Boarding House Blues (1948), 7+

Tenants of a Harlem boarding house put on a show to save their home.
1h 30min | Musical | September 1948
Director: Josh Binney
Stars: Moms Mabley, Dusty Fletcher, Marcellus Wilson

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0040176/
Available online; that print is as good or better than the dvd I have.

As is typical of other race films I've seen, the non-musical audio is scratchy.

In the Tap! Appendix for Berry Brothers, Stump and Stumpy.

8 songs listed in the Soundtracks; I believe several are missing.

The film is divided into 2 major segments: plot/story, and performance. The performances are the treasure here, and occupy more than half the film.

Also, for people who remember Moms Mabley as an elderly talk/variety show guest in the 60's and 70's, this 15-20 year look back is eye opening. When she performs in the show, she wears the same baggy costume & hat as I remember on the talk shows.

Only 2 of the 3 Berry Brothers appear: Warren and Nyas (per IMDb; I didn't compare onscreen credits). But I knew them right away. They're in a much smaller space than in mainstream films, and with only 2 of them their act is not so spectacular. But their performance is very welcome.

Stump and Stumpy were also recognizable to me. I felt their routine here missed an element of surprise I'd enjoyed elsewhere when only Stumpy (shorter) danced in the beginning of the act, making it seem that Stump was just there for comedy. Then they did some non-trivial dancing in unison, and it was delightful. Here they both dance a bit early on. Much of their routine is familiar, just the sequence is scrambled. Good to see them again.

link to source

An important performance is the one-legged dancing of 'Crip' Heard. According to the Wikipedia article on him, he started dancing at 13, lost his right arm & leg in late teens or early twenties in a car vs. train accident (he was in the car). He's very graceful, impeccably dressed (see photo), and has better balance in motion than standing still without his crutch. (There's another famous one-legged dancer, Peg Leg Bates, whom I don't remember seeing in action.) 'Crip' is the lead-off act in the film; here it is online:https://youtu.be/l2IdUlCWsT8?t=2440

Another duo dance a bit: Lewis and White, but mostly they are comics.

We get plenty of singing and band playing too.

This deserves rescue from public domain, but who knows if a decent print exists out there, much less whether someone would be willing to go the extra mile to restore/preserve the film.

All-American Pictures, dir. Binney; 7+