?

- Miss Ida Rauh?
- Stop, stop, stop!

Well?

Well, Paul Robeson is big,

he speaks well,
but not about Gene.

Tell us what he said exactly.

Exactly?

That he hates the play,

that he called the
character a monstrosity

and then he threatened
me with violence.

Well, that seems definite.

Yes, it is.

He's just a kid,
he's a Columbia law student,

he's barely old enough
to ride a Pullman train,

let alone have a
Pullman's porters license.

He knows nothing,
he's not right.

Now what?

We respect the intentions
of the playwright.

Paul Robeson is not the
only Negro actor in town,

he is just the better looking.

Let me find Charles Gilpin.

What can I say?

Go ahead.

Thank you.

You think we're
too old for this?

What do you mean?

Oh, a guy once told me
New York can be cruel.

Maybe we get out?

Where will we go?

Jersey.

What's in Jersey for us?

Well,
one of the hotel boot boys

just got a place out there,

leaves at the end of the
week, chicken farm.

He set up a place to live
and the chickens, $65.

Hell, I got $65.

Our own place?

Be sure to speak
with him tomorrow.

Oh, a chicken farm.

Have we met, sir?

Indeed we have, sir,

I am Jasper Deeter,
actor and producer

and you are Charles S.
Gilpin, a fine actor.

Oh yeah, that's right.

How you been?

You looking for work?

There's jobs going in a week.

Au contraire, do you remember my
friend, Eugene O'Neill?

Sure do.

Well, he has a new play

and there is a
part in it for you.

What time do you finish?

Four o'clock.

Take a cab to the Playwrights
Theater in the Village.

Read this on the way,

be there at five sharp.

Frankly I wouldn't
be surprised

if we didn't use Chuck Ellis
in blackface on our knees.

Oh, Jig, stop it.

Oh, Lord,
I didn't expect you all to be here.

To be honest, I've played
in smaller houses than this.

Shall we start?

Jasper, could you feed
Brutus his first cue?

Jasper will play Smithers.

He's bound to find
out soon as wakes up.

He's shrewd enough to
know his time's come.

Stop or I'll shoot!

Oh, go on, naff off out of
it, you black cow.

Who dare whistle
that way in my palace?

Who dare wake up the Emperor?

I'll get the heart frailed
off some of you niggers sure.

That was wonderful.

I'd like to hear a little bit
more, I'm sure we all would.

Should we go from the...

Alright, just before,
okay, alright, alright.

I bet you got your pile of
money hid in some safe place.

Oh, I sure has and
it's in a foreign bank,

where no person ever
get it out but me,

no matter what come.

You didn't suppose I was
holding down this Emperor job

for the glory part, now did you?

Sure,
the fuss and glory part of it,

that's only for these low
flung bush Negroes that's here,

they want a big circus
show for their money

and I gives it to them
and I gets the money,

the long green,
that's me every time.

We need look no further.

50 bucks a week!

Why are you home so late?

Well, because I was
getting my 50 bucks a week.

I asked for 60 thinking they'd
end up somewhere around 40,

but they folded on 50!

Who's they?

Provincetown Players.

They're doing the latest play
by Mr. Pulitzer Prize himself,

Eugene O'Neill.

Eugene O'Neill?

Never heard of him.

Ha,
don't let him hear you say that.

So I guess the chicken
farm in Jersey's on hold?

Hey, this kind of money is
not chicken feed, sweetheart,

I can buy you a chicken
farm every two weeks.

Then what's the
play, what's it like?

What's it called?

- "The Emperor Jones."
- Oh.

And I am the
Emperor, the lead,

the entire play is me,
I'm in every scene.

The entire play is
practically a monologue by me.

Hm, if I wanna hear
that sort of thing,

I can stay at home.

Was the play any good?

Oh, you know white folk.

Hm.

They think they
know how we talk,

them and theirs
all over the place

and nigger this and nigger that.

Charlie,
I think you've had enough.

