Julian was born in Trinidad and came to Harlem in 1921. He became famous for his stunts, which included jumping from his plane into Harlem itself and a 1924 send-off of his plane Ethiopia I, which attracted thousands of people to the Harlem River. He also is among a handful of individuals who have been named the first black pilot to receive a license in the United States.
That odd partnership produced one of the relatively rare Micheaux films that survives complete. A Harlem nightclub singer refuses to “date” the customers, gets framed for her aunt’s murder, and lands in prison, while the club’s former manager, now a police detective, hunts for the truth. Robert Earl Jones, father of James Earl Jones, made his screen debut here. The film is in the public domain, and you can watch it free right now.
Lying Lips 1939 — Movie Overview Table
| Detail | Information |
|---|---|
| Title | Lying Lips |
| Release Year | 1939 |
| Country | United States |
| Runtime | Approximately 60–80 minutes depending on the print (commonly listed at 68 minutes) |
| Genre | Drama, Melodrama, Crime, Race Film |
| Language | English |
| Format | Black & White |
| Director | Oscar Micheaux |
| Screenplay | Oscar Micheaux |
| Producers | Oscar Micheaux and Hubert Fauntleroy Julian |
| Cinematography | Lester Lang |
| Editing | Leonard Weiss |
| Music | Jack Shilkret |
| Production Company | Micheaux Film Corporation |
| Distributor | Sack Amusement Enterprises |
| Filming Location | Biograph Studios, New York City |
| Significance | Micheaux’s 37th film; screen debut of Robert Earl Jones, father of James Earl Jones |
| Earlier Film of the Same Title | Lying Lips (1921), a separate silent film |
| IMDb Rating | 4.7/10 |
| Public Domain | Yes — freely available to watch and download |
Full Cast Table — Lying Lips (1939)
| Actor | Role |
|---|---|
| Edna Mae Harris | Elsie Bellwood |
| Carman Newsome | Benjamin Hadnott (also spelled Hadnot) |
| Robert Earl Jones | Detective Wanzer |
| Frances Williams | Elizabeth Green |
| Cherokee Thornton | “John” |
| “Slim” Thompson | “Clyde” |
| Gladys Williams | Aunt Josephine |
| Juano Hernández | Reverend Bryson |
| Henry “Gang” Gines | “Ned” Green |
| Don De Leo | Farina |
| Charles Latorre | Garotti |
| Robert Paquin | District Attorney |
| George Reynolds | Lieutenant of Police |
| Amanda Randolph | Matron |
| Teddy Hall | Boy |
Hubert Julian — The Black Eagle of Harlem Who Co-Produced a Micheaux Film
Julian was born in Trinidad and arrived in Harlem in 1921. He made his name with stunts: parachute jumps into Harlem itself, and a 1924 send-off for his plane Ethiopia I that drew thousands to the Harlem River. He is also one of several people credited as the first Black pilot licensed in the United States.
Film was a short detour. Julian co-produced Lying Lips and its follow-up, The Notorious Elinor Lee (1940), and reportedly floated plans for more, including a picture about his own aviation career. Those plans went nowhere, and Micheaux’s partnership with him lasted only these two films. Still, the credit gives Lying Lips one of the stranger production backstories in 1930s independent film.
Oscar Micheaux in 1939 — A Pioneer Near the End of His Run
By the time he made Lying Lips, Micheaux had been directing for two decades. This was his 37th film, shot at Biograph Studios in New York. He made it for the segregated “race film” circuit, a market of Black audiences that Hollywood largely ignored.
There is no consensus among critics on his rating. He was the “D.W. Griffith and the Ed Wood of race cinema,” as Time’s Richard Corliss put it, and J. Hoberman noted that as he got older, his sound films became worse and worse, with the wandering lights and traffic noise drowning out the dialogue. Eric Monder, a scholar, has a different perspective: Scholar Eric Monder argues that scholar Micheaux was the first true indie feature director and that he approached race, religion and gender with a professional and personal courage.
Film Threat’s Bootleg Files column calls Lying Lips “an interesting curio of historic (if not artistic) value” — and notes that unlike most Micheaux titles, it survives in a complete, watchable version. That alone makes it a useful first stop if you’ve never seen a Micheaux picture.
Full Plot Summary — Lying Lips (1939)
Elsie Bellwood (Edna Mae Harris) is a popular nightclub singer in Harlem. She performs saucy numbers on stage, but she won’t spend time with the club’s crooked customers after hours. That refusal sets the whole story in motion.
The Club, the Manager, and a Refusal
The club’s white owners want Elsie to attend a party for visiting gangsters. They order the club’s Black manager, Benjamin Hadnott (Carman Newsome), to make her go. He refuses, quits on the spot, and tells them they can find other men to do their dirty work.
Elsie overhears and confronts him outside. Benny tells her not to worry, because he has already lined up a new job as a police detective. He drives her home, where she lives with her aunt.
A Murder, a Conviction, and a Haunted House
While Elsie bathes and talks aloud about how good Benny is, a mysterious caller phones asking for her aunt. Elsie goes to wake her and finds her dead. The police arrive, arrest Elsie, and a court convicts her of the murder on thin evidence. She receives a life sentence.
Benny, now a detective, believes she is innocent. With Detective Wanzer (Robert Earl Jones), he grabs a man tied to the criminal circle behind the frame-up and drives him to a supposedly haunted house. The detectives threaten to leave him tied up there, and he confesses.
Elsie goes free and marries Benny. She hands him the $15,000 in insurance money her aunt left her.
