Harlem Rides the Range

They weren't supposed to be documentaries. lol So let's forget the "straining credulity" and "logistics" and "plot problems" and just settle down with some popcorn for an old-fashioned good time. This is Saturday matinée. You want something to put a smile on your face that makes you forget the horrors in the world--war, poverty, racism. You want a cinema universe with good music, perhaps some snappy dancing, beautiful gutsy women and handsome gutsy men, and gorgeous horses with streaming mane and tail galloping through exotic scenery in a part of the US most Americans had yet to explore. It's a fantasy land where good always triumphs over evil, mortgages always get paid, people aren't told they can't do something because of their skin color, and wittiness is woven throughout. In short, it isn't reality, which is just the way the audiences wanted it.

When we are introduced to the hero and sidekick I was strongly reminded of Cisco and Pancho in looks and humorous interchange. :) The two funny fellows in the movie play out a scene that might have come from a Charlie Chan, where Number One Son and black friend tear off in a panic. It might also be from an Abbot and Costello monster movie. Or any of the other early comedy acts when a none-too-bright fellow is confronted by something frightening. "Did you think you could run faster than your horse?" "The horse didn't see what I saw." tee hee Or the hero literally picking up the extremely capable heroine at the way station! Those western ladies were game for anything! My mother was a Great Plains lady of that era and she could handle a lot, too.

I'm not a big fan of early westerns, except maybe the Cisco Kid, but I found this series to be entertaining because of the comedy. As with musicals, I don't particularly care about the plot, which seems to be the way the writers felt about it! :)

A good program western with an all black cast. To be honest I saw this before Murder and Harlem (a murder mystery that was on the same DVD) and by the time that I was ten minutes into that film I had pretty much forgotten the plot of this movie which had something to do with some bad guys trying to cheat a homesteader, who's daughter our hero has fallen in love with simply by seeing her picture. Pretty much if this was cast with any of the well known western stars this would have played exactly as it does here, though the side kicks antics would probably play differently (and had they been played by a black man in a white film may have been considered racist). If you like the program westerns of the 30's and 40's this is definitely worth a shot. Anyone else give it a go depending on your mood.

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.

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.

In the 1920s, 30s and 40s, Black movie goers were usually not allowed in White movie theaters here in the United States. In addition, theaters catering to Black audiences had difficulties getting first-run film and Black audiences really didn't feel much connection to the all-White films Hollywood was producing. As a result, small Black-owned movie companies sprang up and tried to fill this void. The problem was that these companies were operated on shoestring budgets and they simply couldn't afford to make polished and high quality films. Some of them turned out pretty good, but in general these films were pretty dreadful--and what more could you expect considering that 99% of all the money went to make Hollywood films.

Because of this context, you need to understand that with so many strikes against this film, it's a wonder it even achieves a score of 3 (and perhaps my 3 is being a tad generous). The film is a Black version of a typical Gene Autry film but starring a cast of less experienced actors, lacking incidental music and a good Foley artist (a lot of the action has no sound effects or they are severely muffled) and experienced writers and directors. This was purely a 3rd string group of film makers and I am sure they were trying their best, but the lack of professionalism shows. All too often, actors just stand around or utter their lines with no emotion or conviction--because they almost universally lacked experience and training. As for the film's star, Herb Jeffries, he wasn't too bad. His singing wasn't bad but he certainly lacked charisma. It's no surprise, then, that this marked the last of Jeffries cowboy films--being the fifth in a series of very inconsequential low-budget Westerns.

The plot, if anyone really cares, is about a hidden radium mine and some baddies attempt to steal it from its rightful owner. The problem I saw with that is that radium occurs only in trace amounts in uranium and must be processed and refined to collect radium. So why didn't they call it a 'uranium mine' instead?! After all, you don't mine pure radium. But this is also not particularly important--nor is the film unless you are watching it for historical purposes or if you are curious to see the most famous Black singing cowboy.

Also, one final note. This is packaged on a DVD along with MURDER IN HARLEM by Alpha Video--one of the worst DVD producers on the planet. Most of their videos are fuzzy and tough to watch and this film was certainly no exception. However, Alpha also specializes in some public domain and hard to find films where there simply aren't better copies available and it doesn't make financial sense to properly restore the films. Like 'em or not, if you want to see this film, Alpha is probably your only source.