King for a Day

We're truly missing out on the old talent of the Harlem Renaissance; thank goodness this is so available. It has a charm you won't find today. If you like this film, I implore you to seek out on YouTube "102 y/o sees herself on film for the first time." It will encourage you to look up everything you can get your hands on!

This entertaining short directed in NYC by Roy Mack, full of the usual Harlem stereotypes, introduces a great Ray Noble song, LOVE WALKED OUT, that Al Bowlly first recorded in London in 1933. Bill Robinson not only gets to tap in this film, he acts as well with the under-estimated Ernest Whitman as Mr. Brown, best remembered for STORMY WEATHER. This short is a perfect example of the sort of popular entertainment white folks paid to see at the Cotton Club back in the 30s. The talent was always greater than the script and the chorus girl routines. Out of this silliness, such great performers as Cab Calloway and Ethel Waters evolved. This is a historical document.

At a time when his presence in A-films was not quite established, BILL ROBINSON appeared in this short subject which I found moderately interesting. I was waiting for his tap dancing sequence and it was a good one, but the story is a trifle about him gambling the owner in a crap game and getting the chance to strut his stuff. It took too much time to get to his dancing.

Unfortunately, it's all very dated, especially when it gets to the actual vaudeville routines depicted in the show. The singing style is strictly from the '30s, the lead singer does a song called "Love Lost Out" sounding very tinny in her high soprano register, and the dancers look as though they're badly in need of a good choreographer. Where is Busby Berkeley when you need him?

Robinson, however, does his own thing with his usual skill--but is stuck in a short subject that cries for more originality in the script department. His tapping to "Swanee River" is a delight but after that the routine goes into less successful moments and ends with a wedding bells song that closes the short with a thud.

I can't recommend this with much enthusiasm.

Roy Mack was the great director of short black films, he wanted to show black entertainment, since he couldn't put it in movies, he put them in short films, which were great. These short films may not seem like much today, but back in the 30s and 40s, shorts were considered better then the feature film. Black film shorts always were great. It showed the latest dances, the latest singing styles, wonderful. Shows you how it was in that era. Wonderful black history. If you can find it, you'll love it. Some shorts are very hard to find, believe me I know, I started collecting black film shorts, but when you find it, you'll love it.

Admittedly to me the story was somewhat disposable and took too long to get going and the Minstrel Man song and routine are a little uninspired and one of the least memorable parts of King for a Day. King for a Day is shot in beautiful black and white however, the music puts you in a good mood due to its infectiousness- particularly Smiles and Old Folks at Home-, and the choreography is witty and elegant. Some of the rehearsal stuff is amusing and the performances are solid enough, but Bill "Bojangles" Robinson and his tap dancing are what make King for a Day. Robinson has a really charming presence which makes him a likable performer and his character easy to root for, even better than when he was partnered with Shirley Temple. And his tap dancing is incredible, always precise yet with a simple elegance and with not a flat or heavy foot move. It's not "athletic" as such nor did it really need to be. Overall, a very nice short film that is worth seeing primarily for Robinson and the tap dancing because while not everything is entirely smooth sailing they work tremendously. 8/10 Bethany Cox