Singer Ethel Andrews (Lena Horne) is the star of a low-rent traveling show called Sepia Scandals that is touring small towns in the dying days of vaudeville. Her boyfriend, Duke Davis (Ralph Cooper, pictured at left with Horne), the show's producer, gets a visit from talent scout George Marshall—he thinks that Ethel could hit the big time in New York City on her own. Duke hems and haws, but when he is convinced that Marshall's offer would be good for her, he agrees to let her go. She's reluctant to leave him but when he pretends that Marshall has bought her contract and that he's letting her go for the money, she leaves thinking that Duke feels nothing for her. Duke winds up getting a huckster job with Doc Dorando's medicine show, and he's good at selling the fake elixir. Meanwhile, Ethel has proven to be a flop as a solo at the fancy Century Club in Manhattan; someone says of her, "She’s a specialty, not a star!" When Duke finds out, we know he'll try to help her, but the question is, how?
The plot of the B-movie "race" film (i.e., with an all-black cast) is pretty standard showbiz-romance stuff. It was shot in 10 days and looks it. But it's important for one reason: it's Lena Horne’s first movie. But what's interesting is that Horne isn't herself yet, not the screen star she would become. She’s attractive but not beautiful, presentable but not glamorous, and a little awkward before the camera. Her voice is certainly fine but it's not the versatile instrument we came to know. What happened between this film in 1938 and her first starring role (in CABIN IN THE SKY) in 1943 was Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, which signed her up and undoubtedly put her through its "star school" like it did with Judy Garland, Debbie Reynolds and countless other starlets that MGM wanted to make into stars. On its own, this movie is best enjoyed for its specialty numbers: a vigorous dance workout from Rubberneck Holmes, a cute production number called "Blackberry Baby," and especially for a performance by a four-man band called Cats and the Fiddle, pictured right, of a song called "Killin' Jive"—not only does it sound a lot like a 30s Ink Spots song called "That Cat is High" (later performed by the early Manhattan Transfer), it's about the same subject matter. Sample lyrics: "When you're high, man/You're sailin', man/You'll be so mellow/Just like a jello…When you smoke that killin' jive." Ralph Cooper (known for a time as the "Dark Gable") gives the movie's best performance as Duke (despite what I assumed for years, this movie has nothing to do with Duke Ellington), and Laurence Criner is fun as the trickster Doc Dorando. It's worth seeing for fans of 30s B-films, but don't expect Horne to be the star she became a few years later. [TCM]
Singer Ethel Andrews (Lena Horne) is the star of a low-rent traveling show called Sepia Scandals that is touring small towns in the dying days of vaudeville. Her boyfriend, Duke Davis (Ralph Cooper, pictured at left with Horne), the show's producer, gets a visit from talent scout George Marshall—he thinks that Ethel could hit the big time in New York City on her own. Duke hems and haws, but when he is convinced that Marshall's offer would be good for her, he agrees to let her go. She's reluctant to leave him but when he pretends that Marshall has bought her contract and that he's letting her go for the money, she leaves thinking that Duke feels nothing for her. Duke winds up getting a huckster job with Doc Dorando's medicine show, and he's good at selling the fake elixir. Meanwhile, Ethel has proven to be a flop as a solo at the fancy Century Club in Manhattan; someone says of her, "She’s a specialty, not a star!" When Duke finds out, we know he'll try to help her, but the question is, how?
The plot of the B-movie "race" film (i.e., with an all-black cast) is pretty standard showbiz-romance stuff. It was shot in 10 days and looks it. But it's important for one reason: it's Lena Horne’s first movie. But what's interesting is that Horne isn't herself yet, not the screen star she would become. She’s attractive but not beautiful, presentable but not glamorous, and a little awkward before the camera. Her voice is certainly fine but it's not the versatile instrument we came to know. What happened between this film in 1938 and her first starring role (in CABIN IN THE SKY) in 1943 was Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, which signed her up and undoubtedly put her through its "star school" like it did with Judy Garland, Debbie Reynolds and countless other starlets that MGM wanted to make into stars. On its own, this movie is best enjoyed for its specialty numbers: a vigorous dance workout from Rubberneck Holmes, a cute production number called "Blackberry Baby," and especially for a performance by a four-man band called Cats and the Fiddle, pictured right, of a song called "Killin' Jive"—not only does it sound a lot like a 30s Ink Spots song called "That Cat is High" (later performed by the early Manhattan Transfer), it's about the same subject matter. Sample lyrics: "When you're high, man/You're sailin', man/You'll be so mellow/Just like a jello…When you smoke that killin' jive." Ralph Cooper (known for a time as the "Dark Gable") gives the movie's best performance as Duke (despite what I assumed for years, this movie has nothing to do with Duke Ellington), and Laurence Criner is fun as the trickster Doc Dorando. It's worth seeing for fans of 30s B-films, but don't expect Horne to be the star she became a few years later. [TCM]
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