All American News (1940)
Two samples of independent Black film producer WILLIAM ALEXANDER’s weekly newsreel dedicated to reporting stories of Negro achievement that were shown exclusively in Black theaters. From The Larry Richards/ A Cinema Apart archive.
Alexander’s NY Times obituary:
“William D. Alexander, a pioneer in black film making, died on Nov. 19 at Calvary Hospital in the Bronx. He was 75 years old and lived in Los Angeles.
He died of cancer, said Harriet Barton, a friend.
Mr. Alexander began his career in film at the All-American Newsreel Corporation in Washington. In 1945, he moved to New York City and organized the Associated Film Producers of Negro Motion Pictures Inc.
In 1947, after a year of producing short films, many of them musicals with such performers as Dizzy Gillespie and Billy Eckstine, Mr. Alexander produced his first feature, “The Fight Never Ends,” starring the boxer Joe Louis. It was quickly followed by “Jivin’ in Be-Bop,” “Love in Syncopation” and “That Man of Mine,” a musical starring Ruby Dee.
In 1949, he produced his best-known film of the period, “Souls of Sin,” a portrait of Harlem life in the 1940’s. It was directed by Powell Lindsay and starred Mr. Lindsay, William Greaves and Jimmy Wright. An Award at Cannes
In the 1950’s and 60’s, Mr. Alexander spent much of his time in Africa making documentaries. He won an award at the 1964 Cannes International Film Festival for a short, “Village of Hope,” about a leper colony in Liberia, and he was cited at the 1965 Venice Film Festival for a documentary, “Portrait of Ethiopia.” He was Liberia’s official film producer and later held the same post in Ethiopia.
In 1974, he produced his last feature, “The Klansman,” starring Richard Burton, Lee Marvin, O. J. Simpson and Lola Falana.”
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