Tag Archives: race film

Watching 1939: The Devil’s Daughter (1939)

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In 2011, I announced I was trying to see every film released in 1939. This new series chronicles films released in 1939 as I watch them. As we start out this blog feature, this section may become more concrete as I search for a common thread that runs throughout each film of the year. Right now, that’s difficult. 

1939 film: 
The Devil’s Daughter (1939)

Release date: 
Dec. 7, 1939

Cast: 
Nina Mae McKinney, Jack Carter, Ida James, Hamtree Harrington, Willa Mae Lang, Emmett ‘Babe’ Wallace

Studio: 
Sack Amusement Enterprises

Director: 
Arthur H. Leonard

Plot:
Sylvia Walton (James) travels from her home in New York to Jamaica, because her father left his banana plantation to her in his will. However, her step-sister Isabelle Walton (McKinney) has already been running the plantation for years. Isabelle goes into hiding in the jungle when Sylvia arrives, and Isabelle conspires with Sylvia’s boyfriend Philip (Carter). In order to get the plantation, Isabelle uses “obeah” (a type of sorcery) to scare Sylvia away for the plantation and for the love of John Loden (Wallace).

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Watching 1939: Double Deal (1939)

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In 2011, I announced I was trying to see every film released in 1939. This new series chronicles films released in 1939 as I watch them. As we start out this blog feature, this section may become more concrete as I search for a common thread that runs throughout each film of the year. Right now, that’s difficult. 

1939 film: 
Double Deal (1939)

Release date: 
April 2, 1939

Cast: 
Monte Hawley, Jeni Le Gon, Edward Thompson, Florence O’Brien, Freddie Jackson, Buck Woods, Maceo Bruce Sheffield, Juanita Moore (uncredited)
Shelton Brooks as himself

Studio: 
George Randol Productions, released by Sack Amusement Enterprises and Astor Pictures Corp.

Director: 
Arthur Dreifuss

Plot:
Gangster Dude Markey (Thompson) and gambler Jim McCoy (Hawley) are both in love with nightclub performer Nita (Gon). McCoy’s naive younger brother Tommy (Jackson) gets involved in a jewel robbery and someone is killed. Dude ends up with an alibi and tries to pin the crime on Tommy.

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Watching 1939: Lying Lips (1939)

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In 2011, I announced I was trying to see every film released in 1939. This new series chronicles films released in 1939 as I watch them. As we start out this blog feature, this section may become more concrete as I search for a common thread that runs throughout each film of the year. Right now, that’s difficult. 

1939 film: 
Lying Lips (1939)

Release date: 
July 9, 1939

Cast: 
Edna Mae Harris, Carman Newsome, Robert Earl Jones, Frances E. Williams, Juano Hernandez, Cherokee Thornton, Slim Thompson, Gladys Williams, Don De Leo, George Reynolds, Charles La Torre, Henry ‘Gang’ Gines

Studio: 
Micheaux Film

Director: 
Oscar Micheaux

Plot:
Elsie Bellwood (Harris) is a nightclub singer at the Poodle Dog night club, but the Italian owners, Farina (Leo) and Garotti (Torre) want her to use her talents off stage and attend “private parties” to bring in extra money. Elsie refuses, insisting she’s a good girl, and her agent Benjamin Hadnot (Newsome) stands up for her. After Hadnot has an altercation over Elsie with Farina and Garotti, Elsie returns home to find her aunt dead. Elsie is framed for the murder and Hadnot and Detective Wenzer (Jones) try to uncover the case.

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Watching 1939: Midnight Shadow (1939)

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In 2011, I announced I was trying to see every film released in 1939. This new series chronicles films released in 1939 as I watch them. As we start out this blog feature, this section may become more concrete as I search for a common thread that runs throughout each film of the year. Right now, that’s difficult. 

1939 film:  Midnight Shadow (1939)

Release date:  May 1939 (first date referenced in newspapers)

Cast:  Frances Redd, Buck Woods, Richard Bates, Ollie Ann Robinson, Clinton Rosemond, Jesse Lee Brooks, Edward Brandon, John Criner, Pete Webster, Ruby Dandridge, Napolean Simpson

Studio:  George Randol Productions

Director:  George Randol

Plot:
A traveling mind-reading performer, Prince Alihabad (Criner) courts Margaret Wilson (Redd), who lives in the quiet Oklahoma town that he is performing in. Margaret will receive land in Texas that may have oil on it when she marries. Margaret has other suitors who also want to marry her, including Buster (Brandon). When Margaret finds her father dead and the deed to the land missing, police and two amateur detectives (Bates, Woods) investigate the case.

