The Emperor Jones
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The Emperor Jones is a play by Eugene O'Neill which tells the tale of an African-American man who kills a man, goes to prison, escapes to a Caribbean island, and sets himself up as emperor. Charles Sidney Gilpin originated the role of Brutus Jones on stage on November 1, 1920 at The Playwright's Theatre in New York. Paul Robeson, who played Brutus Jones in the 1924 revival of the play, was tapped to star in the 1933 film version, which also featured Dudley Digges, Frank H. Wilson and Fredi Washington, was adapted for film by DuBose Heyward and directed by Dudley Murphy. In 1999 the film was deemed "culturally significant" by the United States Library of Congress and selected for preservation in the National Film Registry.