What, no, I'm just repeating
what they say in the play.

Well, if it's in the
script, just say it.

But I can fix that.

Just do your job,
go where they tell you to go

and say what they
tell you to say.

Whole world's gonna
be different after this.

You'd have to bleeding hustle

to make it through that
forest in 12 hours.

You'd have to know the trials
like a bleeding native.

Look here, white man,

does you suppose I is
a natural born fool?

Give me credit for having some
sense, for Lord's sake.

Don't you suppose
I has looked ahead

and made sure of
all the chances?

I has gone out on that big
forest pretending to hunt

so many times that I knows
it high and low like a book.

I could go throwing them
trails with my eyes shut.

You think these ignorant bush
Negro, niggers,

that ain't got brains enough
to know their own names

even can catch Brutus Jones?

Ha, I expects not,
not on your life.

Quiet back there!

Oh, Gene,
I didn't know it was you.

It's okay.

You stumbled.

Oh, I did, when?

I'm still getting the words
clear, Mr. O'Neill.

Okay,
don't give me that Mr. Crap,

Mr. O'Neil was my father,

we can still have an
argument if you call me Gene.

Right, Gene.

- Hm.
- Um,

well, yeah, I mean
it's, it's that word?

What word?

Well, we don't say that word.

We, who's we?

Negroes,

black people, we don't say
that word to each other word.

What word?

Nigger, sir.

Okay, drop the
sir, that don't wash,

stop the shucking and jiving.

Then don't use phrases that
you don't know the meaning of.

Hey, hey, fellas,
let's just keep...

Jasper, please just
listen, please, it's alright.

Okay, I'm fairly certain

I've heard one Negro call
another Negro nigger.

Ah-huh.

Um, are you educated?

Well,
I made it to eighth grade.

Okay, well,
I made it to college.

Did you finish?

That's good.

Okay, Brutus Jones
is an uneducated man,

but he has experience in life,

I have experience in life and
I've worked with colored men

on ships and in sleazy bars

everywhere from
New York to London

and I am certain that
I've heard one Negro

call another Negro nigger.

That's who Brutus Jones is.

- I think you're wrong.
- Oh, you do?

Well,
I think he's smarter than that.

- Hm.
- And my Brutus

wouldn't say it.

Oh Jesus, give me strength.

I swear if I had a
dollar for every time

an actor told me that their
character wouldn't do this

or their character
wouldn't do that,

I wouldn't need royalties.

Charles, what makes drama

is a character saying
the unexpected.

Yeah, but he's smart enough
to take over this whole island

and make these people
think that he's an emperor.

You've really
thought about this.

Well, I have, yeah.

Hm, and you think you know
Brutus better than I do?

Oh no, I mean,
I wouldn't say better, not at all,

it's just a,

it's just such a good part

and your writing is so good

and I know Brutus very well.
Mr. O'Neill.

Well now,
that's a good answer.

See, I knew you were smarter
than the eighth grade,

now stay smart and
just do it as written.

I'm gonna come back for
the final dress rehearsal

and if you don't say
every word that I wrote,

if there's even one
word out of place,

I'm gonna jump up on this stage

and I'm gonna beat you up in
front of the entire company.

Okay, alright, good luck, boys.

Well,
I told you he was sensitive.

Come on, sit down.

Wearing out the floor ain't
gonna solve your problems.

It's not my problem, it's his.

But it's his play, his ideas.

What do you know about it?

You don't get it.

Well, then help me get it.

An actor has a character,

a character has words,
a way of speaking,

if the words don't sound
like the character,

then the words are no good.

If the words are no good,

then walk away

with your integrity intact.

I will not walk
away from this.

Then find a way
to walk around it.

Do all the words your character,
what's his name again?

Brutus, Brutus Jones.

Do all of Brutus'
words sound bad?

No,
spelling's off here and there,

but that's just him trying
to get the sound right?

So all the words sound
right, except that one word?

Yeah, exactly,
we don't say it like they say it.

