History Film / WithinOurGates

* MixedAncestry: See TheReveal below. Sylvia is embarrassed and ashamed of her white ancestry, which is why she rejects Dr. Vivian. After he finds her again and reassures her, she accepts his proposal and the film ends. The title card states that Armand Gridlestone was married to Sylvia's mother, but this is probably an error caused by the translation into Spanish, as a mixed marriage of any sort wouldn't have been credible in an American film of the time.

* BigotWithACrush: Armand Gridlestone is highly racist towards black people, however he was once married to a black woman and had a child by her. His daughter, [[spoiler: the protagonist Sylvia]], only learns about her parentage after [[spoiler:Gridlestone [[SurpriseIncest almost rapes her]].]] This character point isn't explained and contradicts most of Gridlestone's character, so historians believe that it was added in by censors to hide that [[spoiler:Sylvia's]] a ChildByRape.

* TakeThat: It seems that "Old Ned" was created to take a swipe at the "[[UnleTomfoolery Uncle Tom]]" characters that were so popular in mainstream media in the 1920's.

''Within Our Gates'' is commonly believed to have been made in response to Creator/DWGriffith's ''Film/{{The Birth of a Nation|1915}}'', which was both wildly popular and appallingly racist. Oscar Micheaux became the most important director in early African-American cinema, making several dozen films over a career that lasted thirty years. Many of his films are lost, and ''Within Our Gates'' was considered lost until a single print was found in Spain in TheSeventies. All but four of the intertitles were lost due to being replaced by Spanish titles, requiring the Spanish title cards to be translated back into English.

* LaserGuidedKarma:

* BigotWithACrush: Gridlestone is highly racist towards black people, however he was once married to a black woman and had a child by her. His daughter, [[spoiler: the protagonist Sylvia]], only learns about her parentage after [[spoiler:Gridlestone [[SurpriseIncest almost rapes her]].]] This character point isn't explained and contradicts most of Gridlestone's character, so historians believe that it was added in by censors to hide that [[spoiler:Sylvia's]] a ChildByRape.

* HateSink: Efrem is a scumbag if there ever was one. He's the most despicable of the African-American male characters in the film, described as an "incorrigible" tattletale, who frequently drinks his "master's" liquor, and whose only "pleasure was to take from one place to another" any gossip he can obtain. He also wastes no time in taking advantage of his reputation as the "white man's friend", to (wrongfully) accuse well-meaning African-American Jasper Landry of murdering Philip Gridlestone, and babbling about the accusation to every white shop in town, leading to a mob forming to hunt down the Landry family, forcing them to evacuate. He also proves to be a DirtyCoward as after a week of failing to catch the family, the mob gets impatient, turns on Efrem and he's completely helpless in defending himself from being lynched.

Compare ''Film/TheScarOfShame'', another silent "race film", made seven years later and ''Film/TheSymbolOfTheUnconquered', a similar Oscar Micheaux film released later in 1920.

Compare ''Film/TheScarOfShame'', another silent "race film", made seven years later.

''Within Our Gates'' is a 1920 film written, produced, and directed by Oscar Micheaux. It is one of the earliest surviving examples of the "race film", namely, a film with an all- or nearly all-black cast, aimed at black audiences, and in this case, made by a black writer/director. The story centers around Sylvia Landry, who, at the start of the film, has traveled to the North to visit her cousin Alma. Sylvia is awaiting the arrival of her boyfriend Conrad, who is coming home to marry her. However, Alma also loves Conrad, and contrives for him to catch Sylvia in a "compromising position" with a white man. Conrad dumps Sylvia and storms out. Sylvia rejects the advances of Alma's brother-in-law Larry, a gambler and criminal, and instead goes back south to work for the Piney Woods School, a school dedicated to teaching young black children. The school is running out of money, so Sylvia goes back north to raise funds, meeting both Mrs. Warwick, a wealthy white philanthropist, and Dr. Vivian, a young black man who takes an interest in Sylvia. Sylvia won't marry him, though, so Dr. Vivian asks Alma about her, and hears a harrowing tale of Sylvia's past.

