Black cinema has done far better than this. Even allowing for the constraints imposed by a low budget, there is very little here of entertainment value. The story lacks originality, the acting is stiff and self-conscious, the direction devoid of imagination. A half-dozen "specialty" acts are no better than passable; a very young Lena Horne had yet to develop her star qualities. The chorus girls' costumes looked suspiciously familiar (Warner Brothers?), and the two or three steps they learned for their routines have likewise been seen elsewhere. I hope the price of admission was cut-rate, too. Otherwise, the audience was short-changed.
Review of The Duke Is Tops
