Gang Smashers

Greetings & Salutations! Mantan Moreland (1902-1973) certainly saved this motion picture and for that alone deserves his own star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, but, wait, he also saved most of the 134 films in the 40 years of working in front of the camera! In 1941 he appeared in "Ellery Queen's Penthouse Mystery," "Sign of the Wolf," "King of the Zombies," and sixteen more films that year. No doubt it is understandable why his films on VHS and DVD are so sought after!

This is one of Nina Mae McKinney's best movies. This movie would remind you of a Warner Bros. type movie of the late 1930s or early 1940s. Humphrey Bogart, James Cagney, Ann Sheridan type movie, crime/drama. Monte Hawley, Laurence Criner, and Ann Sheridan keeps this movie on its feet. They surely look like the Humphrey Bogart, James Cagney, Edward G. Robinson, and Ann Sheridan. Nina Mae would remind of Ann Sheridan, tough, sneaky, fiesty, sassy, and funny. This movie is about a undercover police woman who poses as a nighclub entertainer to catch the main man behind the racketeers going on around Harlem. In the meanwhile two men are falling for her. For being a 60 min movie, its very jam-packed and filled with drama, great acting, great entertainment and music from the great Harlem days. Nina Mae McKinney steals this movie, she shows her singing talents, comedy and sense of humor, and all in all her great acting that won our hearts when she was in Hallelujah. Independent Black Movies were the only way Blacks could be in movies, some of the filming and sound wasn't good but its worth watching. But this film is good, it matters where you get it though. These blacks were great actors, actresses, entertainers, and comedians, these films were the only way to show their stuff. Hollywood couldn't handle Blacks, I guess they knew it would give the white people a run for their money. Well, if you can get this movie you won't be sorry, I been looking for this for a year, and it was worth it. Nina Mae McKinney surely has the acting talents of a Clara Bow, Greta Garbo, and Ann Sheridan. But she's in a class of her own for sure.

Nina Mae McKinney is a singer at Laurence Criner's night club. She's also a police woman working undercover to get evidence on Criner, who runs a protection racket and occasionally kills people who tells him know. Things heat up when Monte Hawley, a button man from out of town shows up to handle the growing work load. He tells Criner his operation is sloppy and he won't risk working for him unless things are better run.

It's a race film directed and produced by Leo Popkin -- best remembered as the producer of D.O.A.. It's a pretty good one, with a well-written story, good production values, nice cinematography by B veteran cameraman Robert Cline. Miss McKinney sings three songs, there's a good eccentric tap dancer and Mantan Moreland. Over all, it's on the level of one of the better minors -- Grand National, say.

On the down side, while the physical acting is pretty good, some of the line readings are a bit off. I suspect that was due to most of the cast being live performers, unused to to the camera; Popkin likely had neither the budget or experience to direct the performances better. Movies like this were never going to play the big White houses, only the ones that catered to a Black clientele.

Still, the novelty numbers are excellent and it's nice to see the Black actors playing all sorts of roles.