Well, how does Brutus say it?

Well, like a, um,

what do you mean?

How does your
character say it?

Does he say it like you

or like a white man?

Maybe that's the point.

Sounds like this Brutus fella

has gotten himself some power
and what does he do with it?

He acts like a white man.

Damn!

You got something there.

Brutus is a white man.

This isn't your
yes, ma'am moment,

this is you, an actor

rising above the moment

letting us all see how
any man can behave,

if he's not careful.

What y'all doing, white folks?

What is all this,
what are you looking at me for?

Is you

buying me?

Is this an auction?

You sells me and you buys me,

well,
I shows you I is a free nigger!

Damn your souls!

Put this on.

Oh!

You alright, honey?

Yeah, I'm good.

You're opening tonight.

Hm.

On Broadway.

Yeah,
I said I'm good with that.

Oh, easy now,
none of that, me birdie,

there's no point wriggling,
I've got me claws in you.

- No tell him, no tell him.
- No tell who?

- We're sold out.
- Oh, His bleeding Majesty.

Gor blimey!

I only hopes I'm here,

when they takes him
out and shoots him.

He's still here,
isn't he, alright?

Yes,
mister, him sleep.

He'll find
that as soon as wakes up,

he's cunning enough to
know his time's come.

Oi!

I'll shoot!

Oh, go on then, hop off with
you, alright, you black cow.

Who dare whistle
that way in my palace?

Who dare wake up the Emperor?

I'll get the heart frailed
off some of you negroes sure.

It was me that whistled.

I've got news for you.

Smithers, what news?

Ain't you noticed
nothing funny this morning?

Funny, no,
I ain't perceived none of the kind.

Well then,
you ain't as foxy as I thought.

Where's your courts?

Your generals,
your cabinet ministers and all?

Where they mostly run
to when I close my eyes,

drinking rum, talking big,
how come you don't know that?

Ain't you out carousing
with them most every day?

Well,
I has to, don't I?

- Isn't he magnificent?
- Part of my business.

No, my play's magnificent,
he's just a good actor.

Gor blimey!

Say, you ain't thinking of
going out that way, are you?

Did you think I'd
slink out the back door

like a common Negro?

I is Emperor yet, ain't I?

And the Emperor Jones
goes out the way he comes

and that black trash
don't dare stop him.

Not yet least ways.

Listen to that roll
call, will you?

Must be a mighty,
big drum to carry that far.

Well, if there ain't no whole
brass band to carry me off,

I sure got the drum part of it.

So long, white man.

Oh, he's got his nerve on
him, so help me.

Well, they've done for you right
enough, Jonesy my lad.

Where's your mighty
airs and graces now,

your bleeding Majesty?

At least you can say
you died in style.

Why thank you, sir,
a tremendous performance.

Bravo!

The Emperor is
played by a Negro actor

named Charles S. Gilpin,

who gives the most
thrilling performance

we've seen any
place this season.

He sustained a succession
of scenes in monologue

not only because his voice is

one of gorgeous,
natural quality.

Oh, my!

Gorgeous what?

Gorgeous, natural quality.

Hm-mm.

But because he knows
just what to do with it.

There's more,
but there can be no question whatever,

that in "The Emperor
Jones," Gilpin is great!

It is a performance
of heroic stature!

There's another paragraph
about O'Neill's writing

and how the play should
end, you can skip that.

What paper's that again?

The New York Tribune.

Oh, and just read that
last part about me again.

Charles!

Heroic stature.

Oh, you've done it!

Now everybody knows it.

Best performance of the year.

We are the hottest
ticket in town!

All of New York is
clamoring to see me.

To see the play.

Well, to see me play Brutus.

Some of the reviews have
problems with the play,

not one of them has a problem with
me, not a one.

Ah, but you're forgetting
the Negro papers.

Ah, they don't get it.

Um, oh, this one here
says "The Emperor Jones"

plays to the worst of
the Negro stereotypes.

Brutus Jones is a black man,
but he represents all men.

