Native Land (1942)
By the start of World War II, Paul Robeson had given up his lucrative mainstream work to participate in more socially progressive film and stage productions. Robeson committed his support to Paul Strand and Leo Hurwitz’s political semidocumentary Native Land. With Robeson’s narration and songs, this beautifully shot and edited film exposes violations of Americans’ civil liberties and is a call to action for exploited workers around the country. Scarcely shown since its debut, Native Land represents Robeson’s shift from narrative cinema to the leftist documentaries that would define the final chapter of his controversial film career.
Directors: Leo Hurwitz, Paul Strand.
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Paul Robeson as Narrator |
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Fred Johnson as Fred Hill |
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Mary George as Hill's Wife |
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John Rennick as Hill's Son |
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Amelia Romano as Young Girl in Cleveland |
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Houseley Stevenson as White Sharecropper |
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Louis Grant as Black Sharecropper |
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James Hanney as Mack |
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Howard Da Silva as Jim |
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Art Smith as Harry Carlyle |
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Robert Strauss as Frank Mason, grocer |
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John Marley as Thug With Crowbar |
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Harry Wilson as Eugene Poulnot |
| Directing | Leo Hurwitz | Director |
| Directing | Paul Strand | Director |
| Writing | Leo Hurwitz | Writer |
| Writing | Ben Maddow | Writer |
| Writing | Paul Strand | Writer |
| Editing | Bob Stebbins | Editor |
| Editing | Lionel Berman | Editor |
| Editing | Leo Hurwitz | Editor |
| Camera | Paul Strand | Director of Photography |
