Lucky Ghost
Director: William Beaudine
Year: 1942
Rating: 7.0
After Mr.
Washington Goes to Town, Dixie National Productions followed it up with the
even better Lucky Ghost. Using three of the same actors, this is consistently
funny and clever. Both films were directed by William Beaudine who had a
remarkable if not well-known career. He began back in 1915 with silent shorts
and when talkies came along he proved proficient at mid to low budget films.
In total he has over 400 credits as a director - his last being for episodes
of the Green Hornet in 1967. The Bowery Boys, Torchy Blane, Charlie Chan,
the Royal Mountie film series, the Gas House Kids, Philo Vance and so many
more were directed by Beaudine - by the early 1940s his career and income
had slipped enough that he took on a few Race films with an all-black cast.
It must have gotten him ready for the antics of the Bowery Boys.
Mantan Moreland and F.E. Miller are on the
road having just gotten out of jail. The judge told them to get out of town
and keep walking. Which they have taken literally for four days now. "Why
do we keep going past towns named Goslow" asks Mantan - that is "Go Slow"
you idiot. Mantan begins moaning about being hungry and Miller tells him
he needs more soul - to which Mantan shows him the holes in the bottom of
his shoes and says, that's for sure. There is a lot of comic patter routines
in the film and a lot of dice shaking. An expensive car runs out of gas and
the chauffer is sent to get some. Mantan entices them into a game of dice
and the next thing we know, the chauffer is driving them. They stop off at
a nightclub to finally eat - they each get a whole chicken. The club is run
by Maceo Bruce Sheffield, who was the villain in Mr. Washington and is here
as well.
The club is filled with upscale black patrons,
beautiful waitresses, a stunning hat check girl (Ida Coffin - whose son had
a hit with the song Harlem Shuffle) and the Lorenza Flennoy and His Chocolate
Drops jazz band. I wonder if that is where the Carolina Chocolate Drops with
the wonderful Rhiannon Giddens got their name from. There is also the seductive
hostess (Florence O'Brien) that has Mantan in a swoon for. "How is Mr. Hostess
and all the little hostesses doing?". She sings If Anybody Cares and then
she and Mantan engage in a happy dance much to the displeasure of Maceo.
He wants to beat up Mantan, but she tells him that he has a wad of cash -
so get him into the dice room. Five minutes of watching Mantan roll the dice
and huff and puff is delightful. He soon owns the House. And the Hostess.
Then for reasons unknown, they decide to haunt the place with ghosts and
Mantan does his classic eye bulging routine. This is just funny and it is
fascinating 80 years later to see how blacks at the time portrayed themselves.
60 minutes. A murky version up on YouTube..