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.

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.

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.

A sad part of history is that in much of the United States, movie theaters used to be segregated. In some, non-white patrons were forced to sit in the balcony. In others, non-whites weren't allowed at all and needed to go to special theaters where mostly black audiences would go. But instead of watching the latest Hollywood product, many of these theaters would instead show films starring all-black casts. Unfortunately, the tiny studios that made them couldn't afford great productions.

One of these black films is "Sepia Cinderella". While I've seen a few dozen films made for black theaters, I sought this one out specifically because Sidney Poitier is an extra...and it's his first film appearance. The problem is...you have to spot him in the audience of the night club scenes. Perhaps you could watch it with friends and you all could search for him....as well as Freddie Bartholomew!

The story is a familiar sort of movie. A bandleader/composer strikes it big with one song. But instead of keeping his head, he allows this success to make his head swell...and he forgets those he's left behind. Can he manage to do the right thing and live happily ever after?

Like most such movies, the acting is very uneven. Some actors had trouble delivering their lines...a few, such as the comedians and a few of the singers, came off better. Overall, the movie is pretty much what you'd expect from such a low budgeted B-movie. It's okay...but nothing more. In fact, it's more of a curiosity than a great film.