Alfred N. Sack
Alfred N. Sack (1898 - 1969) was the proprietor of film distribution, production, and theater owning business Sack Amusements.
Sack was born in Greenville, Mississippi. He worked as a newspaper publisher in the 1920s between stints in the film industry.[1]
Sack Amusement's business included many films starring African American casts, so-called race films.[2] He worked with his brother Lester. They were Jewish.[3] They partnered with Spencer Williams on several films.[4] Sack distributed several Oscar Micheaux films.[5]
Sack secured a deal with RKO to distribute four 2-reel films of "Negro spirituals".[6] The brothers re-released some films.
The brothers purchased the Lucas Theatre in Dallas, Texas.[citation needed] He opened the Coronet Theatre in Dallas in 1948. It opened as an art house theatre but by the time he sold it in 1967, it was an adult film theatre.[7]
Sack had a daughter, Sarah Lee Sack.[1] Sarah Lee Sack's blindness was discovered when she was a few days old; her disability inspired Sack to become active in helping blind children.[8]
He had a heart attack in 1959.[9]
Filmography[]
- St. Louis Blues (1929)[10]
- The Black King (1932)
- She Devil (1934), distributor
- Princess Tam Tam (1935), distributor, a French film adaptation of Pygmalion blocked from major distribution channels by censors in the U.S.[11]
- The Broken Earth (1936)
- Underworld (1937), distributor
- Harlem on the Prairie (1937), distributor
- (1938)
- Two-Gun Man from Harlem (1938), distributor
- Harlem Rides the Range (1939)
- The Devil's Daughter (1939)
- Midnight Shadow (1939)
- Moon Over Harlem (1939)
- The Bronze Buckaroo (1939)
- Lying Lips (1939)
- Gang War (1940 film)
- Son of Ingagi (1940)
- The Blood of Jesus (1941),[12] distributor
- Marching On! (1943), directed by Spencer Williams
- Of One Blood (1944), directed by Spencer Williams
- Go Down, Death! (1944)[13]
- Beale Street Mama (1946)
- Dirty Gertie from Harlem U.S.A. (1946)
- Juke Joint (film) (1947)
- The Girl in Room 20 (1949)
- [14]
References[]
- ^ Jump up to: a b "Alfred N. Sack, 69, Is Dead; Texas Film Executive." Boxoffice. Vol. 94, Iss. 21. Mar 10, 1969. p. 11. Via Proquest.
- ^ "TSHA | Film Industry". www.tshaonline.org.
- ^ "PressReader.com - Your favorite newspapers and magazines". www.pressreader.com.
- ^ Harris, Brandon (June 8, 2015). "Black America's Forgotten Film History". The New Republic.
- ^ "A time capsule from the earliest days of independent black cinema". Dallas News. August 5, 2016.
- ^ "Film World and A-V World News Magazine". September 22, 1945 – via Google Books.
- ^ "Pictures: AI Sack Sells Coronet." Variety. Vol. 249, Iss. 6. Dec 27, 1967. P. 18.
- ^ "Dallas Man Helps Kids Minus Sight". The Baytown Sun. 1963-02-14. p. 14. Retrieved 2021-08-02.
- ^ "Pictures: Alfred N. Sack." Variety. Vol. 214, Iss. 13. May 27, 1959. P. 7.
- ^ Bratkovich, Colin (May 8, 2014). Just Remember This. Xlibris Corporation. ISBN 9781483645193 – via Google Books.
- ^ Scott, Ellen C. (January 14, 2015). Cinema Civil Rights: Regulation, Repression, and Race in the Classical Hollywood Era. Rutgers University Press. ISBN 9780813572925 – via Google Books.
- ^ "Alfred N. Sack". BFI.
- ^ "Request Rejected". nmaahc.si.edu.
- ^ "HARLEM HOT SHOTS". Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. 20540 USA.
 | This article needs additional or more specific categories. (August 2021) |
- 1898 births
- 1969 deaths
- People from Greenville, Mississippi
- Film distributors (people)
- American Jews
- 20th-century American newspaper publishers (people)
- American theatre people
- American film production company founders
- Film producers from Mississippi