Overview

The rediscovery of the first film to depict African American affection revises the history of American cinema. In 1898, vaudeville actors Saint Suttle and Gertie Brown joyously embraced in a short silent film titled Something Good—Negro Kiss. The first known film to portray African American affection, it was lost for over a century until its rediscovery inspired contemporary audiences with a powerful and enduring depiction of Black love. More than a missing piece in an untold history of Black cinematic performance, Something Good—and the magnetism of Suttle and Brown—attests to the power of Black performance on stage and screen from the nineteenth century to today. In Acts of Love, Allyson Nadia Field tells the story of Something Good and recovers the forgotten yet fascinating lives of its performers and their world. Drawing a vivid picture from sparse historical records, Acts of Love examines popular culture's negotiation of blackness to reconsider the intersections of minstrelsy, vaudeville, and cinema in ragtime America. This book not only presents the story of Something Good, its performers, and the drama of its rediscovery; it shows how the rediscovery of this short early film changes our understanding of American film history.

Full Product Details

Author:   Allyson Nadia Field
Publisher:   University of California Press
Imprint:   University of California Press
ISBN:  

9780520392922

ISBN 10:   0520392922
Pages:   272
Publication Date:   17 February 2026
Audience:   Professional and scholarly ,  Professional & Vocational
Format:   Hardback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   Awaiting stock  
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Table of Contents

Contents   Introduction: Out of the Archive 1. Solving the Mystery of Archival Rediscovery Grand Theater, Bedford, Indiana, 1899 2. The Attraction of Affection George Innes & Co. Department Store, Wichita, Kansas, 1899 3. To Take the Cake: The Rag-Time Four from Stage to Screen Dallas State Fair Advertising Car, Texas, 1900 4. ""The Black Millionaire"" and ""The Creole Gal"" Grace Church, Wilmington, North Carolina, 1901 5. Saint Suttle After the Rag-Time Four The Empire Theater, Ardmore, Territory of Oklahoma, 1906 6. Gertie Brown: Trouper of the Harlem Renaissance Julien Levy Gallery, New York City, 1945 Conclusion: The Afterlives of Archival Rediscovery   Plate Captions Appreciations Acknowledgments Notes Index

Reviews

""A significant volume on a jewel of Black cinema."" * Kirkus Reviews *

Author Information

Allyson Nadia Field is Associate Professor of Cinema and Media Studies at the University of Chicago and author of Uplift Cinema: The Emergence of African American Film and the Possibility of Black Modernity.

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