Black Film Center/Archive

Biographical Note

The multi-talented Camille Billops has found many different ways to express her artistic ability throughout her career. From poetry to printmaking, sculpture to jewelry making, and book illustration to filmmaking, she has never been afraid to use a new medium to display her visions.

After studying sculpture on the west coast, Billops moved to New York and received her M.F.A. from the City College of New York in 1973. In 1975 she founded the Hatch-Billops Collection with her husband, filmmaker James Hatch. The Hatch-Billops Collection is an archive of African American cultural history that includes oral histories, slides, books, photographs, and other historical materials.

Billops began her career in filmmaking in the early 1980s with Suzanne, Suzanne (1982) and has since directed five more including Finding Christa (1991), which won the Grand Jury Prize for documentaries at the 1992 Sundance Film Festival and aired on PBS as part of the P.O.V. television series. Finding Christa, like many of her other films, is a highly autobiographical documentary. Other films by Camille Billops include Older Women and Love (1987), The KKK Boutique Ain't Just Rednecks (1994), Take Your Bags (1998), and A String of Pearls (2002).

Billops' husband, James Hatch, was born on October 25, 1928 in Oelwein, Iowa. After earning a B.A. in English and Speech in 1949 from the University of Northern Iowa, Hatch taught high school English and Drama. In continuing his studies at the University of Iowa, he received a M.A. and PhD in Theatre and Speech in 1955 and 1958, respectively. Hatch also had two children with his first wife, Evelyn Marcussen during this time.

In 1958, Hatch accepted a position as assistant professor of Theatre Arts at UCLA and continued there until 1962 when he began a three-year tenure as a Fulbright lecturer at the High Cinema Institute of Cairo, Egypt. He went on to teach English at the City College of New York beginning in 1965.

In addition to his teaching career, James Hatch began directing and producing films in the late 1950s. His early films include This Is Worth Remembering and Autumn (1957), Tallest Baby (1958), Fly Blackbird (1960), The Sole Survivor (1960), Modern Arabic Women (1964), Three Days of Suez (1964), Paper Pulp from Sugar Cane (1965), Denmark 43 (1972), and Oelwein Centennial (1973). Hatch also collaborated with Billops on Suzanne, Suzanne, Older Women and Love, Finding Christa, The KKK Boutique Ain't Just Rednecks, and A String of Pearls.

Hatch is also a noted historian of African American theatre and has written several books on the subject, including The Black Image on the American Stage: A Bibliography, Drama Book Specialist (1970), Black Playwrights, 1823-1977 (1977) with Omanii Abdullah, Roots of African American Drama, 1858-1938 (1990) with Leo Hamalian, Sorrow Is the Only Faithful One: the Life of Owen Dodson (1993), Black Theatre USA: Plays by African Americans, 1847 to Today (1996) with Ted Shine, Inside the Minstrel Mask (1996) with Annemarie Bean and Brooks McNamara, Lost Plays of the Harlem Renaissance, 1920-1940 (1996) with Leo Hamalian, and History of African American Theatre, 1564-2000 (2002) with Errol G. Hill. James Hatch and Camille Billops collaborated on Artist and Influence (1981-01) and The Stone House, A Blues Legend (2000) with S. Noguere.

Camille Billops and James Hatch currently reside in New York City where Hatch is professor emeritus in the Graduate Theatre Program at CCNY and both serve as curators of the Hatch-Billops Collection.

Scope and Content Note

The Hatch-Billops Collection, donated by filmmakers James Hatch and Camille Billops of Mom and Pop Productions, New York, is arranged in three series: General Film Publicity, 1937-1977; Monographs and Serials, 1960-1977; and Finding Christa, 1991-1995.

The first series, "General Film Publicity, 1937-1977," consists of press sheets, press books, newspaper advertisements, and newspaper articles on films with African American actors and actresses. The bulk of the series consists of newspaper advertisements and press books from 1967-1975, featuring many Blaxploitation era films. Also included are several press sheets for early films distributed by Sack Amusement Enterprises, such as Underworld (1937) and Son of Ingagi (1940), and a press book for Home of the Brave (1949).

Included in the second series, "Monographs and Serials, 1960-1977," are three books and three issues of Cineaste. Two of the books are based on films, The Crowning Experience (1960) and Spartacus (1960), while the third, Taking Another Look by Asiba Tupahache, confronts the problems involved with stereotypes and racism.

The third series contains materials related to James Hatch and Camille Billops' 1991 documentary, Finding Christa, and is arranged in three Subseries. The first of these, "Programs and Publicity, 1991-1995," primarily consists of film festival schedules as well as a press kit for the film. The "Reviews and articles, 1991-1993" subseries includes photocopies of reviews and articles about Finding Christa from various publications. Finally, the "Photographs, 1991" subseries contains nine photographs from the film.

