Robert Levy (producer)


Robert Levy was an English-born theatre manager and film producer in the early 20th century whose work was significant in establishing blacks as successful actors and paving the way for the recognition of race films.

Early life

Levy was born to Jewish parents in London in 1888. In the late 19th century, the family immigrated to the United States where Levy was educated in the New York City public school system. In his early twenties, he found a job managing the American division of the Éclair Film Company, a leading French producer of film.

Management career

In 1916, the Lafayette Theater in Harlem, featuring a company of black vaudevillians and entertainers, was growing and in need of strong management. Robert Levy, who had entered the field of black entertainment with the Quality Amusement Company, was hired for this role. Charged with selecting plays, mounting shows and managing the travelling troupes as well as bookings at other theatres, Levy focused his efforts on turning the theatre into a site of quality productions. He produced all-black cast versions of notable plays such as Madame X, Dr.Jekyll and Mr. Hyde and The Battle, a breakthrough for black actors to perform in roles they were never offered before. His insistence on high production value and respectful treatment of blacks earned him initial acclaim from the public and press, but he nevertheless faced too many battles for his success to last long. Lester Walton, a popular black film critic and theatrical manager himself, criticised Levy for holding a position that he felt rightfully belonged to a black man. After producing more than 100 plays with all-black casts, and under pressure from black newspaper sources, Levy left the theatre in 1919, determined to devote his efforts to black film, thereafter called race films.

Film career

As with his theatre productions, Levy wanted his films to be of the highest calibre, highlighting blacks as serious actors with notable talent. In January 1921, he officially launched the opening of his company, Reol Films. Over the next few years, he would produce nine feature-length films and two documentaries. They featured prominent black actors such as Clarence Muse, Lawrence Chenault, Andrew Bishop, Sherman Dudley, Edna Morton, Inez Clough and Evelyn Preer and their involvement in these films often propelled them into larger careers. Most notably, Levy purchased the rights to The Sport of the Gods and The Uncalled, works by acclaimed black writer Paul Laurence Dunbar. In 2008, the US Postal Service chose the promotional poster for The Sport of the Gods, Reol's first released film, to be featured on a postage stamp honouring black film. In the early 1920s, race films were gaining prominence as a form of popular entertainment. However, these independent productions ultimately could not compete with the larger funding available to the big studios. By 1924 Levy faced the problem of finding distribution outlets for his films and was forced to accept financial defeat and close his company.

Later life

Levy attempted to revive the Lafayette Players on the west coast after the demise of Reol Films but his theatrical efforts were unsuccessful. He returned to New York City in the early 1930s and accepted a job as a magazine editor. Levy, as editor, became a leading creator of detective magazines. His work in this area helped to establish the material for many film noir projects in the thirties and forties. He died in 1959, unrecognised by posterity for his pioneering role in black theatre and film and without acclaim for his accomplishments on behalf of black culture.

Productions with all African American Cast (at Lafayette Theatre)

