{{Short description|American film distributor (1898–1969)}} '''Alfred N. Sack''' (October 22, 1898 – March 1, 1969)<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://en.kinorium.com/name/566635/|title=Alfred N. Sack|website=En.kinorium.com|access-date=November 7, 2023}}</ref> was an American businessperson, newspaper publisher and the proprietor of film distribution, production, and the theater-owning business Sack Amusements in the United States.. He collaborated with Spencer Williams to make films with Black casts. Sack Amusement Enterprises was the leading distributor of this type of film between 1920 and 1950.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/entries/black-filmmaking|title=Black Filmmaking|website=Texas State Historical Association|access-date=November 7, 2023}}</ref>
==Biography== Sack was born in Greenville, Mississippi. He worked as a newspaper publisher in the 1920s between stints in the film industry.<ref name=":0">"Alfred N. Sack, 69, Is Dead; Texas Film Executive." ''Boxoffice''. Vol. 94, Iss. 21. Mar 10, 1969. p. 11. {{ProQuest| <!-- Insert ProQuest data here -->}}</ref>
His business, Sack Amusements, included many films starring African American casts, so-called race films.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/entries/film-industry|title=TSHA | Film Industry|website=Tshaonline.org}}</ref> He worked with his brother Lester. They were Jewish.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.pressreader.com/usa/the-dallas-morning-news/20070922/284245230977824|title=Micheaux's novel success |date=2007-09-22|via=PressReader}}</ref> They partnered with Spencer Williams on several films.<ref>{{Cite magazine|url=https://newrepublic.com/article/121994/black-life-remembered-film|title=Black America's Forgotten Film History|first=Brandon|last=Harris|date=June 8, 2015|magazine=The New Republic}}</ref> Sack distributed several Oscar Micheaux films.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.dallasnews.com/arts-entertainment/architecture/2016/08/05/a-time-capsule-from-the-earliest-days-of-independent-black-cinema/|title=A time capsule from the earliest days of independent black cinema|date=August 5, 2016|website=Dallas News}}</ref>
Sack secured a deal with RKO to distribute four two-reel films of "Negro spirituals".<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=km5CAQAAIAAJ&q=%22sack+amusement%22&pg=RA1-PA532|title=Film World and A-V World News Magazine|date=September 22, 1945|via=Google Books}}</ref> The brothers re-released some films. The brothers purchased the Lucas Theatre in Dallas, Texas.{{cn|date=August 2021}} He opened the Coronet Theatre in Dallas in 1948. It opened as an art house theatre but by the time he sold it in 1967, it was an adult film theatre.<ref>"Pictures: AI Sack Sells Coronet." ''Variety''. Vol. 249, Iss. 6. December 27, 1967. p. 18</ref>
Sack had a daughter, Sarah Lee Sack.<ref name=":0" /> Sarah Lee Sack's blindness was discovered when she was a few days old; her disability inspired Sack to become active in helping blind children.<ref>{{Cite news|date=1963-02-14|title=Dallas Man Helps Kids Minus Sight|pages=14|work=The Baytown Sun|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/82682667/dallas-man-helps-kids-minus-sight/|access-date=2021-08-02}}</ref>
He had a heart attack in 1959.<ref>"Pictures: Alfred N. Sack." ''Variety''. Vol. 214, Iss. 13. May 27, 1959. p. 7</ref>
''Go Down, Death!'' was adapted from a poem by James Weldon Johnson.
==Filmography== {{div col|colwidth=30em}} * ''St. Louis Blues'' (1929)<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5WwBBQAAQBAJ&q=%22sack+amusement%22&pg=PA53|title=Just Remember This|first=Colin|last=Bratkovich|date=May 8, 2014|publisher=Xlibris Corporation|isbn=9781483645193|via=Google Books}}</ref> * ''The Black King'' (1932) * ''She Devil'' (1934), distributor * ''Princess Tam Tam'' (1935), distributor, a French film adaptation of ''Pygmalion'' blocked from major distribution channels by censors in the U.S.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=27fQBQAAQBAJ&q=%22sack+amusement%22&pg=PA1794|title=Cinema Civil Rights: Regulation, Repression, and Race in the Classical Hollywood Era|first=Ellen C.|last=Scott|date=January 14, 2015|publisher=Rutgers University Press|isbn=9780813572925|via=Google Books}}</ref> * ''The Broken Earth'' (1936) * ''Underworld'' (1937), distributor * ''Harlem on the Prairie'' (1937), distributor * ''Policy Man'' (1938) * ''Two-Gun Man from Harlem'' (1938), distributor * ''Harlem Rides the Range'' (1939) * ''The Devil's Daughter'' (1939) * ''Midnight Shadow'' (1939) * ''Moon Over Harlem'' (1939) * ''The Bronze Buckaroo'' (1939) * ''Lying Lips'' (1939) * ''Gang War (1940 film)'' * ''Son of Ingagi'' (1940) * ''The Blood of Jesus'' (1941),<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www2.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2bad4c3552|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180528192624/http://www.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2bad4c3552|url-status=dead|archive-date=May 28, 2018|title=Alfred N. Sack|website=BFI}}</ref> distributor * ''Marching On!'' (1943), directed by Spencer Williams * ''Of One Blood'' (1944), directed by Spencer Williams * ''Go Down, Death!'' (1944)<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://nmaahc.si.edu/object/nmaahc_2013.118.107.1?destination=explore/collection/search?edan_q=film&edan_local=1&edan_fq%255B0%255D=date%253A%25221940s%2522|title=Lobby card for Go Down, Death!|website=Nmaahc.si.edu}}</ref> * ''Harlem Hotshots'' (1940) (short subject)<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.loc.gov/item/jots.200015973/|title=HARLEM HOT SHOTS|website=Library of Congress}}</ref> * ''Beale Street Mama'' (1946) * ''Dirty Gertie from Harlem U.S.A.'' (1946) * ''Juke Joint (film)'' (1947) * ''Murder with Music'' (1948) * ''The Girl in Room 20'' (1949) {{div col end}}
==References== {{Reflist}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Sack, Alfred N.}} Category:1898 births Category:1969 deaths Category:People from Greenville, Mississippi Category:Film distributors (people) Category:American Jews Category:20th-century American newspaper publishers (people) Category:American theatre people Category:American film production company founders Category:Film producers from Mississippi