# Prof. Allyson Nadia Field's New Book: "Acts of Love: Black Performance and the Kiss That Changed Film History"

**Source**: https://cms.uchicago.edu/prof-allyson-nadia-fields-new-book-acts-love-black-performance-and-kiss-changed-film-history
**Parent**: https://cms.uchicago.edu/

Feb 18, 2:19 pm

In 1898, vaudeville actors Saint Suttle and Gertie Brown joyously embraced in a short silent film titled *Something Good--Negro Kiss*. The first known film to portray African American affection, it was lost for over a century until its rediscovery inspired contemporary audiences with a powerful and enduring depiction of Black love. More than a missing piece in an untold history of Black cinematic performance, *Something Good*--and the magnetism of Suttle and Brown--attests to the power of Black performance on stage and screen from the nineteenth century to today.

In *Acts of Love*, Allyson Nadia Field tells the story of *Something Good* and recovers the forgotten yet fascinating lives of its performers and their world. Drawing a vivid picture from sparse historical records, *Acts of Love* examines popular culture's negotiation of blackness to reconsider the intersections of minstrelsy, vaudeville, and cinema in ragtime America. This book not only presents the story of *Something Good*, its performers, and the drama of its rediscovery; it shows how the rediscovery of this short early film changes our understanding of American film history.

Monday, 3/2: Allyson Nadia Field discusses her new book with Adrienne Brown at the Seminary Co-op Bookstore. See more and register [here.](https://www.semcoop.com/event/allyson-nadia-field-acts-love-adrienne-brown)

Read a review [here.](https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/allyson-nadia-field/acts-of-love-3/)

**ISBN:**

9780520392939

**Author:**

[Allyson Nadia Field](https://www.semcoop.com/search/apachesolr_search/Allyson%20Nadia%20Field)

**Publisher:**

[University of California Press](https://www.semcoop.com/search/apachesolr_search/University%20of%20California%20Press)

**Binding:**

Paperback

**Publication Date:**

February 17, 2026

<https://www.semcoop.com/ingram-0?isbn=9780520392939>