Customer Reviews

Boy! What a Girl!

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

When I read the back cover of this DVD, I knew there was something special here. Big Sid Catlett, Gene Krupa, Jitterbug dancing and Tim (the Kingfish) Moore as a female impersonator! It exceeded my expections. The comedy is funny and the musical numbers are a revelation. One minor disapointment was that the drum solos from Sid Catlett and Gene Krupa were dubbed. Otherwise, the music is great (The Slam Stewart Trio, Deek Watson and the Brown Dots, the Harlemaniacs and the two lead actresses who each sing a number). Granted, this is a low budget film, but the energy of the performers makes up for it. Recommended for those seeking obscure performers or bizarre comedy.

As a fan of early black cinema, I was really looking forward to this one. Man, this thing is WEIRD!

The Plusses are considerable. The underrated comedy team of Patterson and Jackson (sort of a Black Abbott and Costello) are in pretty good form as the grumpy (and illiterate) landlord and a show promoter. But they are seen to better advantage doing their actual song and comeduy act in "Killer Diller" three years later. Slam Stewart (best remembered for the song "Flat Foot Floogie") does some really creative and enjoyable bass playing. Derek Watson and his Brown Dots do some entertaining pre-doo-wop harmony with a bit of comedy thrown in, and the Harlemaniac dancers do some wild (but all too breif) jitterbugging. Oh yeah, Gene Krupa makes what amounts to a cameo when he joins the rent party to do a VERY brief drum solo.

ON THE OTHER HAND- Those who are familiar with a lot of black films from this era know that while the music, comedy and dancing are usually above par, the acting is often abysmal and it is certainly true here. Tim Moore, Redd Foxx's mentor and the legendary "King Fish" from the Amos & Andy comedies, is not put to good use at all here. He plays a bizarre cross dresser named "Madame Deborah." This is actually closer to Ed Wood's "Glen or Glenda" than Milton Berle, Flip Wilson's "Geraldine" or Eddie Murphy's "Rasputia" as the King Fish plays a man who knowlingly impersonates a woman.

I have never been fond of drag acts, and to see the beloved "King Fish" in this fashion is REALLY creepy (he was then in his late fifties). He knowingly flirts with men and there are double entenre gags about his going "both ways" and having a nice "rear view." One wonders how this got past the censors in 1946 and how it was received at the time, as it is now quite repulsive to many viewers today. The sight of the aging King fish dancing around in a blonde wig and a tutu smoking a cigar and flirting with men will make many viewers hold their stomachs and run for the Pepto Bismol.

I would agree with some other viewers that the King fish was better off in the Amos and Andy comedies and even in his previous screen effort, 1931's DARKTOWN REVIEW where he did a vaudeville comedy skit. This film was not his finest moment.

After you see this once, you may want to occasionally check out the jitterbugging sequence or the nice jazz performances, but that aside, it was no landmark in early black movies and is better rented or checked out from the library than bought.

Fans of Tim Moore will be disappointed to watch a wierd "drag" act drag on for over one hour - the great comic actor does alot of mugging, though his timing and occasional funny line helps out.

The plot doesn't really matter - something about Moore (aka "Lady Deborah") doing his stage act so as to stall a entrepreneur/investor long enough for the real, wealthy, worldly woman to arrive to deliver 50% of the support of the new show, "Rent Party". (Should have been the movie title!).

Movie appears to be filmed in Harlem in 1945 and this works, although there's a certain claustrophobia at play. A rooming house is the setting for the craziness, a real "rent party", with good jazz bands, great dancers, and a classical pianist, as the centerpiece.

Gene Krupa makes a cameo.

The script is on the grade school level and barely coherent. The acting is junior high quality at best. And what little music there is in the film is of minimal quality, featuring lousy imitations of the Mills Brothers, the Ink Spots, and Louis Armstrong. The appearance of Gene Krupa, lasting about a minute, does not enhance the quality of the film at all. My guess is that this film, designed for black movie theaters, was shot in a day or two. Poor Tim Moore. I'm discarding my DVD copy.

I must agree with the person who gave this pitiful film one star. Awful is putting it mildly. Yes, the dance scenes and singing were superb but as far as the overall acting and plot is concerned, the film is "sorry" to say the least. If you want to see vintage, Tim Moore, order the Amos'N'Andy DVD. Now that's great writing and acting! Tim (Kingfish) Moore and Spencer Williams (Andy) along with the rest of the cast (Saphire, Momma, Algonquin J. Calhoon esq, Amos, Lightin', Leroy, etc.)are excellent! You might also want to order "Amos 'N' Andy: Anatomy of a Controversy" to see just why the series was pulled from network TV!