Back in the mid-‘40s, these two ‘race pictures’ (one a short feature/one a long short) would have been booked at segregated big-city theaters. Think Harlem. Conveniently coupled on an Alpha DVD (subfusc in sound & image here & on various internet sites), both come from the short-lived/Fort Lee-based All-American News, and both from (white) journeyman director Bud Pollard. BIG takes first-billing on the DVD since it stars slow-talkin’ comedian Stepin Fetchit, the once wildly popular shufflin’ ‘Darkie’ character who tended to slip tiny victories past ‘the man’ to get his way thru what might generously be called ornery mock stupidity.* Here he’s porter at an upscale Sugar Hill apartment that’s been ‘borrowed’ for the day to host an engagement party for the daughter of a working-class mom trying to impress the wealthy family the girl’s marrying into. It’s really an excuse for a series of novelty acts, jazz bands and singers off the ‘chittlin’ circuit.’ And like the light-skinned/relaxed hair All-Girl Jazz Band playing in support, this one might ‘pass’ if the talent were better. (The last solo singer best of the lot, with a bit of Pearl Bailey about her.)
Best skip this one; instead, enjoy the hour-long SISTER, where a fabulous Louis Jordan (sax-man/singer) and his swingin’ band work thru a passel of jump-jivin’ numbers, each better than the last, all while saving the Black-owned dude ranch/health spa where Jordan dreams he’s taking a cure and living a Western adventure. Yippy-ki-yi-yay! Popcorn junk, of course, but darn entertaining, worth booking at any theater. If only someone could work up a decent restored print.
DOUBLE-BILL/LINK: Hollywood put out All Colored pics, especially if they were musicals with a spot for Lena Horne. See STORMY WEATHER, a mediocrity, but what a line-up of talent! Or the truly wonderful CABIN IN THE SKY, both 1943. https://maksquibs.blogspot.com/2008/06/stormy-weather-1943.html https://maksquibs.blogspot.com/2008/05/cabin-in-sky-1943.html
ATTENTION MUST BE PAID: One plus for BIG, the numbers appear to have been recorded ‘live,’ LOOK-OUT mostly pre-recorded.
SCREWY THOUGHT OF THE DAY: *Fetchit’s act needed a straight man he could toy with, someone who nearly catches on to how he's being duped. Best seen in some mid-‘30s Will Rogers films. Especially when these two start singing duets, often not even in the same room together. There’s racial commentary and brothers-united-under-the-skin knowingness to these routines.
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