The Emperor Jones 
Paul Robeson is pure magnetism in this fascinating film adaptation of Eugene O’Neill’s one-act play about a Caribbean dictator reflecting on his past as a Pullman porter in America. In the hands of independent producer-director Dudley Murphy—whose resume ranges from the avant-garde classic Ballet mécanique(1924) to Black and Tan (1929), which introduced film audiences to Duke Ellington—The Emperor Jones is a potent pre-Code parable about power, exploitation, and race. Though he had acted in silent films and on stage, Robeson makes his sound film debut as Brutus Jones and once audiences heard his distinctive baritone, a major star of the sound era was born.  
 

Princess Tam Tam 
Arguably Josephine Baker’s most famous onscreen performance, Princess Tam Tam was the iconic expatriate’s second French film after her breakthrough Zouzou (1934) opposite Jean Gabin. Princess Tam Tam tells a Pygmalion-like story about a jealous French novelist who introduces a puckish Tunisian shepherdess (Baker) to Parisian society as a prank on his unfaithful wife. Baker gives a star-making performance—at times earthy and others pure glamour—though the film’s colonialist perspective remains problematic. Princess Tam Tam was not widely distributed in the US since it was denied the Production Code Administration’s Seal of Approval. The reason? The onscreen depiction of interracial romances.  
 

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