Malcolm X: In print, on screen

In 1992, the Malcolm X of the printed page ceded pride of place, at least t emporarily, to the Malcolm X of the motion picture screen, Malcolm X, Spike Lee's reverent biopic, challenged the Hollywood tradition, but the biopic also threatened the status of The Autobiography of Malcolm X. Yet the media face-off between the two images of Malcolm X-the literary creation and the motion picture version-indicated that even in an incessantly visual cultur e, a portrait in literature can outlive a depiction in film.