Sepia Cinderella

Two stars as a movie, four stars for the music and musical performers. Billy Daniels fans should find this interesting, showing him before he found his style. This film was released in 1947; Daniels teamed permanently in 1948 with pianist-backup singer Benny Payne, eventually dropping "Diane" as his trademark song for "That Old Black Magic", dropping his tenor voice to a deep baritone and adding plenty of body english, winning instant fans in 1950 in "When You're Smiling". Sheila Guyse's voice matches her beautiful looks, Deek Watson, formerly of the Ink Spots, is dynamic and sings well, as does, surprisingly, every member of his quartet. Two other male singers have solo spots, and again are quite good. Plus for jazz fans, there's the John Kirby group, which is prominently featured, with the great Sid Catlett on drums. Plus, on the acting side (and Sheila Guyse also has a great moment or two), Freddie Bartholomew shows considerable talent in an interlude with Daniels. Additionally, all the songs, unknowns, are good.

This is one of those "race movies" made during a time of segregation. The stars are Billy Daniels and Sheila Guyse-two beautiful singers who end up singing the same song separate and together simply called "Cinderella". There's another woman who's a club boss but that story is easily done with quick enough for other musical acts to perform in this little-more-than-an-hour picture. Also appearing is Freddie Bartholomew-a former child star appearing as an old friend of Daniels who does some jokes that I thought was funny. Nothing more to say except that Sepia Cinderella is worth a look for any one interested in this sort of thing.

Encouraged by sweet and shapely Sheila Guyse (as Barbara), orchestra leader Billy Daniels (as Bob Jordan) has great success when his song "Cinderella" becomes a hit. Happiness for the couple is threatened when sexy socialite and nightclub owner Tondaleyo (as Vivian Marston) takes an interest in Mr. Daniels, although she is engaged to businessman Jack Carter (as Ralph Williams). The central plot is extremely old hat and given little new life by those involved, but everything proceeds well enough. The music is good and the film features, considering its proximity, one of the strangest and most unexpected cameo appearances in movie history...

Near the end, Daniels (as Bobby) notices a familiar face at a table - it's his old friend Freddie Bartholomew (as Freddie Bartholomew)!

The former child star seems to be reintroducing himself to the public, after service in World War II. This may have been done to provide Mr. Bartholomew with a screen "test reel" as he sought to re-enter the acting business as an adult. Bartholomew obviously still has an engaging screen presence and did go on to some film and television roles, but the effort wasn't sustained. After some fine dramatic roles in episodic television and lending good comic support to the otherwise lackluster "St. Benny the Dip" (1951), Bartholomew retired; with most of his fortune swiped by adults, there simply wasn't enough acting work to make a living.

***** Sepia Cinderella (7/25/47) Arthur Leonard ~ Billy Daniels, Sheila Guyse, Tondaleyo, Freddie Bartholomew

In this all-black cast musical romance, Barbara (Sheila Guyse) must compete with a rich woman (Tondaleyo) for the man she loves. The man, singer and band leader Bob Jordan (Billy Daniel), tries to pursue his career, but soon comes to realize that there is more to life than being in high society. He returns to Barbara, and they are married in the Cinderella Night Club, where Bob is appearing. A nice little love story with some interesting musical acts.

It's a typical show-biz success story. A vocalist and his band move up the ladder despite professional and personal complications.

I tuned in hoping to catch some hot Harlem jazz. It wasn't to be. Instead the music was right out of a Bing Crosby crooning session. Not that there's anything wrong with mellow sounds; it's just that I expected something else from an African-American production. In fact, it may be telling that the film features none of the buffoonish humor identified with so many black movie characters of the time. On the whole, the movie was conventional enough that it could have played as easily in white theaters as in black.

Outside the smooth sounds of Billy Daniels', the movie has two notable features. Oh my gosh, Sheila Guyse (Barbara) is a stunner with a voice to match. So why didn't she have a Lena Horne or Dorothy Dandridge-type career. It's too bad she apparently wound up a well-kept show-biz secret; her talent certainly merited more. On the other hand, what's with the clumsy Freddie Bartholomew interview. It's like a ten-minute audition for something or other, maybe a stand-up comic routine. But whatever, it's an almost surreal appearance for fans of the former kid star.

Other than these points, the movie's a harmless little time passer.