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Musical Monday: The Duke Is Tops (1938)

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It’s no secret that the Hollywood Comet loves musicals.
In 2010, I revealed I had seen 400 movie musicals over the course of eight years. Now that number is over 500. To celebrate and share this musical love, here is my weekly feature about musicals.

This week’s musical:
The Duke Is Tops (1938) – Musical #599

Studio: Million Dollar Productions

Director: William L. Nolte

Starring: Ralph Cooper, Lena Horne, Laurence Criner, Neva Peoples, Monte Hawley, Vernon McCalla, Lillian Randolph (uncredited), Everett Brown (uncredited)
Themselves: Basin Street Boys, Cats and the Fiddle, Willie Covan

Plot:
Duke Davis (Cooper) is a talented performer but sets his own success aside to promote singer, Ethel Andrews (Horne). Ethel reaches success as the “Bronze Nightengale.” The problem is also that Duke is in love with Ethel, and their romance ends when Ethel goes to New York City for her career. As Ethel tries to succeed, Duke tries to make ends meet by traveling with a medicine show.

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Musical Monday: Swing! (1938)

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It’s no secret that the Hollywood Comet loves musicals.
In 2010, I revealed I had seen 400 movie musicals over the course of eight years. Now that number is over 500. To celebrate and share this musical love, here is my weekly feature about musicals.

This week’s musical:
“Swing!” (1938)– Musical #598

Studio:
Micheaux Pictures Corporation

Director:
Oscar Micheaux

Starring:
Cora Green, Larry Seymour, Dorothy Van Engle, Hazel Diaz, Alec Lovejoy, Amanda Randolph, Trixie Smith, Carman Newsome, Doli Armena, Consuelo Harris, George R. Taylor, The Tyler Twins, Leon Gross & His Orchestra

Plot:
Mandy (Green) works as a cook for a rich family in Birmingham, AL. Her husband Cornell (Seymour) says he’s a business man, but he takes all of Mandy’s money and spends it on Eloise Jackson (Diaz) who he cheating on Mandy with. After Mandy finds the two in a nightclub, Eloise moves to New York City and changes her name to Cora Smith and hopes to become an actress. Eloise’s husband Lem (Lovejoy) follows her to New York City, and Mandy moves to the New York as well when she leaves Cornell. Lena Powell also is from Birmingham and is now working for Ted Gregory, a stage producer. Lena helps Cora get a job as a seamstress for the show, which happens to be the show that Eloise is starring in.

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Musical Monday: “Hi-De-Ho” (1947)

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It’s no secret that the Hollywood Comet loves musicals.
In 2010, I revealed I had seen 400 movie musicals over the course of eight years. Now that number is over 500. To celebrate and share this musical love, here is my weekly feature about musicals.

This week’s musical:
“Hi-De-Ho” (1947) – Musical #503

hi de ho

Studio:
All-American Studios

Director:
Josh Binney
Starring:
Cab Calloway (as himself), Ida James, Jeni Le Gon

Plot:
Cab Calloway plays himself a as a bandleader who is getting bored with his sexy singing girlfriend Minnie who he calls a moocher. Minnie is jealous of Cab’s female band manager named Nettie. Out of jealousy, Minnie gets a job at a night club that rivals the club that Cab is performing at. She also asks gangsters to kill Cab.

Trivia:
-“Hi-De-Ho” is what is known as a “race film.” The film is made up of an entirely black cast that were generally made between 1915 and 1950. These films were usually produced outside of the Hollywood studio system.
-The film also features the Peters Sisters and The Miller Brothers

Cab and Minnie the moocher

Cab and Minnie the moocher

Notable Songs:
The movie has several of Cab Calloway’s songs, but sadly no “Minnie the Moocher.”
Song include:
-“Minnie was a Hep Cat”
-“St. James Infirmary”
-“At Dawn Time”
-“Bop Bop”
-“The Hi-De-Ho Man, That’s Me”

My Review:
The plot to this film is very thin and the quality of the picture is very low. If you go strictly by the story line, “Hi-De-Ho” is lousy. However, this is a great exhibition of Cab Calloway’s music with eight songs from the big band leader. It’s also interesting for its historical value as a “race film.” If you can find this movie, I would highly suggest it for its excellent music. The only disappointing feature is that it doesn’t have the song “Minnie the Moocher.”

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