Harlem Rides the Range

Spencer William plays the character of Watson in this movie, but his name didn't mean anything to me. After seeing him in the movie I thought I recognized him from another role that greatly endeared him to me. Checking here at IMDb I wasn't surprised to see that he was none other than Andrew H. Brown, pal to and often the accomplice of George "Kingfish" Stevens of the old Amos 'n' Andy TV series.

This all-black movie had the usual B-western qualities in both plot and action. There's a singing cowboy (Herbert Jeffrey) and his comic sidekick (Lucius Brooks), a love interest (Artie Young), bad guys (led by Clarence Brooks) trying to steal a radium mine, a frame-up, an all-too-easy escape, etc. I was not too impressed with Jeffrey as a cowboy, but he sings well, accompanied by The Four Tones, a group playing string instruments. But I enjoyed most the comedy of both Lucius Brooks and the ranch cook, F.E. Miller. The best sequence had them investigating a house where a murder may have been committed. Something scares them so badly they run all the way home, leaving their horses back at the house. And when they sit down, their boots are smoking. This funny bit made me laugh and feel guilty that I did so, because their behavior (fear and cowardice) was so stereotypical of some blacks in these early movies. But these so-called "race" films were made by blacks and intended for black audiences. They were very popular, proving that my guilt is really unfounded. When a bit is funny it knows no race boundaries.

Herb Jeffrey and his sidekick Dusty come upon a house in time to see some men disappearing in the distance and a possible crime scene within. It seems the men shot the owner in order to steal his radium mine, after which Herb and Dusty inadvertently take jobs working at the villain's ranch.

A typical Saturday matinée western, this time with an all-black cast, Harlem Rides The Range is entertaining enough, with a likable performance by Jeffrey and an amiable cast, as well as some witty dialog and a few good gags.

The music by Jeffrey and The Four Tones is an excellent, credible mix of old-fashioned cowboy singing and 1930's style rhythm and blues/jazz. It alone is more than enough to make this worth watching.

Although not as well-known as Jeffrey's earlier picture The Bronze Buckaroo, it's actually a lot better and a great deal more cohesive in terms of plot.

Routine '30s oater, notable only for having an all-black cast at a time when that was rare. The story is one you've seen a dozen times if you've watched enough B westerns from the period. Cowboys Herb Jeffries and Lucius Brooks stumble into a situation where a rancher is fighting to keep his ranch from being taken away from him by villains after radium or something. They decide to help the rancher, spurred on in no small part by the rancher's daughter one of them falls in love with. It's all very simple but not a bad way to pass an hour. There are a couple of songs, which are enjoyable in their corniness. The stunts are unimpressive and the acting fairly one-note. I will say that it is interesting to see black actors at the time being allowed to act 'normal,' rather than as put-on stereotypes like Willie Best or Mantan Moreland. The closest thing we get to that sort of thing here is Lucius Brooks' comic relief sidekick, but even that is restrained compared to what you would see in a mainstream film at the time.

Like most B picture westerns of the 30's and early 40's this film is slow beyond belief. For example, they spend maybe 2.5 minutes on a bad joke about dog food. The acting is rather bad as well.

And then there's the studio shot scenes with obvious painted backgrounds of the west. At the end of the day this is nothing more than a B picture.

The print I saw was really bad -- like it was a complete shade of grey and the sound was muffled. Can't imagine that's what it was like back in the day, but then who knows?

And one more thing. How is this so historical? It's a movie that was made for blacks like Shaft in the 70's or those dumb Madea movies. Should we say that the non all black cast movies of the same time period are historical because they were made for white people?

Wonder what would have happened if a white guy went into a black theatre back then to see this.