You get it,
you should be a critic.

Anyway, their issue was with the
writing, with Gene,

they love me.

Everyone thinks
you're brilliant.

Hm-mm.

Got to find a way

to make this last,

find a way to do
something with this.

Yeah, you've got to
finish the play first.

Hm-mm.

And then
whatever happens will happen.

Everyone will
wanna work with me.

Oh, you just think parts are
going to fall out of the sky

for a Negro actor?

This play is epic,
it's like Shakespeare,

who knows what's coming for us?

Honey, white theaters will
keep doing what they always do,

hire white actors and
then black them up,

it ain't gonna change.

Are you trying to
ruin this day for me?

No, I'm trying to remind you
not to get ahead of yourself,

this play will be
over in three weeks.

Well, it may go to Broadway.

Don't get ahead of yourself.

I thought you
were proud of me.

You admired me when I played
that piddling little pastor

in "Abraham Lincoln."

I am,

I do,

I'm so proud of you.

No one has ever been able to
do what you've done before.

We're more than
singing, dancing fools,

that's 'cause of you.

Yeah,

because of me.

Charlie, it's a bit early.

I'm celebrating.

You have a show tonight.

I'll be straight by
then, dammit.

Hey, Jasper,
thanks for meeting me like this,

I didn't wanna run into
Gilpin, he's changing the text.

Well, look,
I snuck into the back of the house

twice last week,
he's all over the place.

Some of it is the drink,

he likes to spike himself a
little before each performance,

but he's a thrill
to be on stage with,

I trust Charles on
stage drunk or sober.

Well,
I ain't worried about that,

the drink we can handle,

no, I need you there
to keep him on track,

make sure he sticks
to the script.

Who'll give me a 10, 10, 10,

do I hear 20 for
this fine nigger?

25, 25, do I hear 30?

- 35, 40.
- What y'all doing,

white folks?

What is this?

What y'all looking at me for?

What y'all doing
with me anyhows?

Is this an auction?

Is you selling me?

Like they used to
before the war?

You sells me and you buys me

and I shows you I
is a free nigger!

Damn your souls!

You missed a word three times.

Charles Gilpin was invited

to the Drama
League's annual bash

honoring the 10 most
influential Broadway,

blah, blah, blah, you know.

You hate that sort of thing.

I know,

I said,

I said was invited.

When,

when some of the League's
members found out

that they were gonna be
sitting down to dinner

with a Negro, they objected
and promptly dis-invited him.

Well, I'd turn up with Charles

and kick down the
door to get in.

My feisty warrior queen.

The plan is for me to go
canvas all the actors,

who've been invited and
get them to not show up,

it's what I plan on doing.

Well, you must go.

If enough refuse,
the whole shindig will be a bust

and maybe they will
change their minds.

Take Jig with you,
he knows those types,

make them feel relevant again.

Agnes,
that's never gonna happen.

You could try.

Okay.

I know the people
you wanna get to

and they'll listen to me.

I'll be asking them to give up

the best night of
the year for you.

Okay, it's not for
me, it's for Charles.

Hell, yes, it's for you!

You don't give a Goddamn
about Charles or the company,

we're just a street car
you jump on and off,

when you wanna get somewhere.

And I know the
Provincetown Players

will be pulled into a siding
before you are through

and Charles Gilpin will
be a forgotten man.

That's not fair, Jig.

Fair?

What the hell do
you know about fair?

You were directing "The
Emperor Jones" behind my back

and sucking the whole company
into your grand design.

Actors' heads are easily turned.

And so is yours, so come on,

let's go,
it'll be nice to rub shoulders

with the stars of
Broadway again.

Listen, I'll do
this, but not for you,

for Charles and the company

and it'll get done
because I'm asking.

Absolutely.

I know if you tried it on your
own, you'd soon find out

how many real friends
you have on Broadway.

You do what you like, Jig,

the truth is I was only asking
because someone suggested

that it might make you
feel relevant again.

