Some of Micheaux's early films became out of print, yet found and restored to its original format. Some scenes in the films were damaged with time.
The Library of Congress has Within Our Gates in their National Film Registry and is also under the alternate title was listed as La Negra. The copy in the LOC was the original copy discovered in Spain(LOC.gov).
As Micheaux began to transition to sound films, the subsequent films had musical elements to them. The Exile (1931), The Girl from Chicago (1932), and Lying Lips (1939) are sound films with musical scores and protagonist who sing or performs. there are full cabaret performances in Ten Minutes to Live (1932) and Birthright (1939). Some critics viewed his musical elements as being superfluous and unnecessary but for him, it was a vehicle to further explore his creativity. He would blend both African and Europe origins. The music within his films was what he refers to as a Jubilee mix. The Jubilee mix is a ecletic blend of modernism and traditional(Green, 2004).
Through Micheaux's doggedly promotion of his films, he was able to disburse some of the films internationally. He sold the foreign rights to the films Within Our Gates, The Brute, and The Symbol of the Unconquered to England, France, Italy, Sweden, and Spain. He did face censorship by the Swedish film industry which the Swedish Board of Censorship would remove any violence or bad language. Their cause of censorship was the Swedish government was due their concern about the morality of their citizens. Similarly, the same films that gain international distribution also receive censorship in the US for the opposite reasons. American censors edited his films when he criticized religion and the display of violence against black people. They were concerned that the films may enact race riots ( Gustafsson, 2008).
All God's Stepchildren is about a protagonist grappling with her sense of identity as a light-skinned biracial girl in a small black community. She rejects her black heritage and weaponizes her light complexion against her community and eventually passes for higher social standing in society. The movie did cause some controversy with the Young Communist League protesting the film and boycotting it at the movie premiere. They believed that the film would cause a divide between light and dark black people (Moody, 2016)
Race-centered films did centralize how the environment and not race play a factor in the themes within the films. The belief that it is the racist environment that causes there slowly became a class divide between the educated versus the poorer, less educated communities. Class differences are prominent in the films (Smith, 1997).
1925's Body & Soul was a crime drama about an escaped convict who assumes the identity of his preacher brother in order to hide out. It was the first film role for noted thespian Paul Robeson, who was already established in the theater scene. It was Paul Robeson's first on-screen role. This film did face some controversy as Micheaux was accused of plagiarizing. Film critic Charles W. Chesnutt accused Body & Soul of being "imitative and derivative" and almost plagiarized. It lifted from three different white plays that, ironically, Paul Robeson acted in. His response was that was being subversive with the material (Mcgillian,2007).
Lying Lips (1939) is a crime drama about a nightclub dancer accused of murder and trying to clear her name to avoid prosecution. It is noteworthy that this was the first on-screen role for Robert Earl Jones, the father of actor James Earl Jones, plays the lead detective. Michaux was sued by a Mae Edwards of Indianapolis, for $10,000 in 1939, claiming she gave him the story, and he promised her the lead role in the film and royalties for the film(Jnpickens, 2020).
Oscar Micheaux's films were a part of an early 20th Century genre referred to as "Race Films". These films were produced during too early periods of Hollywood. Race films were at their peak of popularity during 1921-1922 and Micheaux's films were part of the Race film movement. The Race film genre lasted from the 1910's - the 1940s. Until the Race Film genre came, Hollywood largely ignored the lives of minorities in the media. The few actors and actresses of color that would make it in white Hollywood, most of the time were regulated to sub-servant roles like butlers & maids. The genre was created as an alternative media to counteract the mainstream media. Race films were also noteworthy because they featured an all-black cast. This brief period of the year saw over 52 Race films in production and Micheaux was a contributor to it too. It was noteworthy for him because his work lasted over that period and he was the first one to successfully transition from silent films to sound. He was one the most successful independent filmmakers and created Michaux Film Corporation (Murguía).
In addition to his early films adapted from his personal life, Micheaux also drew from actual trials for his crime drama films. One case that he derive from was the Mary Phagan/ Leo Frank case of 1913. In the trial, a Southern black factory sweeper provided the crucial evidence which found his Jewish superintendent was guilty of and eventually lynched for the murder of a Southern, white, teenage, female employee. This was an unprecedented case considering that a black man's account was taken seriously in a court case. Micheaux was interested in the theme of a wrongfully accused person receiving justice in his melodramas. The trial would be the groundwork for his film The Gunsaulus Mystery (1921) and its sound "remake," Lem Hawkins's Confession (1935) (Bernstein, 2004).
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