All-American News, 1948
Starring Jackie "Moms" Mabley, Dusty Fletcher, Marcellus Wilson, and Marie Cooke
Directed by Josh Binney
Music and Lyrics by various
This is the first of several musicals I'll be doing over the next few weeks to celebrate Black History Month. I enjoyed the B "race market" musical I reviewed last year The Duke Is Tops so much, I thought I'd give a later film a shot. Like Duke, this one also features an actor who became well-known later. Jackie "Moms" Mabley is today best known for her racy comedy albums and stand-up routines in the 60's and 70's. She got her start in vaudeville in the 20's, and by the 40's made regular appearances in B films like this one. Let's head to a boarding house in Harlem to see how well she does in a feature-length movie...
The Story: Moms runs a boarding house for performers and former vaudevillians like herself. Most of her lodgers, like Dusty (Dusty Fletcher) and Boo Boo (Sidney Easton) aren't doing so well and can't pay their rent...and now Moms can't pay the rent for the building. Repossession men first try to take Moms' piano, but the boarders head him off by inviting him to lunch and telling him it's a sleeping boarder. Things get even worse when the landlord threatens to evict everyone if Moms can't come up with the rent today. Pretty newcomer Lila (Cooke) tells him she'll marry him in 24 hours to give them more time. They finally bring together a barrage of black talent, including Moms herself, to keep the boarding house from going under.
The Song and Dance: A few good gags liven the first half of the film, mostly slapstick from the various boarders trying to avoid paying rent or running out, or stuttering repossession men who are easily swayed by the promise of rabbit stew. The real interest is in the second half. There's a barrage of unique black talent you won't see too many other places, including an early glimpse at Moms' act and the amazing one-legged man who shows off some pretty darn sweet moves.
Favorite Number: The first number at the stage show must be seen to be believed. One-legged, one-armed "Crip" Heard does a darn nice dance despite only having one foot to perform on. The Berry Brothers perform the standard "You'll Never Know" between jokes and teasing each other. Stump and Stumpy were apparently a popular duo from the 30's through the 50's; here, they show why "We've Got Rhythm to Spare" when Stump has to deal with his goofy drunk buddy Stumpy. Singer Una Mae Carlisle gets two numbers, accompanying herself on the piano; of her two songs, I preferred the more uptempo "It Ain't Like That." Of the three orchestra numbers, my favorite is the dreamy ballad "We Slumber."
What I Don't Like: Even more than Duke Is Tops, the B-movie origins show plainly. The sets are limited to Mom's house and the theater, and costumes are nothing fancy. There's not even an attempt at chorus numbers this time - it's duos, solos, and an orchestra. Doesn't help that the copy at Tubi is terrible, washed out and sometimes hard to watch. Someone needs to take a crack at restoring this bit of African-American history. And if Cooke's character is supposed to be a singer, why doesn't she have a number?
The Big Finale: Not the strongest story in the world, but if you're a fan of Mabley or any of the performers here, or you're interested in the "race" movies of the 30's, 40's, and early 50's, you'll want to check this one out for the rare acts alone.
Home Media: It's in the public domain, so it's fairly easy to find on disc and streaming (though as mentioned, the copy isn't great).
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