- You son of a bitch!
- Okay, Jig, stop.

- Easy, Jig, easy.
- Come on, let's go home.

- Let's go.
- Easy.

You know, Gene,

you could have a little
bit of Goddam gratitude.

Well, this is art, Susie,

gratitude doesn't
really come into it.

No one calls me Susie anymore.

Maybe they should.

You know,
when you got to Provincetown,

you were just a kid with a
trunk full of half-baked scripts

and only we knew
how good you were.

We believed in you.
We gave you our hearts.

Thank you,
it's good to be among friends,

not always the case
at events like these.

In fact,
I'm not sure I'm still invited

to that other occasion,

but I got some good,
white colleagues.

Thank you to the Drama League

and all the members who voted
to accord me this award.

It's an honor to be among you.

I'll only be five minutes?

So said you before you left.

Well, I thought I
would, but they love me,

couldn't get enough of me,

nor I of them.

Were
they all there?

Yeah, every last one,

no one declined their
invitation because of me.

Was he there, the fancy one,

who said that if you
weren't allowed to attend,

they should all black up?

John Barrymore, yes, he was.

He shook my hand.

- Shook your hand?
- Hm-mm.

Oh, good Lord.

Well,
it's a hand like any other man,

many of them wanted
to shake my hand.

Hm,
I bet you could get used to the that.

Gonna have to,

Prices magazine has
made me Man of the Year.

- Man of the Year?
- Hm-mm.

Oh, what's that,
like the Pulitzer Prize for black folks?

I see black folks slapping
other black folks on the back?

Touche, honey, touche, baby.

Now I said that
Mr. DuBois is a nice man.

- Hm-mm.
- No needing

you getting sassy
with him again.

Hm.

Man of the Year,

ain't that the
cherry on the cake?

Except I'm gonna be
working my ass off.

Now,

go to sleep.

Who dare whistle that
way in my palace?

Who dare wake up the Emperor?

I'll get the heart frailed
off some of you Negroes sure.

It was me that
whistled and woke you.

You didn't have no
excuse to look down on me,

you've been in jail
yourself more than once.

That's a lie!

Gawd, where'd you
hear these fairytales?

There's some things I
don't need to be told,

I can see them in folks' eyes.

Yeah, you sure give me a start

and it didn't take me long

to get these wood Negroes
where I want them.

From stowaway to Emperor in two
years, that's going some.

But I'm sure
you've got some money

stashed away in
a pile somewhere.

I sure has and it's
in a foreign bank,

where no person don't
ever get it out but me,

no matter what come.

You didn't suppose I was
holding down this Emperor job

for the glory part in
it, did you?

Sure,
the fuss and glory part of it,

that's only to turn their heads

of these low flung bush
Negroes that's here.

They wants the big circus
show for their money

and I gives it to them
and I gets the money.

The long green,
that's me every time.

How many times did
I miss it tonight?

All of them.

Thank you, thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

- Charles, welcome.
- Hey.

Nice to see you
again, my friend.

Nice to see you, sir, alright.

Ooh, lookee here,
we have theatrical royalty in our midst.

Everyone, Charles S.
Gilpin, the toast of Broadway!

Florence, this is Anita,

you may remember from
the Lafayette Players.

Hello.

And this is William DuBois,

one of my
h-intellectual friends.

Pleased to meet you, ma'am.

My pleasure.

Now I'm sure I picked up a
magazine called Crisis one time,

are you that same Mr. DuBois?

Ooh, Charles, you've got
yourself a h-intellectual woman.

Oh no, I just clean
houses for white folks.

Hey, not for long.

There's no shame in honest,
hard work, Mrs. Gilpin.

Oh, please, Florence.

I'm gonna need a lemonade
and stick a bourbon in it.

You must be pleased with
the way things turned out.

Pleased?

Yeah, but I expected it,

I just knew once the right
part was written for me,

that I would take
off, I would fly.

I hope you don't
crash to Earth

with that terrible
burden you carry.

