Boy! What a Girl!

A couple of producers are trying to raise money to put on a show. This requires one of them, Tim Moore, to dress in drag. I'm not sure why this is necessary, but mature, fat, cigar-smoking Moore is quite funny in the role.

Like many race films -- the contemporary name for movies that featured Black actors -- this one is more notable for the specialty bits than the acting. The music is contemporary and well performed, and likewise the comedy bits. It's also noteworthy fo being well performed; the small audiences meant smaller production money, less rehearsal time, and an a need to let a "good enough" take go through. There's none of that here. While some of the performances are a bit stagey, they're more than good enough.

Tim Moore was an old trouper, about to retire. Three years later, AMOS AND ANDY was transferred from radio to TV, and Moore was talked out of retirement to play the Kingfish. This movie was reissued, with his name above the title.

Tim Moore (1888-1958) was also in a film titled: "BLACKBIRDS OF 1929." He played George "Kingfish" Stevens on the Amos'n'Andy television show by Freeman Gosden and Charles Correll. There were 75 episodes between 1951-1954, 60 of them survive. The showed was canceled in 1958 in some areas, but was shown on television in Charleston, South Carolina as late as 1963. Red Foxx liked the show and learned much of his comedy routine from Amos'n'Andy. Spencer Williams who played Andy was the first African-American to be a sound technician in motion pictures in 1928 and he acted in and directed many excellent all black cast and crew movies. Amos'n'Andy was the first show to depict African-Americans in roles other than servants, they were shown as policemen, judges, lawyers, doctors, but unfortunately this was the only t.v. programme that showed African-Americans and even though their comedy was tame compared to later black t.v. shows, it sometimes gave the wrong impression to European-Americans about African-Americans. This t.v. show is much discussed at California State University, Northridge's Pan-African Studies classes. I took classes in PAS and obtained a B.A. in Afro-American Studies and did essays on this and other t.v. programs and motion pictures with black casts. Gene Krupa the drummer also made a cameo appearance in this film.

Tim Moore was a comic genius who I presume got his start if vaudeville and later portrayed the Kingfish in Amos and Andy. In this flick he plays a transvestite without any of the corny moralistic excuses used in Doubtfire or Tootsie. As with most of these African-American films from the 40's, there's great music, beautiful women, outrageous comedy. Don't miss this one!

If this film had been made with Hope & Crosby in the leading roles it would probably be considered one of the all-time great comedies. Because the characters were Negro, it's been relegated to the hinterlands. For years it was in obscurity until TCM showed it a few years ago. I was lucky enough to tape it. However, it has now come out on DVD!! A place called deepdiscount something-or-other lists it.

I have seen (more than once) all the road films, as well as many of the comedies form the golden age of movies. Tis film can hold it's own with any of them. However, the viewer has to be able to disabuse himself of modern PC-like considerations and accept the film for what it was--- a race movie aimed a a target audience.

While Boy! What a Girl! is a silly race musical comedy from the late '40s, there's at least one noteworthy thing about it: It stars Tim Moore years before he became well known as George "Kingfish" Stevens on TV's "Amos 'n' Andy". This is his only film role playing a character since he had been a specialty act previously in maybe one or two movies. He's quite funny here in drag pretending to be Mme. Deborah Martin (really Sybil Lewis) in order to secure backing for a show whose co-backer, a Mr. Cummings (Alan Jackson), falls for the pretend Deborah. Also falling for him, er, her is landlord Donaldson (Warren Patterson). All three are a hoot to watch here. Mr. Jackson's daughters, Francine (Sheila Guyse) and Cristola (Betti Mays), are in love with the would-be producers, Jim Walton (Elwood Smith) and Harry Diggs (Duke Williams) and would only be allowed to marry them if the pretend Deborah approves. The real Deborah is watching the whole thing as well as several musical acts hoping to be incognito for a while. That's all I'll mention except that both the comedy and music segments keep the movie running at a breezy hour and 9 minutes. Among the entertaining song spots: Ms. Mays performing "Crazy riffin'", Slam Stewart singing with his trio "Oh Me, Oh My, Oh Gosh" (Slam's most famous composition is "Flat Foot Floogie" which was recently played in The English Patient), Deek Watson-who I previously watched in Abbott and Costello's Pardon My Sarong when he was one of The Ink Spots-doing "Just You Change Your Mind" and "Baby, You're the Cutest One" (His most famous composition is "(I Love You) For Sentimental Reasons"), and drummer Sidney Catlett doing his thing before Gene Krupa-the only white cast member here-replaces him briefly. Anyone interested in a rare comedy find from the race movie era, Boy! What a Girl! is one worth looking for. P.S. In continuing to point out people associated with my birth state of Illinois, Mr. Moore was born in Rock Island, Mr. Catlett died in Chicago in 1951, and Mr. Krupa was born there in 1909.