The Trooper of Troop K explained

Trooper of Troop K
Director:Harry Gant
Starring:Noble Johnson
Jimmie Smith
Beulah Hall
Studio:Lincoln Motion Picture Company
Distributor:Lincoln Motion Picture Company
Runtime:3 reels
Country:United States
Language:English

The Trooper of Troop K is a Lincoln Motion Picture Company film produced in 1917,[1] directed by Harry A. Gant and starring Noble Johnson. It was the production company's second film.[2]

Set at the Battle of Carrizal, the film contains a battle scene with hundreds of extras,[3] depicting African American U.S. soldiers fighting Mexican soldiers.[4]

The film originally consisted of 3 reels of 35 mm movie film.[5] Most of this is now lost film. The small portion that survives is earliest extant fragment of Black-produced cinema.[6]

Synopsis

Joe (Noble Johnson) is fond of Clara (Beulah Hall) but his inept romantic gestures do not impress her. Jimmy (Jimmie Smith) reacts with disgust to Joe's antics, and competes with Joe to win the affections of Clara. Joe joins the army because Clara suggests this will help Joe clean up his act.

The army captain is delighted by Joe's kind-hearted nature and his skill with horses. Joe and other soldiers are dispatched to Mexico, and fight in the Battle of Carrizal. The soldiers behave heroically against the superior firing power of Mexican Gatling guns. Joe saves the life of the white commanding officer of the 10th Cavalry Regiment.

Reading of Joe's heroism in the newspaper, Clara dismisses Jimmie's criticisms of Joe. She welcomes Joe home "with open arms".

Filming and distribution

The battle scene had a cast of 300, including Mexican cowboys and former troopers of the 9th and 10th Cavalry. This was a major undertaking for the young film industry of the time.

The film was initially successful; the Lincoln Motion Picture Company created multiple print runs of the film to meet demand. Like most early Black documentaries or docudrama, the film had no means of distribution after its initial run and was largely forgotten.

Rediscovery

The Trooper of Troop K was considered to be a wholly lost film until 2022, when a 15-second clip was rediscovered embedded within another film by the same company, By Right of Birth (1921). The rediscovery was possible because a film scholar identified Noble Johnson's face in a brief iris shot inset as a special effect in one corner of the film. Johnson had left the Lincoln Motion Picture Company in 1918, indicating the clip was older than 1921.[7] [8]

Notes and References

  1. Book: Michaels, Camille R. . African Americans in Film: Issues of Race in Hollywood . July 15, 2017 . Greenhaven Publishing LLC . 9781534560819 . Google Books.
  2. Book: African Americans in Film: Issues of Race in Hollywood. 9781534560819. Michaels. Camille R.. 15 July 2017.
  3. Book: Struggles for Representation: African American Documentary Film and Video. 0253213479. Klotman. Phyllis Rauch. Cutler. Janet K.. 1999.
  4. Book: Marez, Curtis . University Babylon: Film and Race Politics on Campus . November 19, 2019 . . 9780520304574 . Google Books.
  5. Web site: IMDB . A Trooper of Troop K (1917) Technical Specifications .
  6. Web site: Looking (and Looking Again) at Black Film History . October 4, 2022 . Cary . O'Dell . Allyson Nadia . Field . Library of Congress .
  7. News: Piece of earliest known Black-produced film found hiding in plain sight . UChicago News . Tori . Lee . Dec 6, 2022.
  8. Web site: The Trooper of Troop K: Rediscovering Footage from the Earliest Black Film Production Company . October 4, 2022 . Black Film Center & Archive Blog . Indiana University Bloomington .