And what's that
supposed to mean?

You are probably the
most famous black man

in New York right now.

And why is that a burden?

What you say matters,
how you say it matters,

people are watching you.

Well,
they can watch me every night,

if they pay for the ticket.

I mean in life,
people are respecting you,

they are looking up to you.

You are carrying their
hopes of elevating the race.

That again, look,
I ain't doing no such thing,

I am just an actor
trying to do my job

and you bring up that bullshit?

Charles!

I appreciate that,
but the world has expectations.

Whose world and
whose expectations?

You know,
I read some of your articles too,

half the time you handed Marcus
Garvey his ass on a plate.

Charles, enough,
or I'm leaving.

Okay, all I'm saying is
if two Negroes can't agree

or agree to differ,

why should a Negro actor
do the job for them?

Again, you are famous.

Only for the moment!

I'm just trying
to make this last.

Look, I don't know what
America you living in,

but for me,
my moment is like this speakeasy.

Everything will go
back to normal one day,

drinking will be legal
again and life will go on

just like one day my
fame will be over,

no one will remember me,

or that a Negro can
do great things.

You got my bourbon?

Come on.

What?

What?

Get on the bed, come on.

On the bed.

Oh.

But you ain't got no kick agin
me, Smithers.

I has paid you back all you
has done for me many times,

ain't I protected you and winked
at all the crooked trading

you've been doing
out in the broad day?

Sure I has,

and me making up laws to
stop it at the same time.

So Mr. Gilpin,

Broadway.

Yeah, Mr. O'Neill, Broadway,
just like your father.

Ah, but here's the
thing, Charlie,

what will you be doing
there, hm?

"The Emperor Jones."

Ah, yes,
"The Emperor Jones," but which one?

The one that I wrote

or the one that you've
been making up on stage

every night since we opened?

Look, Gene,
you know my feelings,

I made it quite plain early on.

Yeah, I don't give a
shit about your feelings,

I only care about my words.

I know,
but if we work together,

we can improve this play.

Let me ask you something,
how long have you been at this?

Five, six weeks.

Ah, yes, well,
I've been at it my whole life.

This is my play inside and out.

Brutus Jones is my character.

Yeah, only because I say so.

Well, where would we
be without my emperor?

It's my goddamn emperor.

You know,
you said if I change one word,

that you would beat me
up, your words, Gene

and I know you've
been creeping in,

unannounced, checking up on me

and I've been waiting for
your knock on my door.

Well, I'm knocking now.

Well, I ain't scared,

so if you wanna beat me
up, go ahead.

I'm not gonna beat you
up, Charles,

I'm gonna kick you off the show.

Oh, right before
Broadway, you wouldn't.

Watch me.

Well,
them big money backers won't let you,

I'm the money machine.

I may be a poor Negro,
but I know how money works,

especially in theater.

Okay, I don't care, alright,

I've had plays on
Broadway, I'll have others,

the difference is they'll
be my plays word for word,

Look, Gene, Gene, Gene.

You know I don't like that word.

Okay,
you've said it before on stage.

What's so different then?

I have never said that word.

Okay, maybe you haven't,
but the Reverend Curtis did

from "Abraham Lincoln"
by John Drinkwater.

But that was different,
the run of the lines demanded it,

the maid, Susan,
she wouldn't say that word.

Yeah, but you did, you
did, so let me ask you,

why will you say it
for an Englishman,

that knows nothing
about black people,

but you can't say it for me?

No, I can't see
how that is the same.

Let me ask you,
did you ever bring this up

with the director of that
play, Lester Lonergan?

No, because there was
nothing to bring up.

Because it was your
first time on Broadway

and you wanted it
more than anything,

I know, Charlie,
I've been there,

this will be my third
time on Broadway

and I'll tell you
something else,

I didn't get there by
letting some Goddamn actor

play around with my words.

I am not playing around.

This is different,
it's a completely different...

Oh, no, no, no,
no, no, no, no,

it's not different,
it's not different at all.

