In the 1920s to the mid-1950s, there were quite a few small film production companies which made movies for specifically black audiences. Considering many theaters in the States were NOT integrated, this made sense, as black-owned theaters needed to show SOMTHING...and just showing white Hollywood productions didn't make much sense. The problem, however, with most of these films is that the production quality was generally very low...and acting was often rather poor. This is certainly understandable as the budgets were small and the companies simply couldn't afford to make higher quality movies. Because of this, you should remember this as you watch "The Black King"...it lacks stars and the sound quality is poor (though it DOES have closed captions...and I recommend you use them). But that does NOT mean you shouldn't watch it, as it is interesting from a cultural and historical perspective.
"The Black King" must have been inspired by the work of Marcus Garvey during the 1920s. He pushed for black pride, black-owned businesses and talked about a 'Back to Africa Movement'...and his Black Star Line ships were supposed to take black Americans to visit or settle in Africa...something which never came to be.
In "The Black King", a Baptist church realizes their preacher is elderly and well past his peak, so they hire a fiery young preacher. The new preacher champions a Back to Africa Movement...but ultimately he turns out to be a crook*. His plan, however, definitely smacks of Garveyism...including buying ships to return black Americans to their ancestral roots
This film turned out to be what I expected...mildly interesting with low production values. But as a former history teacher, I like these sorts of movies as they give insight into the times. But most WON'T be as interested and it would be nice if someone would make a better quality film about the same subject matter. Plus, I would hope in a remake that they'd choose some more sensitive names, as this movie has a character named 'Charcoal Johnson' and another named 'Nappy'....yikes!
*Garvey was accused by the federal government of essentially creating a Ponzi Scheme to sell his Black Star Line and he was jailed and then soon expelled from the USA...returning to the country of his birth, Jamaica. Some considered him a crook...some just a bad businessman with good intentions. To find out more about him and his organization, try watching the "American Experience" documentary "Marcus Garvey: Look for Me in the Whirlwind".
