Tag Archives: Race films

Musical Monday: Beware (1946)

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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 600. To celebrate and share this musical love, here is my weekly feature about musicals.

This week’s musical:
Beware (1946) – Musical #782

Studio:
Astor Pictures

Director:
Bud Pollard

Starring:
As himself: Louis Jordan
Other performers: Frank H. Wilson, Emory Richardson, Valerie Black, Milton Woods, Joseph Hiliard, Tommy Hix, Charles Johnson, John Grant, Walter Earle, Ernest Calloway, Dimples Daniels
Louis Jordan’s Tympany Band: Wild Bill Davis, Joshua W. Jackson, Aaron Izenhall, Carl Hogan, Jesse Simplain, Eddie Byrd

Plot:
Ware College loses their financial endowment when the grandson of the college’s founder, Benjamin Ware III (Woods). In an effort to raise money in order to stay open, Dean Hargreaves (Richardson) and Prof. Drury (Wilson) reach out to well-established alumni, such as students who went on to become lawyers or politicians. Former student Lucius Brokenshire Jordan (Jordan) is one student they didn’t reach out to, because they don’t know how to reach him and “He was always so involved with his saxophone.” Unbeknownst to them, Jordan is now a successful bandleader, traveling across the country on tour. When his train has a delay near Ware College, he stops in for a visit and realizes their financial troubles, and stays to help.

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Musical Monday: Junction 88 (1948)

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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 600. To celebrate and share this musical love, here is my weekly feature about musicals.

junction 88This week’s musical:
Junction 88 (1948) – Musical #766

Studio:
Century Theatrical Productions

Director:
George R. Quigley

Starring:
As themselves: Bob Howard, Pigmeat Markham, Noble Sissel
Also starring: Wyatt Clark, Marie Cooke, Gus Smith, Abbey Mitchell, Artie Belle McGinty, George Wiltshire, Herbert Junior, Alonzo Basan, Maude Simmons, Al Young, Augustus Smith, Augustus Smith Jr.
Billed as the choir: Eugene Thompson, Rumena Matson, Mable Berger, Delphine Roach, Henry Nelson

Plot:
Buster (Clark) is a songwriter, but doesn’t want anyone to know that he wrote this song. Buster loves Lolly (Cooke), but her father prefers hardworking men, and he fears that he wouldn’t look kindly at a songwriting career. Music agents (Howard, Markham) get ahold of Buster’s songs that are published under the pen name of Hewlett Green. The agents travel to the small town of Junction 88 to find Green, but no one in town knows who the mysterious Hewlett Green is.

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Musical Monday: Mystery in Swing (1940)

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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 600. To celebrate and share this musical love, here is my weekly feature about musicals.

mystery in swingThis week’s musical:
Mystery in Swing (1940) – Musical #751

Studio:
Aetna Film Corp.

Director:
Arthur Dreifuss

Starring:
Monte Hawley, Marguerite Whitten, Tommie Moore, Edward Thompson, Buck Woods, Robert Webb, Sybil Lewis, Jess Lee Brooks, Josephine Edwards, Alfred Grant, Tom Southern
Themselves: The Four Toppers, CeePee Johnson and His Orchestra

Plot:
Trumpet player Prince Ellis (Webb) is leaving his job at the Penguin Club for Hollywood. On his last night of the club, his womanizing catches up with him:
• Teenage Mae Carroll (Moore) is ready to run away with Prince, though her father (brooks) shows up and tells Prince to leave his daughter alone.
• Nightclub singer Maxine Rae (Edwards) is in love with him and jealous of the other women in his life
• And the ex-Mrs. Ellis (Lewis) shows up asking about her alimony.
But that night, Prince is murdered and Maxine witnesses his death but doesn’t know who did it. The body is discovered by reporter Biff Boyd (Hawley) and his girlfriend Linda Carroll (Whitten), who also see Maxine leaving his apartment.

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Musical Monday: Reet, Petite, and Gone (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 600. To celebrate and share this musical love, here is my weekly feature about musicals.

This week’s musical:
Reet, Petite, and Gone (1947) – Musical #702

Reet Petite

Studio:
Astor Pictures

Director:
William Forest Crouch

Starring:
Louis Jordan & The Tympany Five, June Richmond, Milton Woods, Bea Griffith, Lorenzo Tucker, Pat Rainey, Vanita Smythe, David Bethea

Plot:
Sklyer Jarvis (Jordan) is on his death bed and remembering his lost love. He wants his son, bandleader Louis Jarvis (also Jordan), to marry Honey Carter (Griffith), the daughter of Skyler’s former girlfriend. The marriage is the only way Louis will inherit his father’s fortune. Unfortunately, Skyler’s unscrupulous lawyer (Tucker) tries to change Skyler’s will and keep the couple apart.

