The Duke is Tops
Director: William Nolte/Ralph Cooper
Year: 1938
Rating: 5.0
For the most part blacks were excluded from Hollywood films (unless playing
maids, butlers and comic relief) until the late 1950's and 60's when actors
like Sidney Poitier, Bill Cosby and a few others began to break through the
color line. But during this time a parallel film industry was created with
black casts marketed to black audiences. These were termed "race films" and
some 500 of them are estimated to have been produced though only about 100
still exist - often in pretty bad condition. These did not have big money
behind them and were shot cheaply but they covered many topics and genres.
Some of the bigger names in this industry was Oscar Micheaux, Spencer Williams
(who later on was Andy in the Andy and Amos Show) and the star of this film,
Ralph Cooper.
Cooper was an actor (called "the dark Gable" for his looks and charm), director
and producer. Later in his life he became the Master of Ceremony at the Apollo
Theater for decades. He is very mellow and attractive in this film. Co-starring
with him in her film debut was a very unknown singer at the time who had
been singing professionally since she was 16 in the Cotton Club and other
establishments. She was 21 when she made this film. Lena Horne. Five years
later she would hit stardom with her rendition of Stormy Weather in the film
of the same name. Cabin in the Sky soon followed - both produced by 20th
Century Fox that showed change was happening - but not quickly - both of
those films had nearly all blacks casts. Lena was never given much opportunity
to act in mainstream productions other than the occasional item number.
The Duke is Tops is basically a vehicle for music and laughs. The plot is
simple enough - Lena is a star in a vaudeville show produced by Cooper called
Sepia Scandals which was billed in what was called the Chitlin' Circuit -
places that allowed black acts to perform for black audiences. She ends up
going to Broadway to cross over and fails and goes back to Cooper who loves
her. But there is a lot of music by various acts - none of which I knew other
than Lena - acts that you are never likely to see such as The Basin Street
Boys, Rubberneck Holmes, Cats and the Fiddle and others. It is like taking
out a telescope and looking into the past at a cultural aspect that was invisible
to much of America and is forgotten now.
This is up on Youtube and is in quite good condition.