Carman Newsome

1 credit on HibingeTV

American actor and bandleader (1910-1974) who starred in Oscar Micheaux's late-1930s race films, playing the law-student hero Benjamin Hadnot in Lying Lips (1939) and appearing in The Notorious Elinor Lee (1940).

Acted In

5.01939·1h 8mPD

Drama, Crime

One of Oscar Micheaux's final films and his last fully realized melodrama. Nightclub singer Elsie Bellwood (Edna Mae Harris) refuses to entertain her boss's wealthy patrons and is framed for the murder of her own aunt; her loyal boyfriend Benjamin (Carman Newsome), a law student, gives up his career plans to clear her name. Robert Earl Jones — father of James Earl Jones — plays the detective whose "lying lips" testimony is central to the frame-up. Shot quickly in Harlem, it is Micheaux's familiar mix of courtroom drama, nightclub numbers, and moral instruction for Black audiences. Its copyright was not renewed; it is in the public domain in the United States.

Drama · Crime

Lying Lips

1939 - as Benjamin Hadnot