Up in the Air. Howard Bretherton. 1940.
This is the first film from the 25 DVD/50 movie musicals box I’ve seen. I was expecting horrid audio and video quality, but this isn’t so bad… the sound is a bit scratchy.
It a very simple (presumably low-budget) film about musical film-makers favourite subject: Performers putting on a show.
Some parts are probably somewhat offensive, like the very er “naive” black guy and the blackface bits. On the other hand, there’s a black guy in here (and in a major role), which makes a change.
Hm… Oh! This is one of seven films in this genre featuring two main characters called Frankie and Jeff, played by Frankie Darro and Mantan Moreland, but it’s not a series as such…
This is an enjoyable, brief little film, but it’s not exactly… good, either.
Popular movies in September 1940 according to IMDB:
| Poster | Votes | Rating | Movie |
|---|---|---|---|
 | 1161 | 7.6 | Charlie Chan at the Wax Museum |
 | 3787 | 7.5 | The Westerner |
 | 1656 | 7.3 | City for Conquest |
 | 1022 | 7.0 | Strike Up the Band |
 | 443 | 6.9 | That Gang of Mine |
 | 279 | 6.8 | Hired Wife |
 | 212 | 6.8 | Spring Parade |
 | 220 | 6.5 | Dr. Kildare Goes Home |
 | 625 | 6.4 | No Time for Comedy |
 | 836 | 6.2 | The Howards of Virginia |
This blog post is part of the Decade series.