Although I'll tell
you what is different,

"Diff'rent" is the
name of my play,

that's opening in the
Village the same night

"The Emperor Jones"
is opening on Broadway

and if you don't
play every word,

"Diff'rent" will be my
next play on Broadway,

it's your choice.

Gene.

Okay, no,
you don't say another word!

Not another word,
unless they're my words!

Honey,
I just wanna be with you.

You're damn right,
I deserve your time.

What y'all doing
here, white folk?

What's all this?

What y'all looking at me for?

What you all doing
with me anyway?

Is this a auction?

Okay,
no, um, that's not,

that's not quite it, Paul.

Um, look, this isn't Jim Harris
doing "God's Chillun," yeah,

so you're playing
it for sympathy,

but Brutus Jones,
he's an arrogant bastard,

so even in despair,
this man is a fighter.

Let's try it again.

What you all doing
here, white folk?

What's all this?

Okay,
it just has to come across like a gunshot,

you know, if you start off
polite, you're just gonna get it.

I was just trying to give
myself some place to go,

you know, to build up.

Totally
understood, I understand that,

but you got to trust
the words here,

the speech will tell you where to
go, I promise.

Alright, alright.

Let's take a
break, we're all tired.

Sure, okay, you know,

why don't you fellas go
get something to eat?

He's a boy,

a pup,

a whelp.

With his college boy airs,

I have him fixed,
I'm Emperor Jones.

Excuse me.

Careful.

It's my
play, my part to give,

to take away as I choose.

Ah-huh.

You wrote it,

but I raised him from the page,

he's as much my
creation as he is yours.

Well, tell that to
the copyright lawyer.

I gave you every chance to
share your gift from God,

to elevate you
people on Broadway.

You people?

You expect us to be grateful?

You don't care about
colored people,

unless they're puppets
to elevate you.

- Oh, you're talking rot.
- Am I?

Yeah.

And what have you done for
us, huh?

"The Dreamy Kid," the
first all Negro cast

and who did you get?

A bunch of amateurs
from up Harlem.

You ungrateful...

What, nigger?

Arrogant prick.

You just don't get it.

If you respected us,
you wouldn't expect us to be grateful

for something you already have,

you're a fraud, an
Irish, Mick playwright

just looking to make
a name for himself

off the backs of other
people, black people.

No, color's got nothing
to do with it, Charles,

I've known actors like
you my whole life.

Sure, they like to try it
on, but it's a hard life,

so they like to cut corners,

you know, whatever makes it
easier and I slap them down,

not just you, all of them,

some a lot quicker than
you as a matter of fact.

With you, I gave every chance
to, I showed you patience,

as a matter of fact,
I gave you leeway

precisely because you were
colored and this is what I get.

And that is the other
side of this dismal drama,

you patronizing me,
because I'm black,

that's not even grudging respect,
that is no respect at all.

You say you were
giving me leeway,

well, I say you were
scared of my talent

and what it unleashed
in your Emperor Jones.

You'd have to stand on
your father's shoulder

to peer over the footlights
to look up to me!

Hm,
and a real actor would know,

that parts come and parts go

and you, sir are fired.

Ooh, my Lord.

Florence?

Florence?

Don't I know you
from somewhere?

Not that I know of.

Who the hell whistling
that way in my palace?

Who dare whistle that
way in my palace?

I'm Emperor Jones.

I'm Emperor Jones.

Charlie.

Florence?

I missed you.

- Florence?
- Where you been?

Ah, I missed you.

Amazing!

We're not ready to
go back to Broadway,

but we're gonna do a
run down in the Village,

one in London.

The role of Smithers
is still available,

if you're interested.

Oh, I've found a small
theater space in Pennsylvania,

I'm starting my own
repertory company,

a chip off the old
Jig Cook block.

Hm, are you sure?

Run in London, one in New York,

pay for your whole first season.

The answer's no.

I understand that you've cast
Paul Robeson as Brutus Jones.

