September 1940: Up in the Air

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:

PosterVotesRatingMovie
sc-tt0032324.jpg11617.6Charlie Chan at the Wax Museum
sc-tt0033253.jpg37877.5The Westerner
sc-tt0032342.jpg16567.3City for Conquest
sc-tt0033110.jpg10227.0Strike Up the Band
sc-tt0033144.jpg4436.9That Gang of Mine
sc-tt0032596.jpg2796.8Hired Wife
sc-tt0033095.jpg2126.8Spring Parade
sc-tt0032414.jpg2206.5Dr. Kildare Goes Home
sc-tt0032846.jpg6256.4No Time for Comedy
sc-tt0032612.jpg8366.2The Howards of Virginia

This blog post is part of the Decade series.

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