Edna Mae Harris, Robert Earl Jones, and a Cast of Firsts and Almost-Weres
Edna Mae Harris (1910–1997), born in Harlem, was the leading Black film actress of the late 1930s and early 1940s. White audiences knew her mainly as Zeba in The Green Pastures. Here she sings pop numbers such as “You Must Have Been a Beautiful Baby,” and reviewers regularly note that she disappears from the screen for much of the second half.
Robert Earl Jones made his first film appearance in Lying Lips, decades before his son James Earl Jones became one of America’s most recognizable voices. Frances E. Williams also made her film debut here. Juano Hernández, in a small role as a preacher, later became the first African American to play a judge in a Hollywood movie, in Trial (1955).
The saddest career belongs to leading man Carman Newsome, a jazz bandleader with no acting experience who appeared in five Micheaux films. He retired from show business in 1940, moved to Cleveland, and spent about thirty years working at the Addressograph-Multigraph Corporation.
A Race Film That Put Black and White Characters on Screen Together
Race films were billed as all-Black productions made for segregated theaters. Lying Lips breaks from that pattern by putting white actors in the cast, including the club’s owners, and letting them share scenes with Black characters as equals. Film Threat singles this out as a curious direction for the genre.
The dialogue is just as pointed. Characters comment openly on how white society treats Black people, and they identify one another in racial terms in ways race films usually avoided. That candor is a big part of why Micheaux’s work keeps drawing scholarly attention, even when the filmmaking itself is rough.
The 1939 Lawsuit Over the Story
Trouble followed the film into court. In 1939, Mae Edwards of Indianapolis sued Micheaux for $10,000. She claimed she gave him the story and that he promised her the lead role and royalties in return.
The case’s outcome isn’t well documented, but the claim adds one more layer to a production already stranger than its plot.
Where to Watch Lying Lips (1939) Free Online
Lying Lips is in the public domain and legally available at no cost. Print quality varies, because the film has been copied many times over the decades. Pick the clearest version you can find.
| Platform | Format | Cost |
|---|---|---|
| Internet Archive | Stream + Download (multiple formats) | Free |
| YouTube | Stream | Free |
| Public Domain Movies | Stream | Free |
Lying Lips (1939) on Internet Archive:
Is Lying Lips (1939) in the Public Domain?
Yes. Lying Lips is in the public domain in the United States so you can play it legally, freely, and without cost. It has been described as an orphaned movie with no copyright, that’s why it roams about on various free web sites and low price DVD labels. Don’t be confused by the unrelated 1921 silent film of the same name.
Critical Reception — Then and Now
The movie rated 4.7/10 on IMDb and critics are in consensus regarding the pros and cons of the film. The plot is flabby, the staging is clunky, and the haunted-house climax features mainly three guys standing in a line facing the camera, speaking. But it is not the film’s lack of attention in the race-film circuit that is noteworthy, but rather the fact that the film features performers who rarely made the news outside the context of the race-film circuit.
These days, viewers are more likely to commend Harris for her singing and screen presence, but wish her more to do after the halfway point. Others appreciate the film for its completeness as a Micheaux sound film in which they can trace its connection to Harlem history through Hubert Julian. From the technical standpoint it lets you down; as a record of independent black cinema it lets you down.
No matter what one may have to say about the manner in which Micheaux has worked, no one can doubt his perseverance. He continued to release movies for audiences that the studios weren’t interested in, and Lying Lips is one of his final films.
Frequently Asked Questions — Lying Lips 1939
Q: What is Lying Lips (1939) about?
A Harlem nightclub singer, Elsie Bellwood, refuses to socialize with the club’s crooked customers and is framed for the murder of her aunt. She is convicted and sent to prison, while her admirer Benjamin Hadnott, now a police detective, works to uncover the real culprits.
Q: Is Lying Lips (1939) in the public domain?
Yes. Lying Lips is in the public domain in the United States and is freely available on the Internet Archive, YouTube, and Public Domain Movies.
Q: Who directed Lying Lips?
Oscar Micheaux wrote and directed the film. It was his 37th feature, and he co-produced it with aviator Hubert Fauntleroy Julian.
Q: Who stars in Lying Lips?
Edna Mae Harris plays Elsie Bellwood, Carman Newsome plays Benjamin Hadnott, and Robert Earl Jones plays Detective Wanzer. Juano Hernández appears in a smaller role as Reverend Bryson.
Q: Is Robert Earl Jones in Lying Lips related to James Earl Jones?
Yes. Robert Earl Jones was the father of actor James Earl Jones. Lying Lips was Robert Earl Jones’s first film appearance.
Q: Who was Hubert Julian?
Hubert Fauntleroy Julian, nicknamed the Black Eagle of Harlem, was a Trinidad-born aviator known for parachute stunts in Harlem. He co-produced Lying Lips and The Notorious Elinor Lee (1940) with Oscar Micheaux.
Q: What is a race film?
Race films were movies made between roughly 1915 and 1950 with all-Black casts, produced for segregated Black theater audiences. Oscar Micheaux was the most prominent filmmaker working in the genre.
Q: How long is Lying Lips?
Sources list the runtime anywhere from about 60 to 80 minutes depending on the print. Many databases give it as 68 minutes.
Q: Where can I watch Lying Lips (1939) for free?
Lying Lips is freely available on the Internet Archive, YouTube, and Public Domain Movies. All public domain versions are legal to stream and download, though print quality varies.
Related Free Classic Drama Films
If Lying Lips (1939) pulled you into independent 1930s filmmaking and overlooked Black cinema, these are the natural titles to explore next:
