Broken Strings

Broken Strings (1940)

*** (out of 4)

This is without a doubt the best of the early black cinema films I've seen. Clarence Muse plays a classical violinist who loses movement in his hand after suffering an accident. Unable to perform, he picks up teaching students as well as his son but soon he begins to have a mental breakdown. Things aren't getting any better when he realizes his son doesn't want to play classical music but instead the son finds a liking to swing/jazz. Unlike some of of the other black cinema films I've watched this year, this one here features a wonderful group of talented folks so there's none of the bad acting that I've seen in previous films. Some will recognize Muse from films such as White Zombie, The Lost Weekend, Double Indemnity and Car Wash but none of them really gave him the chance to act. He does a very good job in his role here, although there are a few times where he goes a bit too over the top. Our Gang member Matthew "Stymie" Beard also appears as one of the students. The film tacks on an incredibly silly ending but the 60-minutes fly by with some nice laughs and some nice drama.

Back in the bad old days of racial segregation, black movie patrons often were not allowed into whites only theaters in the States. Not surprisingly, a small industry sprung up--black movies to be shown in blacks only theaters. Unfortunately, because the audiences were much smaller, there wasn't nearly as much money to be made with these black films...and the budgets were incredibly small. While these films today are interesting from a historical standpoint, you can't help but notice that the acting is often very suspect--as well as the direction. The usual Hollywood polish is missing and the films try hard but aren't particularly great films. An example of this is "Broken Strings"...a well intentioned movie that tries very hard but its shortcomings are obvious.

When the film begins, Arthur Williams (Clarence Muse) is doing a classical recital with his violin. He's brilliant and his future looks bright but he's soon in a traffic accident and his hand is injured...and his career is over. As a result, he's left making a few dollars giving violin lessons. However, he also has become a cranky jerk and is enraged when his young son begins playing swing music...and he forbids this. However, when a doctor is willing to try to repair Arthur's hand, the son goes to work performing in clubs...and he keeps it a secret. What's next? See the film.

The plot of "Broken Strings" is very much a reworking of "The Jazz Singer" and the film is entertaining. But even good actors (such as Muse who was a crossover hit in mainstream films) looked poor when delivering their lines...because the direction wasn't good and they didn't have the money to re-shoot scenes. It's a shame, as the film could have easily been better.

By the way, pay attention to the bratty, jerk-face kid, Dickie, who takes violin lessons--that's Stymie Beard of the "Our Gang" shorts.

Except for the hokey ending, I enjoyed this family drama which touched on the artificial dichotomy of classical music and swing or jazz. Clarence Muse is excellent as a concert violinist who lost the use of his left hand after an automobile accident, and is reduced to teaching for a living. His son, Walter Washington, plays the violin well, but prefers swing and jazz, which leads to conflicts because Muse doesn't consider those forms of music worthy of being played. There are good subplots too, involving Muse's daughter, nicely played by Sybil Lewis.

This being a "race" movie intended for black audiences, other musical entertainment was a must, and there are two items I enjoyed. The first had the young Stevens sisters (introducing themselves as Charmain, Cecile and Leonetti) sing and dance to a song called "Kentucky Babe." And the second was Darby Jones doing a rubberlegs kind of a dance that was excellent, especially since I knew him only from his playing African savages in two Tarzan movies and in Congo Maizie (1940). It took an all-black movie to demonstrate this talent.

Story of a musician (Clarence Muse), who has the terrible luck of an injury to his hands after a car accident. His son John (William Washington) also plays, but would rather play jazz. Dad makes John practice relentlessly for playing that swing music! In addition to a law degree, Muse had a long, successful career in hollywood, and had many "firsts" for black actors in show biz. Washington only has thirteen roles shown here, and about half of those are un-credited. Keep an eye out for trouble-maker Matthew Beard, who was Stymie in Our Gang ... he would have been fifteen at this point. Features a song and dance bit by the Stevens Sisters. It's quite good! Directed by russian born BB Ray. Not much info out there on him, for someone who made so many films. This one is a sixty minute shortie, so the story moves along pretty fast.

I would like to be able to tell you that this is an overlooked gem from the early days of Black cinema, but it's not. The acting is passable, but the script needs a lot of work and the direction is pretty leaden. The conflict between father and son, about the relative merits of classical and popular music, seems old-fashioned today, although it was the subject for a lot of movies in the 1930s, starting with the first feature-length sound film, The Jazz Singer. The rivalry between two men for the same woman doesn't go anywhere.

My favorite parts dealt with the boy violinist who liked to rag the classics. I wish that had been developed, but it wasn't.

There are a few "novelty" dance numbers tossed in that would have been better left out.

It's only 60 minutes long, but I really had to force myself to stick with it. If you're interested in early Black film, I'd definitely say watch it. But don't expect to find any gems.