Way Down South

I liked everything about this forgotten, unpretentious, good-natured, well-made film ahead of its time regarding "the race problem". It delivers far more solid good time than many a famous films. It's a thrill to see nothing but unknown actors, all of them good. Bobby Breen is also an exceedingly confident and accomplished singer.

Way Down South (1939)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

Interesting race picture from RKO features two black writers (Clarence Muse, Langston Hughes) doing the screenplay. Set before the Civil War, a plantation owner dies leaving his farm and slaves to his young son (Bobby Breen). Soon an executive comes into play and tries to sell the slaves but the young kid won't stand for this as the slaves are his only friends. It's interesting to see a Hollywood picture from this era treating blacks with any sort of respect and in many ways it's more respectful than many of the other race pictures that I've seen, which were made by black directors. The film only runs 61-minutes so the drama of slavery isn't ever really looked at and the film would later be criticized by the NAACP for showing "happy slaves". The films main goal is to have a spotlight for the young Breen and he's pretty good here, although his musical numbers aren't anything special.

Despite the stereotypical characterizations of the slaves portrayed during the pre-Civil War period in Louisiana here, Way Down South-written by Langston Hughes and star Clarence Muse-have them also portrayed as characters worthy of sympathy. White child singer Bobby Breen is the star who inherits those people after his father dies and he has to take measures to prevent them from being separated and sold with the help of Muse as well as Matthew "Stymie" Beard, former Our Ganger. I'll just now say I liked the story as well as the songs-some of which were also written by Muse and Hughes-performed by Breen and the Hall Johnson Choir. So on that note, I recommend Way Down South. P.S. Despite being set in my current home state, this movie was actually shot around Hollywood, California!

At times this movie is brilliant beyond my powers of description to note. At other times it turns stupid. Langston Hughes' poetry and powerful images dominate some scenes. At others we have the sight of Clarence Muse in a dress and veil, or Bobby Breen advancing the plot while Alan Mowbray does his best to make it interesting by a little judicious mugging. Even the musical numbers are erratically choreographed. The last may have been an attempt to either appease white audiences who would never see this movie or a choreographer utterly ignorant of jazz dancing. In 1939? It doesn't make sense. Perhaps it was shot, edited, tested and then someone else went back to do some ham-handed reshooting.

The problems I have with the execution of this movie cannot be denied, but its strengths are likewise undeniable. Take a look at it and bear in mind that this was released in he same year as GONE WITH THE WIND.

The modern idea that the antebellum South was made up of Simon Legrees and mistreated slaves is balanced by this story of a plantation owner and his son whose loving and familial relations with the servants led the servants to love their work and their master. This was dramatised for the movie, but is not unlike many of the working relationships that existed at the time. One sees a love between men and women of different races that is not very evident today.

This movie is a rare gem of nostalgia, presenting a story that is uncomfortable for many today who want the story to be that blacks and whites have always hated each other. That has not always been so, and I pray that this kind of loving respect (not slavery) would return to our land; that men and women of every race and station would show respect one to another and not succumb to the modern idea that they must resent who they are and feel like victims.

The cane harvest party hosted by the plantation owner and enjoyed by the owner and workers was quite common in the South. Good movie. Great singing!