Date of Donation:
September 1992

Folder List

Box 1

Series 1: General film publicity, 1937-1977

Underworld (1937) press sheet - Sack Amusement Enterprises
Moon Over Harlem (1939) press sheets (2), fragments - Sack Amusement Enterprises
Son of Ingagi (1940) press sheets (2) - Sack Amusement Enterprises
Murder with Music (1941) press sheet - Sack Amusement Enterprises
Home of the Brave (1949) press book - Astor Pictures Corp.
Sack Amusement Enterprises Release Schedule (4 photocopies), 1950
Return to Paradise (1953) advertisement - Redbook, Sep 1953
Walking My Baby Back Home (1953) advertisement - McCall's, Jan 1954
The Girl Can't Help It (1956) advertisement - New York Post, 7 Feb 1957
The Defiant Ones (1958) press book - United Artists
A Man Called Adam (1966) newspaper advertisement - Aug 1966
Newspaper advertisements, 1967

In the Heat of the Night (1967) - Jun 1967
The Dirty Dozen (1967) - Jul 1967
Monterey Pop (1968) / Portrait of Jason (1967) - May 1969 / Oct 1967
The Incident (1967) - Nov 1967
The Anderson Platoon (1967) - Dec 1967
Guess Who's Coming to Dinner (1967) - Dec 1967
The Scalphunters (1968) - 1967 (?)

Newspaper advertisements, 1968

Wild in the Streets (1968) - Jun 1968
Ice Station Zebra (1968) / Dark of the Sun (1968) - Jan 1969 / Jul 1968
The Story of a 3 Day Pass (1968) - Jul 1968
The Heart is a Lonely Hunter (1968) - New York Post, 9 Aug 1968
Salt & Pepper (1968) - Oct 1968
Shalako (1968) - 5 Nov 1968
The Split (1968) - Nov 1968
The Touchables (1968) - Nov 1968

Burn! (1969) press book - United Artists
Kenner (1969) press book - Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Newspaper advertisements, 1969

Riot (1969) - Jan 1969
3 in the Attic (1968) - Feb 1969
Up Tight! (1968) - Mar 1969
Joanna (1968) - Apr 1969 (3)
Kenner (1969) press sheet and newspaper advertisement - Apr 1969
The Southern Star (1969) - New York Daily News, 30 May 1969
100 Rifles (1969) - Jun 1969
Slaves (1969) - Jul 1969
Guns of the Magnificent Seven (1969) - Aug 1969
The Learning Tree (1969) - Aug 1969
Popi (1969) - Aug 1969
Stiletto (1969) - Aug 1969
The Learning Tree (1969) - Sep 1969 (2)
Nanami: Inferno of First Love (1969) - Sep 1969
Two Gentlemen Sharing (1969) - Sep 1969 (2)
Black on White (1968) - Oct 1969
Change of Mind (1969) - Oct 1969
Sweet Charity (1969) - Oct 1969
The Reivers (1969) - Dec 1969 (2)

Cotton Comes to Harlem (1970) press books (2) - United Artists
The Liberation of L.B. Jones (1970) press book - Columbia Pictures
One More Time (1970) press book - United Artists
Newspaper advertisements, 1970

Last of the Mobile Hot-Shots (1970) - Feb 1970
The Boys in the Band (1970) - Mar 1970
King: A Filmed Record…Montgomery to Memphis (1970) - Mar 1970
The Liberation of L.B. Jones (1970) - Mar 1970 (2)
My Sweet Charlie (1970) - Mar 1970
Hi, Mom! (1970) - 1 May 1970
Watermelon Man (1970) - May 1970 (2)
The Landlord (1970) - May 1970
Last of the Mobile Hot-Shots (1970) - Jun 1970
…tick…tick…tick… (1970) - 1970

Born to Win (1971) press book - United Artists
Newspaper advertisements, 1971

The Man from C.O.T.T.O.N. (1963) / Sergeant Jim (1956) - Mar 1971
The Right and the Wrong (1970) / The Caribbean Fox (1970) - Apr 1971
Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song (1971) - Apr 1971
Shaft (1971) - Jun 1971
Shaft and Shaft's Big Score (1971, 1972) / That Man Bolt (1973) - Jun 1971 (?)
Jimi Hendrix at Berkeley (1971) - The Village Voice, 9 Sep 1971
You've Go to Walk It Like You Talk It or You'll Lose That Beat (1971) / Godspell (1973) / Rape Squad (1974) - Sep 1971 / Mar 1973 / 1974
The Organization (1971) - Oct 1971
Skin Game (1971) - Oct 1971
Farewell Uncle Tom (1971) - Nov 1971
Macunaima (1969) - 1971

