One of the most controversial novels of its day, Richard Wright’s NATIVE SON
(published in 1940) exposed the injustices of urban African American life, witnessed through the
eyes of Bigger Thomas, whose violent tendencies and moral confusion were the inevitable result
of generations of institutionalized racism. Kino Lorber presents a new restoration of the film,
presented in association with the Library of Congress, Fernando Martin Peña and Argentina
Sono Film. The film is preceded by a special filmed introduction by film historians Eddie Muller
(Film Noir Foundation) and Jacqueline Stewart (co-curator of Kino Lorber’s PIONEERS OF
AFRICAN AMERICAN CINEMA), courtesy of Turner Classic Movies.
Raised in the slums of Chicago, small-time hoodlum Bigger Thomas (Richard Wright) is
offered an opportunity for advancement when he is hired as chauffeur for the Daltons, a family
of wealthy liberals. While putting the intoxicated daughter Mary (Jean Wallace) to bed after an
evening of nightclubbing, Thomas is in a panic, fully realizing the impossible risk he has been
forced to take, and he accidentally suffocates her. He burns her body in a furnace to hide the
evidence and blames her disappearance on kidnappers. After confessing the crime to his
girlfriend Bessie (Gloria Madison), who encourages him to turn himself in to the police, Thomas
murders her and disposes of her body in an abandoned building. Bigger is inevitably
apprehended, jailed, and, despite the efforts of a Communist attorney (Don Dean), is sentenced
to die. Imprisoned and visited by his family, Thomas reflects on the circumstances that led to his
fate.
About the Restoration
When it was initially released in the U.S., NATIVE SON was heavily censored by regional
state/municipal censor boards where it played. A complete 16mm print of the original
Argentinian release version was located in 1999 by film archivist Fernando Martin Peña in
Buenos Aires. The Library of Congress subsequently located an incomplete 35mm duplicate
negative of the uncensored cut in Puerto Rico. These two elements were combined for the
current restoration, the most complete version of NATIVE SON ever shown in the United States.
Special thanks to Edgardo Krebs for his years of research into the making and recovery of
NATIVE SON, and for being a tireless champion of its restoration and re-release. NATIVE SON
is under license from Argentina Sono Film.
- Year1951
- Runtime108 minutes
- LanguageEnglish
- CountryArgentina
- DirectorPierre Chenal
- ScreenwriterPierre Chenal - Richard Wright (novel)
- ProducerWalter Gould
- CastRichard Wright, Jean Wallace, Nicholas Joy, Gloria Madison
- CinematographerAntonio Merayo
- EditorJorge Gárate
- Production DesignGori Muñoz
- Sound DesignMario Fezia & Charles Marin
- MusicJuan Ehlert
One of the most controversial novels of its day, Richard Wright’s NATIVE SON
(published in 1940) exposed the injustices of urban African American life, witnessed through the
eyes of Bigger Thomas, whose violent tendencies and moral confusion were the inevitable result
of generations of institutionalized racism. Kino Lorber presents a new restoration of the film,
presented in association with the Library of Congress, Fernando Martin Peña and Argentina
Sono Film. The film is preceded by a special filmed introduction by film historians Eddie Muller
(Film Noir Foundation) and Jacqueline Stewart (co-curator of Kino Lorber’s PIONEERS OF
AFRICAN AMERICAN CINEMA), courtesy of Turner Classic Movies.
Raised in the slums of Chicago, small-time hoodlum Bigger Thomas (Richard Wright) is
offered an opportunity for advancement when he is hired as chauffeur for the Daltons, a family
of wealthy liberals. While putting the intoxicated daughter Mary (Jean Wallace) to bed after an
evening of nightclubbing, Thomas is in a panic, fully realizing the impossible risk he has been
forced to take, and he accidentally suffocates her. He burns her body in a furnace to hide the
evidence and blames her disappearance on kidnappers. After confessing the crime to his
girlfriend Bessie (Gloria Madison), who encourages him to turn himself in to the police, Thomas
murders her and disposes of her body in an abandoned building. Bigger is inevitably
apprehended, jailed, and, despite the efforts of a Communist attorney (Don Dean), is sentenced
to die. Imprisoned and visited by his family, Thomas reflects on the circumstances that led to his
fate.
About the Restoration
When it was initially released in the U.S., NATIVE SON was heavily censored by regional
state/municipal censor boards where it played. A complete 16mm print of the original
Argentinian release version was located in 1999 by film archivist Fernando Martin Peña in
Buenos Aires. The Library of Congress subsequently located an incomplete 35mm duplicate
negative of the uncensored cut in Puerto Rico. These two elements were combined for the
current restoration, the most complete version of NATIVE SON ever shown in the United States.
Special thanks to Edgardo Krebs for his years of research into the making and recovery of
NATIVE SON, and for being a tireless champion of its restoration and re-release. NATIVE SON
is under license from Argentina Sono Film.
- Year1951
- Runtime108 minutes
- LanguageEnglish
- CountryArgentina
- DirectorPierre Chenal
- ScreenwriterPierre Chenal - Richard Wright (novel)
- ProducerWalter Gould
- CastRichard Wright, Jean Wallace, Nicholas Joy, Gloria Madison
- CinematographerAntonio Merayo
- EditorJorge Gárate
- Production DesignGori Muñoz
- Sound DesignMario Fezia & Charles Marin
- MusicJuan Ehlert