Harlem Rides the Range

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.

Having just watched The Bronze Buckaroo, I picked the next film on the "Black Westerns" disc of the DVD set "Black Entertainment in Film" which happened to be Harlem Rides the Range. Once again Herb Jeffries stars as Bob Blake with Lucius Brooks as sidekick Dusty and Clarence Brooks in a villainous role. Spencer Williams, however, is on the good side this time as Blake's ranch-hand boss and previously female lead Artie Young is just a picture here until the last 10 min. Also F. E. Miller appears again as Slim Perkins who with Lucius provides some amusing comic relief that in a white cast movie might have been considered racist. I actually thought Harlem Rides the Range might have been slightly duller than The Bronz Buckaroo but at least this time the print was good and the soundtrack was clear so I could actually hear the dialogue well and the singing was more enjoyable as a result which was provided by Mr. Jeffries and The Four Tones of which Lucius is a member. P. S. Another player, Wade Dumas who was the Dog City Sheriff, came from my home state of Louisiana in addition to Mr. Williams. Also, Mr. Williams and Mr. Miller wrote the screenplay this time.

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.

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.

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.