The Secret Sorrow

The Secret Sorrow
The Secret Sorrow
Written by	J.C. Brown
Produced by	Robert Levy
Color process	Black and white
Production; company	REOL Productions
Release date	1921;
Country	United States
Language	Silent

The Secret Sorrow is a 1921 American silent race film with an all African American cast, produced by REOL Productions. It was written by J.C. Brown. It is a lost film as of October 2019, but a film clip is extant and was preserved by the University of Southern California HMH Foundation Moving Image Archive.

History

It was filmed at Villa Lewaro in Irvington-on-Hudson in New York state, a historic house where A'Lelia Walker had lived.

Actress Edna Morton was featured in an advertisement for the film that described it as a "heart-throbbing story of mother love." It also noted it was, "enacted by an all star cast of Colored Artists." Morton had starred in several REOL Productions films.

Plot

The film is a dramatic account of an African American widow named Anne Morgan, and her two young sons, Arthur and Joe. The two brothers are adopted and raised apart in opposite living conditions, and they are unaware of their relationship. As adults the brothers are reunited when one brother is a prisoner and the other serves as his lawyer.

Cast

George Edward Brown, as Arthur Morgan
Percy Verwayen, as Joe Morgan
Lawrence Chenault, as Sam Dugan
Edna Morton
Henry Pleasant, as doctor
J. H. Woodson
Ida Anderson
Inez Clough

References

↑ "The Secret Sorrow At Lyric Tomorrow". Daily Press. October 9, 1921. p. 16. Retrieved October 25, 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
↑ "Article clipped from The Chicago Defender". The Chicago Defender. November 12, 1921. p. 7. Retrieved October 25, 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
1 2 3 4 5 "The Secret Sorrow (1921)". AFI Catalog. American Film Institute.
↑ Clyne, Patricia Edwards (2005). Hudson Valley Faces and Places. Harry N. Abrams. p. 33. ISBN 978-1-58567-662-0 – via Google Books.
↑ "The secret sorrow". Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, Photographs and Prints Division. New York Public Library (NYPL).
↑ "Research Catalog: Helen Armstead-Johnson photograph collection". New York Public Library (NYPL).
1 2 Dunning, Jennifer (February 11, 1977). "From Dixie to Broadway". The New York Times – via NYTimes.com.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "'The Secret Sorrow'". The Afro-American. April 7, 1922. p. 11. Retrieved October 25, 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
↑ Lupack, Barbara Tepa. "REOL Productions". Norman Studios.
↑ Lupack, Barbara Tepa (2002). Literary Adaptations in Black American Cinema: From Micheaux to Morrison. University Rochester Press. p. 84. ISBN 978-1-58046-103-0.

External links

The Secret Sorrow at IMDb

[1] "The Secret Sorrow At Lyric Tomorrow". Daily Press. October 9, 1921. p. 16. Retrieved October 25, 2026 – via Newspapers.com.

[2] "Article clipped from The Chicago Defender". The Chicago Defender. November 12, 1921. p. 7. Retrieved October 25, 2026 – via Newspapers.com.

[AFI_Catalog-3] 1 2 3 4 5 "The Secret Sorrow (1921)". AFI Catalog. American Film Institute.

[4] Clyne, Patricia Edwards (2005). Hudson Valley Faces and Places. Harry N. Abrams. p. 33. ISBN 978-1-58567-662-0 – via Google Books.

[5] "The secret sorrow". Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, Photographs and Prints Division. New York Public Library (NYPL).

[6] "Research Catalog: Helen Armstead-Johnson photograph collection". New York Public Library (NYPL).

[Dunning-1977-7] 1 2 Dunning, Jennifer (February 11, 1977). "From Dixie to Broadway". The New York Times – via NYTimes.com.

[The_Afro-American-1922-8] 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "'The Secret Sorrow'". The Afro-American. April 7, 1922. p. 11. Retrieved October 25, 2026 – via Newspapers.com.

[9] Lupack, Barbara Tepa. "REOL Productions". Norman Studios.

[10] Lupack, Barbara Tepa (2002). Literary Adaptations in Black American Cinema: From Micheaux to Morrison. University Rochester Press. p. 84. ISBN 978-1-58046-103-0.