# Living Between Two Worlds > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Living_Between_Two_Worlds > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Living_Between_Two_Worlds.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Living_Between_Two_Worlds > Source revision: 1339161676 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) {{Use mdy dates|date=February 2026}} {{Italic title}} {{Infobox film | italic_title = Living Between Two Worlds | director = Bobby Johnson | writer = Horace Jackson | producer = {{Plain list| *Horace Jackson *Lillye Austin }} | starring = {{Plain list| *Maye Henderson *[Anita Poree](/source/Anita_Poree) *Mimi Dillard *Horace Jackson}} | cinematography = [Vilmos Zsigmond](/source/Vilmos_Zsigmond) | editing = {{plain list| *Gene Evans *Frank Gardonyi }} | released = {{Film date|1963}} }} '''''Living Between Two Worlds''''' is a 1963 American film and [Horace Jackson](/source/Horace_Jackson_(filmmaker))'s debut film. The film was publicized as the first full-length feature film independently financed, written and produced by [African Americans](/source/African_Americans) with an all African American cast. == Plot == Harvey, an aspiring jazz musician, is pressured by his mother to enter the ministry. Torn between the two, his choice becomes more clear when his sister is raped by two white men. == Cast == *Maye Henderson as Mom *[Anita Poree](/source/Anita_Poree) as Bucky *[Mimi Dillard](/source/Mimi_Dillard) as Helen{{Cite book |last=Lisanti |first=Tom |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4VJCaXXANA0C&dq=%22Living+Between+Two+Worlds%22+Horace+Jackson&pg=PA111 |title=Film fatales : women in espionage films and television, 1962-1973 |date=2002 |publisher=McFarland & Co |others=Louis Paul |isbn=0-7864-1194-5 |location=Jefferson, N.C. |pages=112 |oclc=48754839 |via=[Google Books](/source/Google_Books)}} *Horace Jackson as Harvey == Production and release == ''Living Between Two Worlds'' had no studio backing so Jackson and co-producer Lillye Austin independently financed the low-budget production. The experience of those working on the film varied. Director Bobby Johnson was a comedian by trade, while the cast, save Jackson, were professionals as were other crew members. Production occurred at the Film Center Independent Studios in [Glendale, California](/source/Glendale%2C_California) and surrounding neighborhoods with principal photography completing in May 1963.{{Cite book |last=Sieving |first=Christopher |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DoiADwAAQBAJ&dq=%22Living+Between+Two+Worlds%22+Horace+Jackson&pg=PA44 |title=Soul searching : Black-themed cinema from the March on Washington to the rise of blaxploitation |date=2011 |publisher=Wesleyan University Press |isbn=978-0-8195-7134-2 |location=Middletown, Conn. |pages=45 |oclc=726747945 |via=[Google Books](/source/Google_Books)}}{{Cite web |title=AFI{{!}}Catalog |url=https://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/MovieDetails/19028 |access-date=2022-10-01 |website=catalog.afi.com}} With the help of [Wendell James Franklin](/source/Wendell_James_Franklin), an assistant director at [Universal Studios](/source/Universal_Pictures), the film secured a Guild-sponsored screening{{Cite book |last=Moon |first=Spencer |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0YQvCbc5pBcC&dq=%22Living+between+two+worlds%22+%22Horace+Jackson%22&pg=PA119 |title=Reel Black talk : a sourcebook of 50 American filmmakers |date=1997 |publisher=Greenwood Press |isbn=0-313-03359-5 |location=Westport, Conn. |pages=119 |oclc=55807339 |via=[Google Books](/source/Google_Books)}} and publicly debuted on December 11, 1963, at the Balboa Theatre in [Los Angeles](/source/Los_Angeles). Showings continued for several weeks filling the theater at capacity and making back a third of the film's costs. With no distributor, Jackson secured showings at a few large cities across the United States with Jackson at times making personal appearances to promote the film.{{Cite news |last=Seidebaum |first=Art |date=February 17, 1964 |title=A Negro's Sermon on Film |pages=57 |work=[Los Angeles Times](/source/Los_Angeles_Times) |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/382225436/ |access-date=October 1, 2022 |via=[Newspapers.com](/source/Newspapers.com)}} == Reception == Although technical flaws were noted by critics, the filmmakers were applauded for their efforts and their "remarkable achievement".{{Cite news |last=Seidebaum |first=Art |date=February 17, 1964 |title=A Negro's Sermon on Film |pages=71 |work=[Los Angeles Times](/source/Los_Angeles_Times) |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/382225666/ |access-date=October 1, 2022 |via=[Newspapers.com](/source/Newspapers.com)}} Art Seidebaum of the [Los Angeles Times](/source/Los_Angeles_Times) stated "it is a strange experience to see a serious motion picture shot through Negro eyes about Negro people" further noting "Negros see this picture and see themselves, not some unconsciously stereotype...". The [California Eagle](/source/California_Eagle) deemed the film "a classic study of the contemporary problems facing the 'Old Negro' and the emergence of the 'New Negro...'".{{Cite news |last=Robertson |first=Stanley |date=July 30, 1964 |title='Between Two Worlds' Film Choice of Critics |pages=16 |work=California Eagle |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/693574712/ |access-date=October 1, 2022 |via=[Newspapers.com](/source/Newspapers.com)}} == References == {{reflist}} Category:American drama films Category:1963 drama films Category:1963 American films --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Living Between Two Worlds](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Living_Between_Two_Worlds) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Living_Between_Two_Worlds?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.