[[quoteright:350:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/screen-shot-2013-03-25-at-12-32-30-pm1_2276.png]]

->At the opening of our drama, we find our characters in the North, where the prejudices and hatreds of the South do not exist - though this does not prevent the occasional lynching of a Negro.
-->--opening title card

* WealthyPhilanthropist: Sylvia's quest for funding Piney Woods School is successful when she is hit by a car carrying Mrs. Warwick, a rich lady. Mrs. Warwick writes a fat check.

* RaceFilms: ''Within Our Gates'' is one of the most well-known race films.

''Within Our Gates'' is commonly believed to have been made in response to Creator/DWGriffith's ''Film/TheBirthOfANation'', which was both wildly popular and appallingly racist. Oscar Micheaux became the most important director in early African-American cinema, making several dozen films over a career that lasted thirty years. Many of his films are lost, and ''Within Our Gates'' was considered lost until a single print was found in Spain in TheSeventies. All but four of the intertitles were lost due to being replaced by Spanish titles, requiring the Spanish title cards to be translated back into English.

!!''Within Ourr Gates'' contains examples of:

!!Tropes:

* VeryLooselyBasedOnATrueStory: There's a real [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piney_Woods_Country_Life_School Piney Woods School]], which is still open.

''Within Our Gates'' is a 1920 film written, produced, and directed by Oscar Micheaux. It is one of the earliest surviving examples of the "race film", namely, a film with an all- or nearly all-black cast, aimed at black audiences, and in this case, made by a black writer/director. The story centers around Sylvia Landry, who, at the start of the film, has traveled to the North to visit her cousin Alma and await the arrival of her boyfriend Conrad, who is coming home to marry Sylvia. However, Alma also loves Conrad, and contrives for him to catch Sylvia in a "compromising position" with a white man. Conrad dumps Sylvia and storms out. Sylvia rejects the advances of Alma's brother-in-law Larry, a gambler and criminal, and instead goes back south to work for the Piney Woods School, a school dedicated to teaching young black children. The school is running out of money, so Sylvia goes back north to raise funds, meeting both Mrs. Warwick, a wealthy white philanthropist, and Dr. Vivian, a young black man who takes an interest in Sylvia. Sylvia won't marry him, though, so Dr. Vivian asks Alma about her, and hears a harrowing tale of Sylvia's past.

'''''Within Our Gates''''' is a 1920 film written, produced, and directed by Oscar Micheaux. It is one of the earliest surviving examples of the "race film", namely, a film with an all- or nearly all-black cast, aimed at black audiences, and in this case, made by a black writer/director. The story centers around Sylvia Landry, who, at the start of the film, has traveled to the North to visit her cousin Alma and await the arrival of her boyfriend Conrad, who is coming home to marry Sylvia. However, Alma also loves Conrad, and contrives for him to catch Sylvia in a "compromising position" with a white man. Conrad dumps Sylvia and storms out. Sylvia rejects the advances of Alma's brother-in-law Larry, a gambler and criminal, and instead goes back south to work for the Piney Woods School, a school dedicated to teaching young black children. The school is running out of money, so Sylvia goes back north to raise funds, meeting both Mrs. Warwick, a wealthy white philanthropist, and Dr. Vivian, a young black man who takes an interest in Sylvia. Sylvia won't marry him, though, so Dr. Vivian asks Alma about her, and hears a harrowing tale of Sylvia's past.

* LaserGuidedKarma: "Divine justice punishes the real killer", as the white man who really shot Philip Gridlestone, and who joined the lynch mob after the Landrys, is accidentally shot and killed by other whites in the mob.

''Within Our Gates'' is commonly believed to have been made in response to Creator/DWGriffith's ''Film/TheBirthOfANation'', which was both wildly popular and appallingly racist. Oscar Micheaux became the most important director in early African-American cinema, making several dozen films over a career that lasted thirty years. Many of his films are lost, and ''Within Our Gates'' was considered lost until a single print was found in Spain in TheSeventies. Most of the title cards were in Spanish and had to be translated back into English, the original English intertitles remain lost.