The Sport of the Gods
Encyclopedia
The Sport of the Gods is a novel
by Paul Laurence Dunbar
, first published in 1902, centered around urban black life.
Forced to leave the South, a family falls apart amid the harsh realities of Northern inner city life
in this 1902 examination of the forces that extinguish the dreams of African Americans.
Robert Levy
, a prolific producer of race films in the 1920's, earned the rights to The Sport of Gods, showing his movie adaptation of the story for the first time in Chicago in 1921. While the most prominent roles went to black actors, Levy also selected whites for small parts, marking a breakthrough in biracialism in the entertainment industry. Billboard magazine carried a notice for the opening on its main motion picture page, making it the first time this level of recognition had ever been paid to a race film.
In 2008, the United States Postal Service chose to feature the promotional poster for The Sport of Gods movie on a commemorative stamp
. Although no copies of the film are known to survive, some theater bills, production stills, and film reviews do exist.
Novel
A novel is a book of long narrative in literary prose. The genre has historical roots both in the fields of the medieval and early modern romance and in the tradition of the novella. The latter supplied the present generic term in the late 18th century....
by Paul Laurence Dunbar
Paul Laurence Dunbar
Paul Laurence Dunbar was a seminal African American poet of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Dunbar gained national recognition for his 1896 "Ode to Ethiopia", one poem in the collection Lyrics of Lowly Life....
, first published in 1902, centered around urban black life.
Forced to leave the South, a family falls apart amid the harsh realities of Northern inner city life
in this 1902 examination of the forces that extinguish the dreams of African Americans.
Robert Levy
Robert Levy (Producer)
Robert Levy was a theater 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:...
, a prolific producer of race films in the 1920's, earned the rights to The Sport of Gods, showing his movie adaptation of the story for the first time in Chicago in 1921. While the most prominent roles went to black actors, Levy also selected whites for small parts, marking a breakthrough in biracialism in the entertainment industry. Billboard magazine carried a notice for the opening on its main motion picture page, making it the first time this level of recognition had ever been paid to a race film.
In 2008, the United States Postal Service chose to feature the promotional poster for The Sport of Gods movie on a commemorative stamp
Commemorative stamp
A commemorative stamp is a postage stamp, often issued on a significant date such as an anniversary, to honor or commemorate a place, event or person. The subject of the commemorative stamp is usually spelled out in print, unlike definitive stamps which normally depict the subject along with the...
. Although no copies of the film are known to survive, some theater bills, production stills, and film reviews do exist.