Minstrel Man

Only watch if you want a negative example of just how insulting old Hollywood could get. Contrary to the other reviews, minstrel and blackface was going strong until the 1950s and even made its way onto TV, until civil rights protests put an end to it. There was even blackface in films into the 1980s, Soul Man and Trading Places. (Yes, Tropical Thunder much later. But that was criticizing and mocking the practice of clueless whites portraying other races.)

The music is terrible and the comedy is far worse. Blackface was half imitating Black culture and half mocking Black people. But here the music is corny and tone deaf.

Blackface makeup can be incredibly jarring to see, to be reminded of just how deep racist hatred went to dehumanize Blacks. Here the mockery is also of Blacks who would dare to dress well or have money, for the clothes are over the top too.

Only see if you have a strong stomach and have a historical interest in Hollywood stereotypes.

Virtually PRC's only musical before it was bought out by another company in the late 40's, this film tells the story of Dixie Boy Johnson, a performer in minstrel shows, who loses his wife when their daughter is born. Made with money from the sale of the film HITLER'S MADMAN the previous year to MGM, the film won an Oscar nomination for its score. The songs were written specifically for this film, and they're designed to bring forward the plot . The lead actor does an outstanding job, and for years l thought he was Al Jolson, only it turns out he wasn't. All in all a fine effort from PRC, and possibly even their finest film. Alas, dye to the demise of PRC's corporate successor, this film is now public domain.

Benny Fields stars as Dixie Boy Johnson, a vaudeville singer who performs in black face. His signature tune, "Remember Me to Carolina", is sung each night to his wife, also named Carolina. When she dies in childbirth, Johnson skips town, leaving the newborn, also named Carolina, in the care of friends Mae (Gladys George) and Roscoe (Roscoe Karns). Years later, the now grown Carolina (Judy Clark) tries to follow in her father's footsteps as a minstrel performer. Also featuring Jerome Cowan, Alan Dinehart, Molly Lamont, and Lee "Lasses" White.

I had never heard of Benny Fields before watching this. I've since learned that he and his wife Blossom Seeley had a very successful vaudeville singing and comedy act in the 1920's. They lost their fortune in the Great Depression, and Fields took the act solo. This movie was another comeback attempt for the 50-year-old Fields, and it was a hit at the time, leading to Fields having a number of recording hits. He seems like a nice enough guy, but the movie is awful, a hackneyed backstage melodrama with cliche after cliche. The stereotypical minstrel stuff is bad enough, and there's a lot of it here, but the handful of songs are sung over and over again. The movie still managed to nab two Oscar nominations, for Best Score (Leo Erdody & Ferde Grofe), and Best Song (Remember Me to Carolina").

Benny Field opens on Broadway, with a minstrel show he has written and is starring in. When his wife dies giving birth to their daughter, he disappears for 16 years.

The IMDb indicates that Edward Ulmer was in charge for the first five days, then shipped off to the second unit when Joseph H. Lewis took over. There are certainly enough bizarre angle choices to indicate that Wagon Wheel Joe was handling the megaphone, from the opening shot through the stage flies, through the low angle that the dance number in Havana is shot. Judy Clark performs her numbers like she wants to be Betty Hutton, and you can spot John Raitt just before he hit it big as Curly in the Chicago production of OKLAHOMA. The score was good enough to two Oscar nominations, for best score and best song -- and an immediate lawsuit, settled out of court.

However, this is a PRC movie, and it fails on two counts: star Benny Fields -- better known as husband and stage partner of Blossom Seeley, if that name means anything to you -- has no screen charisma and less energy, and the script looks like they started throwing out pages and didn't know where to stop. Gladys George seems to be there mainly to move the plot, and so does Jerome Cowan, although he's good as an agent collecting from both ends and nibbling at the middle. I'm sure it would have run another $40 to shoot enough footage to make them more than brooms to sweep Field along, which would have meant two fewer B Westerns that year.

Minstrel shows had been old hat in 1920, and by the time this was made, it was meant to appeal in a purely nostalgic sense to small-town audiences. Nowadays, you couldn't put this on anywhere. Nonetheless, that's where backstage musicals like this live, and that's where it succeeds. The minstrel show that starts it looks right for the era, and the swing version that closes is nicely done, thanks to choreographer Jack Boyle. It's certainly no movie to show to a modern movie fan, but to someone who loves old musicals, it has some charm.

All the previous reviews/critiques are probably right-on. I was happy to see the film because it presented a bit of theatrical history, showing something of what minstrel shows were like, especially in the opening "Gentlemen Be Seated" bit. Of course, there are similar historical pieces in other movies as well. I don't know that I had ever seen Benny Fields before, although he apparently had done many television appearances in the past, so I was curious to see him and hear him sing. Having seen this film, I rather understand why Ralph Meeker was chosen to play Fields in "Somebody Loves Me" opposite Betty Hutton and I now appreciate that bit of casting.