FilmFanatic.org

Synopsis:
A young schoolteacher (Star Calloway) falls in love with a secret service agent (Carl Mahon) who tries to prove that a singer (Eunice Brooks) has been falsely accused of murder.

• African-Americans
• Falsely Accused
• Musical
• Romance

Response to Peary’s Review:
As Peary notes, “everyone should see at least one film by the notorious Oscar Micheaux — the most prolific black director of all time, and “arguably the worst.” Peary’s seemingly random Micheaux selection for his book — 1932’s The Girl From Chicago — is indeed dreadful: heads and other body parts are routinely cut out of the frame; the musical interludes are boring; the storyline holds little interest; and, as Peary notes, “the acting by the light-skinned blacks is wretched.” With that said, however, this and other Micheaux films are notable for having all-black casts at a time when Hollywood films were literally dominated by white actors.

P.S. As a teenager, I remember going to the California African American Museum in Los Angeles and sitting through a screening of one or two of Micheaux’s films. While I (naturally) can’t remember anything about the insipid plots, my primary memory is of being confused by the presence of “white” actors in what I knew was supposed to be an “all-black” cast. Only later did I realize that even the slightest hint of African heritage was enough to classify one as a “black” actor — a hypocritical distinction which points out the continuing absurdity of arbitrary racial divisions.

Redeeming Qualities and Moments:

• A representative film by the most-prolific black director of all time

Must See?
Perhaps. As Peary notes, every film fanatic should see at least one film by Micheaux, but it doesn’t necessarily need to be this one.

Categories

• Important Director
• Representative Film

Links:

• IMDb entry
• MRQE (Movie Review Query Engine)
• Ozus World Movie Reviews