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6 out of 8 people found the following review useful:
Not enough scenes of Nina Mae McKinney, the leading lady. I suspect they were lost during post-production and editing., 23 May 2006
Author: machineel

The film was apparently made in Jamaica with some beautiful musical sequences with singing and dancing that complement the simple story. There had to be a good budget to film that and pay top money to the world famous star. It drags in parts, though, with boring unnecessary speeches that over explain the plot, EXCEPT the few exquisite scenes with Nina Mae McKinney: there should have been more closeups of her, her screen presence is hypnotic! You only watch her, even when the other actors are talking you are drawn to her face to see her reactions! A beautiful love theme was under-recorded and is barely audible at times. I suspect some additional minutes of footage were edited out or lost.

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4 out of 5 people found the following review useful:
Authentic Jamaican locations give the film interest, 8 September 2008

Author: kidboots from Australia

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

Nina Mae McKinney created an indelible impression in her debut film "Hallelujah" (1930) as Chick and if she had been a white woman her status as a film star would have been assured. But as a black actress she was destined to play roles such as native girls, servants or specialty spots in all star musicals that could be taken out for certain states. Occasionally she was in a prestigious film - "Saunders of the River" (1936) with Paul Robeson, but mostly the standard was like "The Devil's Daughter".

Featuring an all black cast and filmed in Jamaica, the story tells of Sylvia, a young woman from Harlem who comes to Jamaica to take control of a plantation after her half sister Isabel (Nina Mae McKinney) disappears. The overseer, Ramsey, who nobody likes, knows where Isabel is and together they hatch a plot. Sylvia is happy to share control of the plantation but Isabel wants it all for herself and she also wants John Lowden for herself as well. He has already confessed that he loves Sylvia. Isabel's mother was a Haitiian - which means Isabel is involved in Voodoo. She plans to drive Sylvia out of her mind with the pounding of drums and the constant chanting. She also plans to cast a spell that will result in Sylvia's death. But by the end everything is resolved - Isabel has said it was all a hoax and Sylvia was only heavily drugged.

The authentic Jamaican locations and seeing Nina Mae McKinney give the film an interest but there is not much else to recommend it.

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2 out of 3 people found the following review useful:
Yes, folks, the movie sucks...., 1 March 2011

Author: planktonrules from Bradenton, Florida

In the early days of cinema before movie theaters were integrated, black film patrons were eager for films about their community and with black actors. Sadly, however, the production companies making these films (such as Sack--which probably should have been called 'Suck') had minuscule budgets, very inexperienced actors and film makers and generally were quite substandard. While this was not always the case, most of these films I have seen are pretty bad--and considering what the film makers were up against you could certainly understand why. But what I cannot adequately understand is how some of these films ("The Devil's Daughter" is one of them at times) are amazingly racist when seen today--confirming some of white society's preconceptions at the time about the inferiority of blacks! In this particular film, the smart blacks who have good social standing are all lighter-skinned and the darker-skinned actors are often there for comic relief--much like the characters played by the likes of Steppin' Fetchit and Mantan Moreland. Plus the whole voodoo angle certainly is not a great image for black America! From a sociological and historical point of view, it IS very interesting. But it also makes this particular film age horribly...and rather sad.

A black lady from America inherits a family plantation in Jamaica and doesn't realize the dangers involved. There are voodoo practitioners and Haitians on the island who are in league with the devil! In many ways, this film is like the grandfather of later blaxsploitation films like "Sugar Hill" and "Blacula"--but with a much, much smaller budget. Can her incredibly light-skinned boyfriend save her or is she destined to join the side of evil? In the end, there is a surprise twist...not that anyone cares.

Is this a good film? Well, to put it bluntly, NOPE! The currently abysmal score on IMDb (placing it in the bottom 10 for all films from the 1930s) is well earned. Bad acting, scenes that should have been re-short but weren't (they probably could not afford additional film stock) and a dreary pace manage to sink this movie. For example, though the film is set in Haiti, not one person has a Jamaican or Creole (Haitian) accent. And, when the actors do talk, they often stumble over the words--and they sound like they are reading cue cards! Another sad example is the fist fight--it looked almost like it was done in slow motion--presumably because the actors were taking great care not to actually hurt each other! Plus too many scenes of people dancing, having cock fights (insert own tawdry joke) and the like really bog this film down to a crawl.

I'd say this film is even worse than many in the genre--including the somewhat unfairly maligned "Harlem on the Prairie" (the book "The 50 Worst Movies of All Time" considered the worst black production of this pre-integration era). Too much meaningless footage and dullness make this anything other than a curio--and you'd think voodoo and possession would at least be interesting! If you are curious about seeing it, it's on a DVD from Alpha Video (along with another terrible film "Chloe")--just be forewarned that the condition of the print, like many of Alpha's, is very, very poor.

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1 out of 2 people found the following review useful:
Nina Mae McKinney in Jamaica, 1 March 2009

Author: wes-connors from Earth

"A young woman inherits a Jamaican plantation and moves from Harlem to Jamaica in order to take control of the operation. Her half-sister, who was running the plantation, has disappeared thus leaving the woman to manage things on her own. Unbeknownst to the woman, her half-sister plots to use the local legends and superstitions to her advantage, in order to scare the woman off and take control of the plantation," according to the DVD sleeve's synopsis. A segregated production, with performers like Nina Mae McKinney (as Isabelle) capable of so much more...