The following is a list of all of the theatre productions that Levy was responsible for at the Lafayette Theatre between the hours 1916 and 1919.
Production ListPlaywrightOpening NightOriginal YearWhite Theater at the time of Lafayette of Production
In The Bishop's CarriageChanning Pollack17 July 19161907Grand Opera House, NY
The Third DegreeCharles Klein24 July 19161909Hudson Theatre. NY
The Ghost BreakerPaul Dickey
Chas W. Goddard		31 July 19161913Lyceum Theatre
A Pair of SixesEdward Henry Peples8 October 19161914Longacre Theatre
Big Jim GarrityOwen Davis17 August 19161914New York Theatre
Sign of Four17 August 19161903West End Theatre
Stop ThiefCarlyle Moore28 August 19161913Gaiety Theatre
At BayGeorge Scarborough9 April 1916191439@th Street Theatre
Within the LawBayard Veiller9 November 19161913
1928		Eltinge 42@th Street Theatre
Cosmopolitan Theatre.
Madame XAlexander Bisson18 September 19161920
1927		New Amsterdam Theatre
Earl Carroll Theatre
The Family CupboardOwen Davis10/02/161915Playhouse Theatre
The ConspiracyRobert Baker
John Emerson		10/09/161914New Amsterdam Theatre
The LureGeorge Scarborough16 October 19161913Garrick Theatre
The Man of the HourGeorge Broadhurst23 October 19161906Savoy Theatre
Forty-Five Minutes from BroadwayGeorge Cohan23 October 19161906New Amsterdam Theatre
New York Theatre
George Cohan Theatre
The CityClyde Fitch13 November 19161910Lyric Theatre
Hackett Theatre
Academy of Music
Grand Opera
Lyceum Theatre
The Lion and the MouseCharles Klein20 November 19161905Hudson Theatre
Princess Theatre
RafflesEugene Prebre,
E.W. Hornung		27 November 19161904
1910		Savoy Theatre
Gaiety Theatre
Three TwinsCharles Dickens12 April 19161908Herald Square Theatre
Majestic Theatre
Get RichRich Wallingford
George Cohan		12 November 19161910Gaiety Theatre
George M. Cohan Theatre
TrilbyPaul Potter adapted by DuMaurier26 March 19171895
1905
1915
1921		Garden Theatre
New Amsterdam Theatre
Shubert Theatre
National Theatre
The Yankee PrinceGeorge Cohan4 February 19171908Knickerbocker Theatre
The Law of the LandGeorge Broadhurst23 April 1917191448@th Street Theatre
The Time, the Place, the GirlJoseph E. Howard30 April 19171907
1942		Wallack's Theatre
Grand Opera Theatre
Mansfield Theatre
SinnersOwen Davis5 July 19171915Playhouse Theatre
The House of a Thousand CandlesGeorge Middelton21 May 19171908Dalys Theatre
The Great DivideWilliam Vaughn Moody28 May 19171907
1908
1917		Princess Theatre
Daly's Theatre
Academy of Music Theatre
Grand Opera Theatre
Lyceum Theatre
The Natural LawCharles Sumner6 April 19171915Theatre Republic
Damaged GoodsEugene Brieux18 June 19171913Fulton Theatre
The Yellow TicketMichael Morton17 July 19171914Eltinge 42nd Street Theatre
The Chocolate Soldier
Stanislaus Stange23 July 1917.
The TrafficRachael Marshall
Oliver Bailey		30 July 19171914New York Theatre
The Little MillionaireGeorge Cohan8 June 19171912George M. Cohan Theatre
The GamblersCharles Klein13 August 19171910Maxine Elliot's Theatre
Charley's AuntBrandon Thomas20 August 19171906Manhattan Theatre
The VampireLee Morrison
Edgar Allan Woolf
George Sylvester Viereck		27 August 1917
The Man from MexicoH.A. Du Souchet9 March 19171907Hoyt's Theatre
Garrick's Theatre
The Silent WitnessJack Deleon
Jack Celestine		9 October 19171916Fulton Theatre
Are You A Mason?17 September 19171901Garrick Theatre
Wallack's Theatre
The Inner Man3 November 19181917Lyric Theatre
Cort Theatre
The KnifeEugene Walters18 March 19181917Bijou Theatre
FaustAdaptation from Faust by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe4 January 19181930Casino Theatre
Centre Theatre
The Master MindDavid Carter4 August 19181913Harris Theatre
The Man Who Owns BroadwayGeorge Cohan15 April 19181910New York Theatre
Sappho and PhaonPercy MacKaye22 April 19181907Lyric Theatre
His Honor the MayorCharles Campbell29 April 19181906New York Theatre
Where do you Live?Wallacks Alma
George Hobart		13 May 19181911Weber's Music Hall
Broken ThreadsErnest Wilkes20 May 19181917Fulton Theatre
Very Good EddieGuy Bolton27 May 19181915Princess Theatre
Casino Theatre
39@th Street Theatre
The Blindness of VirtueCosmo Hamilton24 June 1918191239@th Street Theatre
A Butterfly on the Wheel?Edward G. Hammerde
F. Neilson
K.C. Neilson		7 January 1918191239@th Street Theatre
The Woman in the CaseClyde Fitch15 July 19181905Herald Square Theatre
His Last DollarDavid Higgins
Baldwin Cooke		22 July 19181904American Theatre
The White SisterWalter Hackett
F. Marion Crawford		29 July 19181909Daly's Theatre
The BossEdward Shelton8 May 19181911Astor Theatre
Cheating CheaterMax Marcin9 February 19181917Eltinge 42@th Street Theatre
ArizonaAugustus Thoman9 September 19181901
1912		Herald Square Theatre
Lyric Theatre
The RosaryEdward Rose16 September 19181910Garden Theatre
The Ninety and NineRamsey Morris20 January 19191903Academy of Music
Man's EnemyEric Hudson
Charles H. Langdon		2 October 19191900Star Theatre 1913 Lyric Theatre
The Two OrphansEugene Cormon
Adolphe D'Ennery		17 February 19191904
1874
1926		New Amsterdam Theatre
Union Square Theatre
Cosmopolitan Theatre
Convict 999Walter Howard3 March 19191907Thelia Theatre
The Story of the RosaryOwen Davis3 October 19191914Manhattan Opera House
The Guilty ManRuth Helen Davis
Charles Klein		17 March 19191916Astor Theatre
The BridgeRupert Hughes4 July 19191909Majestic Theatre
The Fortune HunterWinchell Smith14 April 19191909Gaiety Theatre
A Midnight MarriageJames Halleck Reid21 April 19191904Grand Opera House
The Burglar and the LadyLangdon McCormick5 May 19191906American Theatre
The HavocH.S. Sheldon26 May 19191911Bijou Theatre
The Girl in the TaxiHugh Stainislus6 February 19191910Astor Theatre
Mrs. Temple's TelegramFrank Wyatt16 June 19191906Hoyt Theatre
The Blue EnvelopeFrank Hatch
Robert Homans		6/23/191916Cort Theatre