From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
American film distributor (1898 ?1969)
Alfred N. Sack
(October 22, 1898 ? March 1, 1969)
[1]
was an American businessperson, newspaper publisher and the proprietor of film distribution, production, and the theater-owning business Sack Amusements in the United States.. He collaborated with Spencer Williams to make films with Black casts. Sack Amusement Enterprises was the leading distributor of this type of film between 1920 and 1950.
[2]
Biography
[
edit
]
Sack was born in
Greenville, Mississippi
. He worked as a newspaper publisher in the 1920s between stints in the film industry.
[3]
His business, Sack Amusements, included many films starring African American casts, so-called
race films
.
[4]
He worked with his brother Lester. They were Jewish.
[5]
They partnered with
Spencer Williams
on several films.
[6]
Sack distributed several
Oscar Micheaux
films.
[7]
Sack secured a deal with RKO to distribute four two-reel films of "Negro spirituals".
[8]
The brothers re-released some films. The brothers purchased the
Lucas Theatre
in Dallas, Texas.
[
citation needed
]
He opened the Coronet Theatre in Dallas in 1948. It opened as an art house theatre but by the time he sold it in 1967, it was an
adult film
theatre.
[9]
Sack had a daughter, Sarah Lee Sack.
[3]
Sarah Lee Sack's blindness was discovered when she was a few days old; her disability inspired Sack to become active in helping blind children.
[10]
He had a heart attack in 1959.
[11]
Go Down, Death!
was adapted from a poem by
James Weldon Johnson
.
Filmography
[
edit
]
- St. Louis Blues
(1929)
[12]
- The Black King
(1932)
- She Devil
(1934), distributor
- Princess Tam Tam
(1935), distributor, a French film adaptation of
Pygmalion
blocked from major distribution channels by censors in the U.S.
[13]
- The Broken Earth
(1936)
- Underworld
(1937), distributor
- Harlem on the Prairie
(1937), distributor
- Policy Man
(1938)
- Two-Gun Man from Harlem
(1938), distributor
- Harlem Rides the Range
(1939)
- The Devil's Daughter
(1939)
- Midnight Shadow
(1939)
- Moon Over Harlem
(1939)
- The Bronze Buckaroo
(1939)
- Lying Lips
(1939)
- Gang War (1940 film)
- Son of Ingagi
(1940)
- The Blood of Jesus
(1941),
[14]
distributor
- Marching On!
(1943), directed by
Spencer Williams
- Of One Blood
(1944), directed by Spencer Williams
- Go Down, Death!
(1944)
[15]
- Harlem Hotshots
(1940) (short subject)
[16]
- Beale Street Mama
(1946)
- Dirty Gertie from Harlem U.S.A.
(1946)
- Juke Joint (film)
(1947)
- Murder with Music
(1948)
- The Girl in Room 20
(1949)
References
[
edit
]
- ^
"Alfred N. Sack"
.
En.kinorium.com
. Retrieved
November 7,
2023
.
- ^
"Black Filmmaking"
.
Texas State Historical Association
. Retrieved
November 7,
2023
.
- ^
a
b
"Alfred N. Sack, 69, Is Dead; Texas Film Executive."
Boxoffice
. Vol. 94, Iss. 21. Mar 10, 1969. p. 11. Via Proquest.
- ^
"TSHA | Film Industry"
.
Tshaonline.org
.
- ^
"Micheaux's novel success"
. 2007-09-22 – via PressReader.
- ^
Harris, Brandon (June 8, 2015).
"Black America's Forgotten Film History"
.
The New Republic
.
- ^
"A time capsule from the earliest days of independent black cinema"
.
Dallas News
. August 5, 2016.
- ^
"Film World and A-V World News Magazine"
. September 22, 1945 – via Google Books.
- ^
"Pictures: AI Sack Sells Coronet."
Variety
. Vol. 249, Iss. 6. December 27, 1967. p. 18
- ^
"Dallas Man Helps Kids Minus Sight"
.
The Baytown Sun
. 1963-02-14. p. 14
. Retrieved
2021-08-02
.
- ^
"Pictures: Alfred N. Sack."
Variety
. Vol. 214, Iss. 13. May 27, 1959. p. 7
- ^
Bratkovich, Colin (May 8, 2014).
Just Remember This
. Xlibris Corporation.
ISBN
9781483645193
– via Google Books.
- ^
Scott, Ellen C. (January 14, 2015).
Cinema Civil Rights: Regulation, Repression, and Race in the Classical Hollywood Era
. Rutgers University Press.
ISBN
9780813572925
– via Google Books.
- ^
"Alfred N. Sack"
.
BFI
. Archived from
the original
on May 28, 2018.
- ^
"Lobby card for Go Down, Death!"
.
Nmaahc.si.edu
.
- ^
"HARLEM HOT SHOTS"
.
Library of Congress
.