Superfly (1972) press book - Warner Bros.
Newspaper advertisements, 1972

Slaughter (1972) - N.Y. Amsterdam News, 21 Oct 1972
Born Black (1969) - Oct 1972 (2)
The Limit (1972) - New York Daily News, 10 Nov 1972
Sounder (1972) - Variety, 20 Dec 1972
Across 110th Street (1972) - Dec 1972 (2)
Hit Man (1972) - Dec 1972
Lady Sings the Blues (1972) - Dec 1972
The Black Dragon (1974) - 1972 (?)
The Black Dragon vs. the Yellow Tiger (1975) / Melinda (1972) - 1972 (?)
Buck and the Preacher (1972) - 1972 (2)

Maurie (1973) press books (2) - National General Pictures
The Spook Who Sat by the Door (1973) press book - United Artists
Superfly T.N.T. (1973) press book - Paramount
Newspaper advertisements, 1973

Soylent Green (1973) - New York Post, 20 Apr 1973
Black Mama, White Mama (1972) - 11 May 1972
The Soul of Nigger Charley (1973) - N.Y. Amsterdam News, 12 May 1973
Let the Good Times Roll (1973) / Putney Swope (1969) - Village Voice, 24 May 1973
Lady Sings the Blues (1972) - 25 May 1973
The Soul of Nigger Charley (1973) - May 1973
Superfly T.N.T. (1973) full-page advertisement; 2 articles on back: "Superfly TNT Opens Friday on Broadway With Ron O'Neal" and "Josephine Baker is 'The Most'" - N.Y. Amsterdam News, 16 Jun 1973
The Mack (1973) / Behind the Green Door (1972) advertisements; 2 articles: "Gloria Hendry: Mrs. James Bond" and "Reel Images: The Film Scene" by James P. Murray - N.Y. Amsterdam News, 30 Jun 1973
Superfly (1972) - Jun 1973
Hell Up in Harlem (1973) - New York Post, 21 Dec 1973
Black Caesar (1973) - 1973
Charley One-Eye (1972) - 1973
Coffy (1973) - 1973
Five on the Black Hand Side (1973) - 1973 (2)
Gordon's War (1973) - 1973
The Harder They Come (1973) - 1973
Hell Up in Harlem (1973) - 1973
Lady Sings the Blues (1972) - 1973
Shaft in Africa (1973) - 1973
Superfly T.N.T. (1973) - 1973
Sweet Jesus Preacher Man (1973) - 1973
Walking Tall (1973) - 1973
Wattstax (1973) - 1973

Box 2

Newspaper advertisements, 1974

Catch My Soul (1974) - Village Voice, 21 Mar 1974
The Education of Sonny Carson (1974) - New York Times, 14 Jul 1974; New York Daily News, 17 Jul 1974; Jul 1974
The Black Godfather (1974) - 1974
Black Samson (1974) - 1974
The Black Six (1974) - 1974
Catch My Soul (1974) - 1974
Claudine (1974) - 1974 (3)
Conrack (1974) - 1974
Foxy Brown (1974) - 1974
The Klansman (1974) - 1974
Savage Sisters (1974) - 1974
Three Tough Guys (1974) - 1974
Together Brothers (1974) - 1974 (2)
Truck Turner (1974) - 1974 (2)
Uptown Saturday Night (1974) - 1974
Willie Dynamite (1974) - 1974

Newspaper advertisements, 1975

The Street Fighter (1974) - New York Post, 31 Jan 1975
Mr. Ricco (1975) - Jan 1975
Mandingo (1975) - Apr 1975
Bogard (1975) - 7 May 1975 (2)
The Master Gunfighter (1975) - Variety, 4 Jun 1975
Cooley High (1975) - New York Post, 25 Jun 1975; New York Daily News, 11 Jul 1975
Cleopatra Jones and the Casino of Gold (1975) - New York Daily News, 11 Jul 1975
The Candy Tangerine Man (1975) - New York Daily News, 30 Jul 1975
Brother Can You Spare a Dime? (1975) - New York Times, 3 Aug 1975
Coonskin (1975) - Variety, 27 Aug 1975
Take a Hard Ride (1975) - 5 Nov 1975
Aaron Loves Angela (1975) - New York Daily News, 21 Dec 1975; New York Daily News, 24 Dec 1975
Friday Foster (1975) - New York Daily News, 24 Dec 1975; New York Post, 24 Dec 1975; New York Daily News, 26 Dec 1975
T.N.T. Jackson (1975) / The Arena (1973) - 1975

Mean Johnny Barrows (1976) - New York Post, 30 Jan 1976; N.Y. Amsterdam News, 31 Jan 1976 (2)
Brothers (1977) press books (2)
Newspaper advertisements, n.d.

