The Gunsaulus Mystery (1921) [Lost Film]

Starring:

• Evelyn Preer 
• Edward R. Abrams
• Lawrence Chenault
• Louis De Bulger 
• E.G. Tatum 
• Mattie Wilkes 
• Bessie Bearden 
• Ethel Williams

Storyline
The body of Myrtle Gunsaulus, a young African-American girl, is discovered in the basement of a New York City factory. Arthur Gilpin, the African-American janitor who discovered the body, is arrested and charged with her murder.

Arthur’s sister Ida May (Evelyn Preer) contacts her former boyfriend, the attorney Sidney Wyeth (Lawrence Chenault), to defend Gilpin in court. During the trial, Wyeth redirects attention for the murder away from Gilpin to Anthony Brisbane, a white man with a history of sexual deviancy. Gilpin is exonerated while Brisbane is revealed as Myrtle Gunsaulus's killer 

Information (wiki)
Oscar Micheaux, the most prolific African-American filmmaker of the race film genre, had previously addressed the issue of violence by whites against blacks in his 1920 feature Within Our Gates, which aroused controversy. That film’s storyline, which included a portrayal of racial lynching and the sexual attack by a white man against a black woman, resulted in censorship rulings in Atlanta and other major cities throughout the U.S.

Micheaux tackled another controversial subject with his 1921 The Gunsaulus Mystery. The plot was based on the 1913 murder of Mary Phagan and the trial of Leo Frank. After an African American was first interrogated, police attention turned to Frank, the Jewish-American manager of the factory. He was prosecuted and convicted of the crime. After appeals had failed, he received commutation of his death sentence, but Frank was kidnapped and lynched on August 17, 1915.

Micheaux shot The Gunsaulus Mystery at the Estee Studios in New York City and distributed the film through his Micheaux Film Corporation. Evelyn Preer, the star of Within Our Gates, also starred in this production.

Micheaux revisited the subject again in 1935 with a sound remake, which was released under the titles Murder in Harlem (a.k.a Lem Hawkins' Confession). Especially in this version, Micheaux used the conventions of the detective story to introduce differing narratives and rework the binary nature of the trial, in which an African-American man and Jewish-American man had testified against each other.

No print of The Gunsaulus Mystery is known to exist in any archive or private collection, and it is considered to be a lost film. Events of the Mary Phagan murder would be covered in detail in the lengthy 1988 four-hour TV miniseries The Murder of Mary Phagan. 

**This film is considered lost until notified otherwise**

 

The Crimson Skull (1922) [Lost Film]

Starring:

• Anita Bush
• Lawrence Chenault
• Bill Pickett
• Steve Reynolds

Storyline
Directed by Richard E. Norman. Filmed on location in the all-black town of Boley, Oklahoma. The peace-loving, all-black city of Boley, Oklahoma, is invaded by "The Skull" and his "Terrors." They have sown mortal fear into the townsfolk and have the sheriff in their power. "The Law and Order League" forces the sheriff's resignation and offers $1,000 reward for the capture of the gang. Lem Nelson is persuaded to take the sheriff's job. Bob, Lem's ranch foreman, volunteers to join the gang with hopes of capturing them. Bob aids some of the hostages of the gang and is accused by the gang of being a traitor. Uncertain of his guilt, he is tried by the test of "The Crimson Skull." One drop of blood decides his fate, if shall live or die.

They Call Me Mr. Tibbs! (1970)

Starring:

• Sidney Poitier
• Martin Landau
• Barbara McNair

IMDB.com
This sequel to "In the Heat of the Night" will suffer in inevitable comparisons to its infinitely better predecessor. Instead of looking like a theatrical movie edited for television, "Mister Tibbs" looks suspiciously like a TV movie edited for theatrical release, with grainy photography, cheesy opening titles, and sets that look like they're made of plywood. The murder sequence has a glaring continuity error: the camera shows two hands choking the girl, then a shot of a hand reaching for a statuette, then a shot of the girl being choked with two hands again, and finally the statuette coming down for the fatal blow. Solving the case should be easy: find the only guy with three hands! But the shoddy production values can't completely obscure this film's considerable merits: namely, Sidney Poitier's performance as the cool detective determined to follow the evidence wherever it may lead, even if it implicates a friend. Martin Landau is also convincing as the do-gooder preacher-activist suspected of brutally murdering his prostitute girlfriend. In addition to being haunted by the case, Tibbs is conflicted about his home life, but the issues of race and Tibbs' barely concealed sense of social outrage are absent here. So is the complex murder mystery that made "In the Heat of the Night" so compelling.

Miracle in Harlem (1948)

Starring:

• Sheila Guyse
• Stepin Fetchit
• Hilda Offley
• Kenneth Freeman 

Storyline
Julie Weston and her aunt, Hattie, own and operate a candy-store in Harlem. A wealthy business man, Albert Marshall, and his wayward son, Jim Marshall, swindle the women out of the store. Later, Albert Marshall is found murdered, and there are several suspects, including Marshall's secretary and a blackmailer.

Available at archive.org

See China and Die (1981)

Starring:

• Esther Rolle
• Kene Holliday
• Frank Converse

IMDB.com
"See China, And Die" starring Miss Esther Rolle. I loved her. She recently died and I was very sad - mixed emotions surrounded me as I thought back to seeing Miss Rolle on the screen, both tv and in the movies. She was a wonderful actress.

Her starring role in the long running series, "Good Times," gave me many years of entertainment. She was a strong, concerned mother, who loved her children and an excellent wife who stood by her husband, who faced racism, joblessness and frustration in white America. Rolle gave pathos and exhilaration to her role as "Florida" in this series.

When I saw, "See China, And Die" on tv, Rolle made me love her more. She was playing a maid again, but this time, an amateur detective who was trying to solve the case of her murdered boss.

Her arrogance reminded me of an earlier movie maid, Hattie McDaniel, who, tho subservient, was a bold and earthy woman. Miss Rolle was the "maid" for several tenants in the building where her boss was killed. She solved the case despite the police and her policeman/detective son who tried unsuccessfully to quash her "work".

During the proceedings, Rolle almost got herself killed, but turned the tables on all suspects during a dinner revelation of the "real killer".

The picture was fun, because Esther Rolle brought her special quality, as an actress to the the role of "Mama". The New York locations added a touch of authenticity to the film.

I enjoyed many of the performances, especially Fritz Weaver, Paul Dooley and the rest of the cast.

Many people have caught this film on late night tv and enjoyed it, and then, putting ads in publications trying to find ANYone who had a copy of the film. They wanted to add it to their personal collections. I was lucky...I have a copy.