Produced in Detroit, Michigan by little-known African American filmmaker Richard Maurice, “Eleven P.M.” is a surreal melodrama in which a poor violinist named Sundaisy (Maurice) tries to protect an orphaned girl (Wanda Maurice) from a small-time hoodlum. The story, which may or may not be a dream concocted by a struggling newspaperman, has one of the most bizarre endings in film history, when the spirit of the deceased Sundaisy possesses the body of a dog in order to take vengeance upon the crook.
Richard Maurice
Richard D. Maurice was a pioneering filmmaker of African descent. Born in Cuba, he migrated to the United States in 1903, eventually moving to Detroit, where he worked as tailor. In July 1920, he founded the Maurice Film Company there. His debut feature, “Nobody's Children” (1920) premiered in Detroit on September 27th of that year and played throughout the eastern United States. Unfortunately, no prints of the film are known to exist.