** The Devil's Daughter (12/7/39) Arthur Leonard ~ Ida James, Nina Mae McKinney, Emmett Wallace

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0 out of 1 people found the following review useful:
Substandard romantic melodrama with some (very) slight horror/voodoo content., 19 April 2009

Author: capkronos (capkronos00@hotmail.com) from Ohio, USA

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

Sweet Harlem girl Sylvia Walton (Ida Smith) has just arrived in Jamaica to take over the family banana plantation after her half-sister Isabelle's (Nina Mae McKinney) disappearance. There she strikes the fancy of two men; upstanding John Lowden (Emmett Wallace) and shady Philip Ramsay (Jack Carter), and eventually finds out her jealous sibling is actually hiding out in the jungle plotting to get revenge. Isabelle doesn't want to be driven from her home. She wants the plantation all to herself, too. And she's especially upset that John - who she's been in love with since she a child - has fallen for Sylvia in the two weeks she's been there. Wanting revenge, Isabelle plots to use voodoo and some special herbal tea to either drive Sylvia away or, worst case scenario, kill her. For some comic relief (and help to pad out the scant run time), a silly subplot involving hustler and servant Percy (Hamtree Harrington) putting his soul into a piglet, has been tacked onto the film.

There's really not much positive to say about this low-budget cheapie from Sack Entertainment. Though filmed on location in Jamaica, the film lacks atmosphere. The script is also pretty bad, with a minimal plot line and bland dialogue, and most of the cast is amateurish. The notable except is McKinney, who gives a commanding performance as the bitter sibling. The climactic voodoo "blood dance" ceremony, which features a catchy song-and-dance number, was probably the highlight of the entire film for me personally. There's also a horse race, a cockfight and one of the most poorly choreographed fist fights you'll ever see. Apparently fifteen minutes are missing from the only available print of this film.

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1 out of 3 people found the following review useful:
Interesting as a Gimmick, But Poor on the Horror, 31 December 2008

Author: gavin6942 from United States

A young woman from Harlem inherits a Jamaican plantation, but has to contend with her half-sister for the rights. Unfortunately, the half-sister is involved in voodoo and is not afraid to use it for her own ends.

Nina Mae McKinney appears as the "star" of this production. While notable in her own day (as an actress, dancer and musician), McKinney has since faded into obscurity. Having now been dead over forty years, one would be hard-pressed to meet anyone who was knowledgeable of her work. I, for one, am not familiar with it beyond this picture.

"Devil's Daughter" should be noted for its all-black cast, though sadly the movie isn't particularly good. Without the printed summary on the case, I would likely have been lost. The cock fights drew my attention more than the human actors. Another reviewer compared this film to "White Zombie", favoring "Zombie". I agree -- as far as films about voodoo go, "White Zombie" is hard to top. This one does not come close.

One should certainly consider watching this film if they find it in their collection (I acquired it as part of a box set), but beyond that there's little reason to seek it out. I found the film bland and not able to stand the test of time. Which is too bad, but the sad truth.

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0 out of 2 people found the following review useful:
One of the worst films I have ever seen., 8 June 2009

Author: rcslone5 from United States

Cheap, low-budget all-black film about a woman returning to Jamaica to take control of her late father's plantation. Her half-sister plots against her in order to reclaim what she feels is rightfully hers.

I got this film in Mill Creek's 250 movie Horror Collection, but this really is not a horror film at all. There are some hints of the supernatural and voodoo, but this is mostly just a boring drama with a little comedy thrown in for good measure. There is only one white actor in the movie, as this film was targeted toward the black movie going population upon its release. One of the comedic characters is in particular offensive, being of the wide-eyed, scared of his own shadow type of black stereotype.

The acting in this film is down right horrible. The plot is dull and uninteresting and the film moves at a snails pace. It may only be 52 minutes long, but it goes on for an eternity. Even with the worst of films, I can usually find one good quality thing to say about it. This is one of the rare cases that I can not. Not even a so-bad-its-good type of film, you should avoid this borefest at all costs.

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1 out of 4 people found the following review useful:
Poor Race Film, 12 March 2008
Author: Michael_Elliott from Louisville, KY

Devil's Daughter, The (1939)

* (out of 4)

After her father's death, a woman (Ida James) returns to Jamaica to run his banana plantation but her stepsister (Nina Mae McKinney) wants her out of the way and is willing to use voodoo. Film buffs will be more attracted to this film rather than horror fans since McKinney was the star of 1929's Hallelujah. Unless you're interested in seeing a rare horror film with an all black cast then there's really nothing here. Very little horror and very little plot makes for a pretty boring film that actually manages to be slower than Dracula and White Zombie.

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6 out of 14 people found the following review useful:
Nina Mae McKinney is #1, 29 July 2002

Author: msladysoul (msladysoul@aol.com) from Michigan

Nina Mae McKinney always give a great performance in what she does, no matter if its little or a big role. This film could have added another hour or so. It was good, but wish it could of been more. But you'll love it. Nina Mae saves this film, if it wasn't for her, this film wouldn't of been much to look at.

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2 out of 7 people found the following review useful:
Lightweight Blacks Only Movie, 27 February 2007

Author: Hitchcoc from United States

I'm very curious about the early cinema featuring actors of color. This one doesn't have much to say. It's about a phony voodoo ritual in Jamaica. There's a plot by a woman to prevent her sister from taking property left to her when her father died. Nothing much happens and the plot is about as dull as can be. There are some stereotypes around, the silly, crap shooting black man who speaks in that dialect we find so offensive today. I guess if there is a positive about this film is that, given a chance, black directors and black actors of this time were as capable of making a clinker as a masterpiece. Obviously, as a period curiosity, this is worth a look, but if you put aside that perspective, it's not really much. The events that occur are so uninteresting and so harmless that most of the punch disappears. I bet some of these people were fine actors, but this doesn't let them show their stuff.

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