The Emperor Jones (1933 film)

The Emperor Jones
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Dudley Murphy
Screenplay by	DuBose Heyward
Based on	The Emperor Jones 1920 play by Eugene O'Neill
Produced by	Gifford A. Cochran John Krimsky
Starring	Paul Robeson Dudley Digges Frank H. Wilson Fredi Washington Ruby Elzy
Cinematography	Ernest Haller
Edited by	Grant Whytock
Music by	Rosamond Johnson Frank Tours
Distributed by	United Artists
Release date	September 29, 1933 (1933-09-29)
Running time	80 minutes (Original cut) 73 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$263,000[1]

The Emperor Jones is a 1933 American pre-Code film adaptation of Eugene O'Neill's 1920 play of the same title, directed by iconoclast Dudley Murphy, written for the screen by playwright DuBose Heyward and starring Paul Robeson in the title role (a role he played onstage, both in the US and UK), and co-starring Dudley Digges, Frank H. Wilson, Fredi Washington and Ruby Elzy.

The film was made outside of the Hollywood studio system, financed with private money from neophyte wealthy producers in Gifford A. Cochran and John Krimsky, who was best known for bringing the 1932 German film Mädchen in Uniform to American audiences. It was the only film produced by the two (Cochran stopped as a producer after a failed American rendition of The Threepenny Opera that same year).^[2] It was filmed at Kaufman Astoria Studios with the beach scene shot at Jones Beach Long Beach, New York.