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Watching 1939: Harlem Rides the Range (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: 
Harlem Rides the Range (1939)

Release date: 
Feb. 1, 1939

Cast: 
Herb Jeffries, Lucius Brooks, F.E. Miller, Artie Young, Clarence Brooks, Spencer Williams, Leonard Christmas
Specialty Acts: The Four Tones, The Four Blackbirds

Studio: 
Hollywood Pictures Corporation

Director: 
Richard C. Kahn

Plot:
Bob Blake (Jeffries) and his pal Dusty (Brooks) come across an empty ranch Jim Dennison (Christmas) where it appears a murder may have taken place. Jim isn’t dead, but hiding after the event. Bob finds a photo of Jim’s daughter (Young), saying she’s beautiful, and accidentally drops his glove at the ranch by accident. Bob and Dusty are then hired at a nearby ranch while they try and figure out what happened to Jim. When Bob’s glove is found, he is accused of murder.

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Musical Monday: Sepia Cinderella (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 600. To celebrate and share this musical love, here is my weekly feature about musicals.

This week’s musical:
Sepia Cinderella (1947) – Musical #663

Studio:
Herald Pictures

Director:
Arthur H. Leonard

Starring:
Billy Daniels, Sheila Guyse, Tondaleyo, Ruble Blakey, William Greaves, Jack Carter, Dusty Freeman, George Williams, Harold Norton, Hilda Offley, Sidney Poitier (uncredited)
Specialty Acts and Appearances: Freddie Bartholomew, Deek Watson’s Brown Dot’s, Walter Fuller’s Orchestra, Apus, Estellita, John Kirby Sextet, Leonard and Zolo

Plot:
Bob Jordan (Billy Daniels) is a struggling songwriter. Barbara (Guyse), the adopted daughter of his landlady (Offley), helps him put lyrics to his song, “Cinderella.” Bob’s song becomes a hit, which throws him into society. Bob catches the attention of Vivian (Tondelayo), who owns a nightclub, and replaces her current bandleader (Blakey) with Bob. Vivian’s liking of Bob causes troubles with her fiance and hurts Barbara, as their romance is in the tabloids.

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Musical Monday: Miracle in Harlem (1948)

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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 600. To celebrate and share this musical love, here is my weekly feature about musicals.

This week’s musical:
Miracle in Harlem (1948) – Musical #662

Studio:
Herald Pictures

Director:
Jack Kemp

Starring:
Hilda Offley, Sheila Guyse, Kenneth Freeman, William Greaves, Sybil Lewis (billed as Sybyl Lewis), Creighton Thompson, Laurence Criner, Jack Carter, Stepin Fetchit,
Specialty performers: Juanita Hall, Norma Shepherd, Lynn Proctor Trio, Lavada Carter, Savannah Churchill

Plot:
Aunt Hattie (Offley) and her niece Julie (Guyse) run a small candy store. They have a small location and their only help is Julie’s boyfriend Bert (Greaves) and the handyman, Swifty (Fetchit). Julie and Bert want to expand, but Aunt Hattie resists. Wealthy Albert Marshall (Criner) of the big business Harlem Candy Manufacturers tries to put Julie and Aunt Hattie out of business. Marshall and his son Jim (Freeman) trick Julie out of the candy store, but when Marshall turns up dead, Julie is accused.

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Musical Monday: Boy! What a Girl! (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 600. To celebrate and share this musical love, here is my weekly feature about musicals.

This week’s musical:
Boy! What a Girl! (1947) – Musical #426

Studio:
Herald Pictures

Director:
Arthur H. Leonard

Starring:
Tim Moore, Elwood Smith, Duke Williams, Alan Jackson, Sheila Guyse, Betti Mays, Sybil Lewis, Warren Patterson
Themselves: Slam Stewart Trio, Deek Watson and the Brown Dots, Big Sid Catlett, Ann Cornell, Gene Krupa, Harlemaniacs

Plot:
Jim Walton (Smith) and Harry Diggs (Williams) are trying to get a show on Broadway but lack the financial backing. Jim hopes that his girlfriend’s rich father, Mr. Cummings (Jackson), will help fund the show. Mr. Cummings will only help fund the show if wealthy French impresario Mme. Deborah Martin pays for half of the show. In her absence, female impersonator Bumpsie (Moore) poses as Mme. Deborah, but the issue is when the real Mme. Deborah (Lewis) arrives.

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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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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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