Boarding House Blues

I recently watched Boarding House Blues (1948) on Tubi. The storyline follows a boarding house in desperate need of money. To save their home, they decide to put on a talent show.

The film is directed by Josh Binney (Killer Diller) and stars Moms Mabley (Amazing Grace), Bull Moose Jackson, Dusty Fletcher (Killer Diller), Marie Cooke (Junction 88), and Sidney Easton (Paradise in Harlem).

The storyline is straightforward, but the routines are pure gold. The opening sequence with the monkey suit was wild, and the dancing throughout the film, especially the one-legged man's scene, was fantastic. My favorite part was the comedy sketch, which was a delightful mix of dialogue, riddles, and jokes. The sheer talent of the performers keeps you engaged from start to finish.

In conclusion, Boarding House Blues features an elite group of entertainers and is worth your time. I'd score it a 6/10 and recommend watching it once.

This movie is less a film than a collection of routines from the black vaudeville circuit. The results are decidedly mixed as a movie but as a record of the routines and acts it contains its a historical document (then again many historical documents are not very entertaining) The plot has Jackie "Moms" Mabley running a boarding house for various performers. When times get tight they put on a show to help Moms out. Its threadbare and simply the excuse to hang the various routines and songs on. The bits are certainly better than the whole and while I did enjoy said bits, I was left feeling rather empty at the end. Definitely worth a look or two if you love vaudeville, or the history of comedy. Actually its worth a look see if you want some laughs and aren't particularly picky about annoying things like plot. As they say its worth a bag of popcorn.

This time capsule review of Negro stage performers of the 30s and 40s... this is a small film of major talent and a perfect chance to see the almost unseen (to us whiteys) of black vaudeville stars only ever before heard about. One performer Woody Allen must have certainly known about is 'Crip" Heard, the one legged tap dancer... See Stardust Memories for where that info went. He is called "Crip' because he is a cripple..he has one arm and one leg but that doesn't stop him dancing himself into a frenzy...... and don't blame me for that anecdote..... It is in his intro in the film! The lindyhop dancers later in the film are enough to get the most exhausted viewer off the couch and leaping about in their own boarding house. Killer Diller, the 1947 remake with other talent incl Nat King Cole is equally thrilling.

Forget the "plot"--it's just contrived to string together various classic vaudeville routines and exciting musical numbers from Black performers of the 1940s. If you enjoyed Killer Diller (made by the same people as this one, and also featuring Dusty Fletcher and Moms Mabley), you'll want to see this one too. It offers a rare opportunity to see African-American vaudeville routines that were probably old in the 1920s, now performed in the waning days of vaudeville. Dusty Fletcher, best known for his smash hit "open the door, richard," is a wonderful physical comedian (her accompanied by some acrobatic person in an ape suit!), and ANY opportunity to see the legendary Moms Mabley should be taken advantage of. The musical performances by Anisteen Allen, Una Mae Carlisle, and Bullmoose Jackson are wonderful, and it's great to see bandleader Lucky Millinder as compere. There's also some off-the-wall "novelty acts" worked into the show, including the one-legged dancer "Crip" Heard. The emphasis here is on the acts you're watching, NOT on the filmmaking. All in all, this is a pleasant way to kill 90 minutes and also gives us a window into a form of entertainment long gone--classic African-American vaudeville.

Last year, when I was reviewing movies for Black History Month in chronological order, one of them was Killer Diller-a revue surrounded by the thinest of plots-starring Dusty Fletcher and Jackie "Moms" Mabley. Well, it's that time again and once again, those two are in this one as well. Ms. Mabley plays the head of the title place with Fletcher as one of the boarders. The latter has some amusing scenes with an ape named Steggy (actually John Riano in an animal suit) especially when he does some falls. The two stars also have some funny stuff with a live rabbit they're trying to cook. Other than a few other boarders doing some shtick, not much happens before a succession of comic and musical acts are presented as an "audition" for an upcoming show. Among them: Stump & Stumpy-James Cross & Eddie Hartman-a comic tap dancing act with one of them doing some serious mugging, "Crip" Heard-a one-armed and one-legged tap dancer, The Berry Brothers-Warren & Nyas-doing their tap routines while singing, Lewis & White-doing some one-liners before their own dancing, Una Mae Carlisle-a singer who plays the piano singing a couple of pretty good songs like "Throw It Out of Your Mind" and "It Ain't Like That", Anistine Allen-who sings "Let It Roll" while doing some moves, Lucky Millinder-the bandleader, and one of his singers-Bull Moose Jackson whose rendition of "I Love You, Yes I Do" sounds like something that could have come out of various doo-wop groups later on in the '50s. Moms Mabley herself comes on with her amusing take on life before doing a song-and-dance bit. This was quite an entertaining film of obscure and rarely-seen-on-film acts that I'm glad was recorded for posterity. So on that note, Boarding House Blues is well worth a look. P.S. Marie Cooke plays a character that also supposedly sings but she doesn't perform for some reason. Bandleader Millinder was raised in my birthtown of Chicago, Ill. And Nyas Berry was a native of New Orleans, La., which is only a two-hour drive from where I currently live.