That's right.

Has he told you
what he thinks of the role?

He loves it.

Well,
I offered it to him first

and he didn't think
much it or of you,

I think we kept that from you.

Well, he's changed his mind.

Yes, he has.

Emperor Jones is Charles
Gilpin's role and you know it.

Charles Gilpin is full
of cheese and a yard wide.

What do you know about acting?

Are you really asking me that?

All your theories are
based on what your father did

and trying to do
the exact opposite.

I saw your father on stage,

he was the greatest
actor of his generation.

He did "Monte Cristo" for years

and took the money to allow you

to become the greatest
playwright of your generation.

I saw your father
as Monte Cristo,

he, he excited me for theater,

the same way that
Gilpin excites people.

Don't you see what you've done?

Charles S. Gilpin is the Negro
equivalent of James O'Neill,

a great actor in
their perfect role

and now you are taking
it away from him

and this has nothing to do

with what words he
does and doesn't say,

you're killing the golden goose,

just so you can kick
back against your father.

That about it?

Yeah, that's about it.

Hm.

Hm.

- Thank you.
- Hm-mm.

- What's happening?
- Hm.

We're leaving the Cape.

Fine by me.

May I ask why?

Well, I'm sick of it,

I'm sick of the wind,

I'm sick of the
stench of the seaweed,

I'm sick of the ghosts.

It's nothing but ghosts now.

Jig's gone,

everybody's gone.

The theater's dead.

Perhaps I killed it.

We're running out of booze.

So many things.

Yeah.

Hm.

Where to, where should we go?

Someplace warm,

Bermuda.

Hm.

Won't that stink of seaweed?

Well, it's a different
seaweed, darling,

it's a different seaweed,

a different stench.

Hm.

Hm.

We live in this moment
building temples for tomorrow

as strong as we can,

then we stand on the
mountain top free.

Langston, Langston
Hughes, a poet, a writer.

It's an honor to meet
you, sir.

Ah-huh, I'm sure.

Now what'd you talk about?

Negro artists like you

should express their
individual dark-skinned selves

without fear or shame.

If white people are
pleased, be glad,

if they are not,
it don't matter.

If colored people are
pleased, be glad too,

if they are not,
their displeasure don't matter either.

It don't matter, exactly!

You are pulling, my friend,
you ought to write me plays.

That, that is what I
have been saying all along,

we can't revere our own history,

unless we write it ourselves.

You got to learn about
theater to write these plays,

whatever you say about Eugene
O'Neill and I've said a lot,

boy, he knows how to
write for theater.

♪ Ooh, doo, doo ♪

Oh,
look what the cat dragged in.

You look good, Gene,
you got a couple of bucks?

It'll get you something smoother

than this gut rot
I've been drinking.

What have you been up
to, Charles?

Well, I did a film,
10 nights in a ballroom.

Ah, interesting,

a ballroom, I've read the novel.

They ever make it into a play?

So what is it?

I reckon you're not
here for your health

or to get ideas about a play?

"The Emperor,"

I wanna revive it for
run down in the Village.

Robeson not available?

No, he hasn't been asked.

Director, you?

- No, James Light.
- Oh!

Well, he did it in London.

I'll pretend to take
Light's direction,

if and only if

I don't ever have to
say that word again.

Hm.

So what do you say?

It's about time, Mr. Gilpin.

Besides, I need the money.

Me too, Charles.

Mr. Gilpin.

I'm Robert Elwyn from the
Maverick Theater, Woodstock.

I have a contract for your
appearance as Brutus Jones

at my theater,
double what you got the last time.

It's not gonna happen, sir.

The voice is,
is shot.

Are you sure,
can I get you a doctor?

A voice specialist?

I appreciate the offer, but I, I get.

It's alright.

People still want to see you?

It wouldn't be the Brutus
Jones I'd wanna give them.

I'm sorry, but thank you.

Can't you see he can't speak?

I'm so sorry. I'll
see you out.