Lying Lips: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

A 16mm release print of the feature film Lying Lips. It consists of two reels of positive, black-and-white, 16mm acetate film with variable-area optical sound.

The film opens with the protagonist Elsie Bellwood (Edna Mae Harris) leading a group of people through a music parlor. She approaches a bandmember and asks him, “Will you play ‘Beautiful Baby’ for me?” Elsie then takes center screen and sings while the audience dances behind her. In the next scene, a woman called Elizabeth (Frances Williams) enters a room and hands Farina (Don De Leo) an object. Elizabeth and Farina, the owner of the club, engage in a conversation about Elsie’s responsibilities at the club. The rest of the film chronicles how Elsie is wrongfully convicted of murder. Benjamin (Carman Newsome), a detective with romantic motivations, sets out to prove her innocence.

Materials, dates and provenance

• Date: 1939
• Directed by: Oscar Micheaux, American, 1884 - 1951
• Written by: Oscar Micheaux, American, 1884 - 1951
• Produced by: Oscar Micheaux, American, 1884 - 1951
• Produced by: Alfred N. Sack, American, 1898 - 1969
• Distributed by: Sack Amusement Enterprises, American, 1920 - 1979
• Subject of: Edna Mae Harris, American, 1910 - 1997
• Subject of: Carman Newsome, 1912 - 1974
• Subject of: Robert Earl Jones, American, 1910 - 2006
• Type: sound films
• Type: black-and-white films (visual works)
• Type: release prints (motion pictures)
• Type: feature films
• Type: 35mm (photographic film size)
• Medium: acetate film
• Dimensions: Duration: 56 Minutes
• Dimensions: Length (Film Reel 1): 1100 Feet
• Dimensions: Length (Film Reel 2): 1000 Feet
• Place filmed: New York City, New York County, New York, United States, North and Central America
• Place depicted: United States, North and Central America
• Topic: African American
• Topic: Film
• Topic: Musicians
• Topic: Nightlife
• Topic: Race films
• Topic: Urban life
• Object number: 2015.167.13.1ab
• Credit Line: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Gift of Randall and Sam Nieman
• Data Source: National Museum of African American History and Culture

Sources and reuse

Catalogue descriptions and facts adapted from National Museum of African American History and Culture through the Smithsonian's official Open Access dataset. This record explicitly marks its metadata CC0 1.0; formatting and selection have been changed. The underlying object's rights statement is: Unknown - Restrictions Possible Rights assessment and proper usage is the responsibility of the user.