1h | Drama, Music | 7 October 1942
Director: Bernard B. Ray
Stars: Clarence Muse, Sybil Lewis, William Washington
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0135173/
Watched online; dark, blurry.
On 31 May 2014 I watched five films, three 6s and two 7s. I have no idea why this was a 7. Makes me wonder if I watched something else and rated this accidentally.
This is typical of race films I've watched: dull script/sets, bad/mediocre acting/direction, and the painful silence between songs like films of the early 30s.
I was hoping for more from Clarence Muse. The problems portrayed here are those of the middle-class, as usual for race films (but atypical of his roles in mainstream films). This is the teen years of The Jazz Singer, but for violin not voice. CM plays a rightfully bitter man who is cruel to his child and his students, and experiences a miraculous cure out of nowhere to finish the film.
The song most frequently played is Humoresque, which I dislike. I don't want to watch CM's character, I don't care what happens to him, and I wince for his victims. I'll stop short of calling this a 4, but I hope I don't watch it again; or if I do, that my reaction is better.
Goldport Productions, L.C. Borden Productions, dir. Ray; 5-
