A Fool And His Money (1912)

A Fool And His Money is a short silent comedy film with an all African-American cast. It was produced by Solax Film Company. A chance find of money makes the penniless Sam suddenly wealthy. He takes on an aristocratic lifestyle to win over Lindy, who had scorned him when he was poor. He's successful at first, but loses all his money in a poker game rigged by his romantic rival. This is either the first or one of the first narrative films with an all African-American cast. It was directed by Alice Guy-Blaché, who is widely considered the first female film director. Guy-Blaché used her own house and car in the making of this film. The film was rediscovered along with three other reels of early 1910s films in a trunk purchased at an estate sale. It was shown publicly along with other Blaché's short films on July 29, 2018, at Grauman's Egyptian Theatre in Los Angeles.