Moon by PIRO4D ( Pixabay License / Pixabay)įilming permission was denied in Chicago, so Pradès and Chenal reconstructed South Side buildings, dilapidation and all, in Buenos Aires (although some exterior shots were filmed in Chicago surreptitiously). Wright signed on, and worked on the screenplay, with the stage script as a jumping-off point. But with Cold War anti-Soviet Union paranoia settling in by the late ’40s, the climate was nowhere near right for a story with a side character who encourages Bigger to learn about the Communist Party.īy that time, Wright had decamped to Paris, where he heard about the interest of Argentinian producer Jaime Pradès and director Pierre Chenal in bringing his novel to the silver screen. The novel was transformed into a Mercury Theater stage play in 1941 with Canada Lee as Bigger (Wright and John Houseman rewrote the script at the last minute, to the surprise of Paul Green, the contracted playwright), and Wright had a notion that the story could play as a film too (he had submitted pitches to Hollywood studios for other ideas, which were all rejected). It captured a slice of American life non-Black readers had no clue about, and Black readers knew all too well.īut Wright wasn’t content to let the story end there. It tells the story of Bigger Thomas, a young, impoverished Black manchild living fatherless in a tenament in Chicago’s South Side, whose chance at a better life goes horribly sideways.

Richard Wright published Native Son to widespread acclaim in 1940.

Three filmmakers have taken a whack at it - Jerrold Freedman’s 1986 film and Rashid Johnson’s 2019 HBO film - but Pierre Chenal’s 1951 film might be the most effective, not least because (and in spite of) the novel’s author was directly involved. Yet, that hasn’t stopped people from trying. It’s dense with the troubled protagonist’s inner monologues, it raises uncomfortable points about race and class in America, and there’s no happy ending in sight. Native Son isn’t exactly the type of novel one would think could translate well to a Hollywood film. – Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five, “The Message” (1982) It’s like a jungle sometimes it makes me wonder Don’t push me ’cause I’m close to the edge

Wright richard native son