Walkabout (1971)
Ganja & Hess (1972)
Lialeh (1973)
Stud Brown (1973) / The Black Godfather (1974)
Golden Needles (1974)
The Taking of Pelham One Two Three (1974)
The Black Gestapo (1975)
Boss Nigger (1975)
Report to the Commissioner (1975)
Sheba, Baby (1975) (2)

Newspaper articles, 1975, n.d.

"Black Moviemaking Returns to the Streets of New York," 30 Apr 1975
"Kevin Hooks Loves Aaron Loves Angela," by Lew Williams; Rock and Soul Songs, Sep 1975
"Actor Poitier Calls for More Quality in Black Movies," n.d.
"Poitier's New Film Makes Black Beautiful," n.d.

Newspaper photograph clippings, n.d.

The Mack (1973) - Max Julien and Sandra Brown
A Warm December (1973) - Sidney Poitier
Sidney Poitier behind camera with unidentified man

Miscellaneous Items

"13 Are Arrested in Natchez While Picketing a Theater" - New York Times, 10 Jan 1965
Unidentified photographs

Series 2: Monographs and Serials, 1960-1977

The Crowning Experience, 1960
Spartacus: The Illustrated Story, 1960
Tupahache, Asiba. Taking Another Look, 1986
Cineaste, Vol. 6, no. 4, 1975
Cineaste, Vol. 7, no. 2, 1976
Cineaste, Vol. 7, no. 4, 1977

Series 3: Finding Christa

Subseries: Programs and publicity, 1991-1995

Press packet (photocopy), 1991
Flyer (photocopy) - "The Annual Sojourner Truth Lecture," The Claremont Colleges, 26 Mar 1992
Program - "New Directors, New Films," The Film Society of Lincoln Center and the Department of Film of the Museum of Modern Art, 20 Mar - 5 Apr 1992
P.O.V. Film Schedule, 1992
Program - "The 1992 Edison Black Maria Film & Video Festival," 1992
Schedule - The DuSable Museum, "A Tribute to African American Independent Cinema in 1995, the One Hundredth Anniversary of Filmmaking," Feb/Mar 1995

Subseries: Reviews and Articles (photocopies), 1991-1993

"Encounters: The film Odyssey of Camille Billops," by Barbara Lekatsas, Black American Literature Forum, Vol. 25, no. 2, Summer 1991
"Reels and Deels," by Amy Taubin, Village Voice, 22 Oct 1991
"For a Change, Popular Films Win Top Prizes at Sundance," New York Times, 27 Jan 1992
"In the Soup Finds Itself in Sundance Clover," by John Anderson, New York Newsday, 27 Jan 1992
"Popular Films Take Top Prizes at Sundance Fest," by Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times, 27 Jan 1992
"'Soup' brew grand prize at Sundance," Daily Variety, 27 Jan 1992
"Sundance's decoration of independents," by John Horn, New York Daily News, 29 Jan 1992
"Lorraine O'Grady on Black Women Directors," Artforum, Jan 1992
"A Woman's Choice, a Woman's Voice," by Donald Taylor, East Bay Guardian, Feb 1992
"Women in the Director's Chair Film and Video Festival: Finding Christa," Newcity, 5 Mar 1992
"A Film Series With an Eye For Offbeat Relationships," by Stephen Holden, New York Times, 20 Mar 1992
"Documentary of Mother-Daughter Reconciliation," by Vincent Canby, New York Times, 24 Mar 1992
"Reel to Reel: Finding Christa," by Manohla Dargis, Village Voice, 31 Mar 1992
"Calling the Shots: Black Women Directors Take the Helm," by Yvonne Welbon, The Independent, Mar 1992
Philadelphia Inquirer, 9 May 1992
"Sundance Film Festival," Off-Hollywood Report, Vol. 7, no. 1, Spring 1992
Interview - BOMB Magazine, Summer 1992
"Family Affair: Finding Christa's Camille Billops," by Jeanne Francavilla, Off-Hollywood Report, Vol. 6, no. 4, Winter 1992
"Finding Christa," by Valerie Smith, Black Film Review, Vol. 7, no. 2, 1993

Subseries: Photographs, 1991

Camille Billops (Co-producer/director), 1991 [photographer: Ruth Williamson]
Camille Billops (wearing dress), 1991
Camille Billops and James Hatch, 1991
James Hatch (Co-producer/director), 1991 [photographer: Ruth Williamson]
Margaret Liebig and Rusty Carlyle, 1991
Christa Victoria (holding telephone), 1991
Christa Victoria (sucking thumb, sitting on coffee table), 1991
Vantile Whitfield, 1991
George C. Wolfe, 1991