The story is almost a carbon copy of what was being churned out by the cart load in Hollywood studios in the 1920s - the big difference was that the story was filled out and translated into a scene of black American life. It was produced by The Colored Film Players Corporation of Philadelphia and was partly shot on location in the surrounding suburbs but most interesting, it attempted to show the hopes, fears and aspirations of middle class Afro American life. There is adultery, attempted rape, attempted murder and a prison break but more than that it is a study of class and caste among people who are determined to be respectable. As was usual in those times, morality was determined by colour - the "good" people in the movie are light skinned and the "bad" have dark complexions.
When idealistic young Alvin Hillyard (Harry Henderson) rescues drudge Louise (Lucia Lynn Moses) from her brutal stepfather, he seeks to introduce her to the finer things of life like fine music, good books etc and Louise, who has her own day dreams while scrubbing over a tub, is eager to leave her crude life behind. Louise's beauty makes her a magnet for boarding house low life, Eddie, and Alvin finds himself involved in yet another scuffle so he decides to marry her himself. It's obvious there is no love and he marries her out of pity (sadly symbolized when he accidentally walks on her black baby doll). Three months on and Louise has still not met his family and the reason is clear in a letter written by Alvin's mother where she praises a certain young girl by calling her a "young lady" and adding she is really "one of our set" - yes, class consciousness in black society was alive and well in the 1920s!!
Meanwhile Eddie and her stepfather hatch a plan to get her away from Alvin and to put her into a cabaret so they can "clean up" and they rely on the snobbishness of Alvin and his class driven family to help their plan to succeed. There are a number of slang terms dotted throughout the movie - "jump steady"(rotten liquor), "hot puppy" (endearment) and "licker ticket"(someone who is supposed to keep a person supplied with alcohol). Alvin rushes back but Louise, who has found out that he has not informed his mother about his marriage, is more than willing to join in Eddie's scheme.The day ends in a shoot out with Alvin receiving 2 years prison time on the strength of Louise's emotional testimony. Two years later finds Louise, living out her old day dreams, now part of the smart set and finding the high flying rich easy to fleece - with Eddie's teaching!!
Unfortunately there is no fairytale ending with the moral of the film implying that in 1920s black society, to find lasting happiness (as Alvin is destined to find with Alice, one of his "own set") people have to stick to their own caste and with the death of Louise, who found it impossible to find contentment in a society where class is a matter of degrees of colour as well as education and riches. The movie was a breakthrough as part of the "Harlem Renaissance" movement although for me it was astonishing that the superbly talented Lucia Lynn Moses (who does actually look like Clara Bow) had only this movie credited to her. Apparently she was contracted to the Cotton Club and had to commute back and forth during the making of this movie. This film also strives to show the different ways to escape the ghetto existence, whether by the higher sphere of music and culture or by the lower methods of dupe and trickery.
I was just amazed by how high the quality was of this film was compared to some of the early sound race movies of Oscar Micheaux but apparently companies that financed black features were always on a tight budget and the increased cost involved with sound recording meant even more cutbacks, so early sound features suffered as a result.
When idealistic young Alvin Hillyard (Harry Henderson) rescues drudge Louise (Lucia Lynn Moses) from her brutal stepfather, he seeks to introduce her to the finer things of life like fine music, good books etc and Louise, who has her own day dreams while scrubbing over a tub, is eager to leave her crude life behind. Louise's beauty makes her a magnet for boarding house low life, Eddie, and Alvin finds himself involved in yet another scuffle so he decides to marry her himself. It's obvious there is no love and he marries her out of pity (sadly symbolized when he accidentally walks on her black baby doll). Three months on and Louise has still not met his family and the reason is clear in a letter written by Alvin's mother where she praises a certain young girl by calling her a "young lady" and adding she is really "one of our set" - yes, class consciousness in black society was alive and well in the 1920s!!
Meanwhile Eddie and her stepfather hatch a plan to get her away from Alvin and to put her into a cabaret so they can "clean up" and they rely on the snobbishness of Alvin and his class driven family to help their plan to succeed. There are a number of slang terms dotted throughout the movie - "jump steady"(rotten liquor), "hot puppy" (endearment) and "licker ticket"(someone who is supposed to keep a person supplied with alcohol). Alvin rushes back but Louise, who has found out that he has not informed his mother about his marriage, is more than willing to join in Eddie's scheme.The day ends in a shoot out with Alvin receiving 2 years prison time on the strength of Louise's emotional testimony. Two years later finds Louise, living out her old day dreams, now part of the smart set and finding the high flying rich easy to fleece - with Eddie's teaching!!
Unfortunately there is no fairytale ending with the moral of the film implying that in 1920s black society, to find lasting happiness (as Alvin is destined to find with Alice, one of his "own set") people have to stick to their own caste and with the death of Louise, who found it impossible to find contentment in a society where class is a matter of degrees of colour as well as education and riches. The movie was a breakthrough as part of the "Harlem Renaissance" movement although for me it was astonishing that the superbly talented Lucia Lynn Moses (who does actually look like Clara Bow) had only this movie credited to her. Apparently she was contracted to the Cotton Club and had to commute back and forth during the making of this movie. This film also strives to show the different ways to escape the ghetto existence, whether by the higher sphere of music and culture or by the lower methods of dupe and trickery.
I was just amazed by how high the quality was of this film was compared to some of the early sound race movies of Oscar Micheaux but apparently companies that financed black features were always on a tight budget and the increased cost involved with sound recording meant even more cutbacks, so early sound features suffered as a result.