Up in the Air

Frankie Darro as a studio page boy and Mantan Moreland as a janitor team up to solve a murder in Up In The Air. Singer Lorna Gray is shot to death during a rehearsal when the lights go out and a gun goes off. It's up to Frankie and Mantan to solve the crime especially since the cops are a pair of thickheaded detectives.

I have to say the film does have some funny moments. It also has some offensive ones. Both Darro and Moreland are aspiring radio artists and they've worked up a comedy sketch not unlike the act Moreland did in nightclubs with Ben Carter. But putting Darro in blackface was downright disrespectful. Later on in one of the Charlie Chan films Moreland does do that act with Carter and you should catch it if possible.

As it turns out Gray has quite a past and it's her past that's the key to solving her murder and that of Gordon Jones who wants to be a cowboy singer and get on the air.

For a Monogram Picture, not bad, but we sure didn't need the blackface.

On location in Hollywood, "Amalgamated Broadcasting Company" (ABC Radio) page Frankie Darro (as Frankie Ryan) is attracted to the station's attractive new receptionist, aspiring songstress Marjorie Reynolds (as Anne Mason). Ms. Reynolds sings "By the Looks of Things" very sweetly. With help from cowardly janitor pal Mantan Moreland (as Jeff Jefferson), Mr. Darro decides to help Reynolds become a radio singing star. Then, the station's snotty songstress Lorna Gray (as Rita Wilson) is murdered...

First suspected is cowboy singer Gordon Jones (as Tex Barton), who was then notable as the star of "The Green Hornet" serial. Just when you think you've heard them all, "Tex" calls Mr. Moreland "banjo eyes" (an apt description). Also, watch for Darro to appear in "black-face" for a routine with Moreland (which must have looked swell on the radio). The bit is handled inoffensively, by the way. Howard Bretherton and the troupe manage the vehicle fairly, with Darro and Moreland contributing their usual.

**** Up in the Air (9/9/40) Howard Bretherton ~ Frankie Darro, Mantan Moreland, Marjorie Reynolds, Gordon Jones

Plot- a radio singer is murdered amid a room full of radio executives. The investigating cops thrash around leaving the real insight to the studio page-boy and his jokester buddy.

Bouncy programmer from low-budget Monogram. Pairing live-wire Darro with sparky negro Moreland was a bold touch. Together they turn a ho-hum whodunit into a fast paced romp with snappy lines and easy-going humor. Moreland does his patented big-eyed shtick and racialized humor that may offend some modern audiences. Still, he's treated more as Darro's pal than as comic relief in a movie that's more like a buddy flick than a mystery. In fact, Moreland's got more of a featured role than his usual down-the-list supporting role. I wouldn't be surprised that Monogram had a more permanent pairing in mind here.

The rest of the cast goes through its paces in professional style, though director Bretherton adds neither atmosphere nor nuance, which may, nevertheless, have been intended to spotlight the two leads. At the same time, the winsome Reynolds captivates with an adorable stage presence I could have stood more of. My only gripe is that I was expecting scenes in a broadcasting studio showing the radio technology of the day. Unfortunately, there are none, only stage performances. Nonetheless, that's along with some revealingly live street scenes from Hollywood Blvd., circa 1940.

All in all, it's quick hour of 40's amusement, with a cross-racial buddy pairing unusual for its time.

A demanding, prima Donna radio singer, Rita Wilson who not many liked is murdered while singing on the air in a radio studio. The gun shot sounds as the lights go off, the singer is found dead - and the killer had to be in the locked studio and the gun isn't found till later in an air vent.

Radio page boy, Frankie Ryan, and his janitor pal, Jeff, solve the mystery for the none-too-sharp police.

Frankie Darro and Manton Moreland make an energetic pair in this breezy fun combination of comedy, mystery and music - the latter is foot tapping and the mystery is standard lock room, or shall I say lock studio, with the comic duo doing some detective work- it's a bit political incorrect with Darro putting on some boot polish and Manton doing his scary eyeball act, but overall an entertaining film.

The morning after watching this, my wife and I sat at the kitchen table discussing it, and found we had nothing to talk about but Mantan Moreland. The plot is pretty much a series of contrivances to hang situations on, and the inevitable solution of the "who killed..." mystery doesn't seem to be the driving force. It's all about Mantan. I have seen him as comedy relief in a dozen movies, and he always steals every scene he is in, but I have never seen him dominate like this. He makes everyone else into his straight man, and constantly subverts and deflates authority figures. Every time someone says "I've got an idea," or "I've been thinking," he's on the spot with his "UH-OH!" There is nothing cowardly (as it often appears in his Charlie Chan roles) about his fierce common- sense determination to move away from trouble, not toward it. He sometimes seems like the only one who is not dangerously foolish. Mantan and Frankie Darro work together really well here and, though modern sensibilities may be jarred by Darro donning blackface to try to get them a radio job as a comedy duo, they come across as peers and friends, not boss and lackey as so often occurs in films of this era. The highest point is Mantan's dance scene - inserted into the story for no reason but its sheer entertainment value - in which he is so suave, smooth, cool, cute, and downright huggable it's difficult not to exclaim in delight. The movie plugs along gamely in the moments when Mantan is not on screen, and provides some pretty fair musical numbers, but he is the real shining light in this production.