The Devil's Daughter (1939) User Reviews

Authentic Jamaican locations give the film interest

[kidboots · 3/10 · 8 September 2008]

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.

Nina Mae McKinney in Jamaica

[wes-connors · 2/10 · 1 March 2009]

"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

Lightweight Blacks Only Movie

[Hitchcoc · 3/10 · 27 February 2007]

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.

Not enough scenes of Nina Mae McKinney, the leading lady. I suspect they were lost during post-production and editing.

[machineel · 23 May 2006]

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.

Yes, folks, the movie sucks....

[planktonrules · 1/10 · 1 March 2011]

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.

Interesting as a Gimmick, But Poor on the Horror

[gavin6942 · 3/10 · 31 December 2008]

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.

One of the worst films I have ever seen.

[rcslone5 · 1/10 · 8 June 2009]

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.

The Devil's Daughter review

[JoeytheBrit · 3/10 · 20 April 2020]

The half-sister of a woman who has inherited the banana plantation she manages resorts to voodoo in an attempt to drive her off the island. A cheap all-black remake of the equally low-budget 1936 horror movie Ouanga. Considering it was presumably intended for a black audience, it's something of a surprise that the comic relief, who believes his soul has been put in a piglet, is such a jive-talking stereotype. The acting is beyond awful, and the direction hamfisted, but it's horribly watchable.

Blood Is Thicker Than Water.

[meddlecore · 3/10 · 18 October 2021]

When an American woman- and her right hand man- return to Jamaica, so she can take over a plantation she has inherited...her sister- and her right hand woman- concoct a plan to try and scare her back to the US with some fake voodoo...so that they can keep the plantation for themselves.

The two Americans are extremely superstitious.

Thus, her sister- who has been running the plantation in her absence- plans to exploit this knowledge to run them out of town.

Because the man she is in love with, now has eyes for her younger American sister, on top of everything else.

So, having lost the base for all her future plans...and her man...she's understandably out for vengeance.

And there's only one way to get that...

...VOODOO...errr, well...OBEAH!!!

If only there was, like, a white saviour to save the soul of the poor black girl he loves from being handed over to the devil...

...Oh...FFS...

This was released by Sack Entertainment, which would put out films with mainly black casts, for cinemas that would cater to black audiences.

That being said, however...it's still pretty racist.

You can just tell that behind the scenes somewhere there's a rich white dude pulling the strings.

Aside from that, the film is bookended with musical parts...and is pretty slow paced in between.

It's not a horrible film.

It's just that nothing particularly memorable happens, other than the voodoo ceremony at the end, which has an almost ethnographic nanook style documentary quality to it.

The whole love triangle angle seems to have been forced to extend the length to near an hour, which it is just under.

Because it doesn't really fit with the rest of the film.

The sister does all that, just to give in at the end?

I guess...

In the end, blood is thicker than water (and we're left with a little chuckle).

Which, I think, is the moral of this story.

An interesting time capsule, but not a particularly memorable film.

3.5 out of 10.

A Half-Sister with Haitian Blood and Evil Intent

[Uriah43 · 3/10 · 29 August 2022]

This rather unique film begins with a young woman by the name of "Sylvia Walton" (Ida James) returning to Jamaica after being gone for most of her adult life to take possession of a banana plantation bequeathed to her from her father. However, rather than being warmly greeted upon her return, she soon learns that her half-sister "Isabelle Walton" (Nina Mae McKinney) has left the estate and gone off into the jungle to live. Naturally, this fills her with a great deal of sadness, but what she doesn't know is that both her overseer "Philip Ramsey" (Jack Carter) and Isabelle are conspiring against her in order to gain possession of the plantation for themselves. Now, as I stated earlier, this film was rather unique in that it consisted of an all-black cast and was basically targeted for black audiences. Obviously, considering that there were so few roles available for black actors during this time, it stands to reason that some of them would take whatever opportunities they could get. What disturbs me, however, was the flagrant use of racial stereotypes depicted in this movie which demeaned both the actors involved and the target audience combined. And if that wasn't bad enough, the low-budget nature of this film made everything seem even more cheap and tawdry. That being said, I don't consider this to be a good movie by any means and I have rated it accordingly. Below average.

Substandard romantic melodrama with some (very) slight horror/voodoo content.

[capkronos · 3/10 · 19 April 2009]

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.

Nina Mae McKinney is #1

[msladysoul · 9/10 · 29 July 2002]

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.

This is no ordinary pig

[Chase_Witherspoon · 3/10 · 23 July 2012]

One of the Sack films made in the late thirties featuring an all 'coloured' cast. McKinney stars as a young woman running a plantation with grand plans to lure the man with whom she's been enamoured since childhood (Wallace), when the return of her half-sister (and lawful owner of the plantation) threatens to derail her intentions. She resorts to black magic in an attempt to secure her interests.

While generally the acting is pretty reasonable, all things considered, it's Harrington and Lang who seem the most capable; Harrington as a grinning Harlem hustler whose soul is supposedly transported into a pig via voodoo (for redemption), and Lang as his local partner in crime, both trying to track down his missing 'soul' after the pig is mistakenly roasted and eaten. This is not a comedy.

Amateurish (note the background changes in different angles of the long car ride between James and Wallace, and the camera-glances from extras), and totally devoid of anything except melodrama, there's about 46 minutes of an actual plot, and a further 5 minutes featuring some exotic dancing and the obligatory credits. Little to entertain, with a rushed (anti) climax and ultra-convenient fair-weather conclusion, but obviously significant in its temporal and racial context and certainly not among the world's worst movies to witness.

Poor Race Film

[Michael_Elliott · 12 March 2008]

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.

The Devil's Daughter was an underwhelming "race" movie starring Nina Mae McKinney

[tavm · 3/10 · 22 March 2019]

This is yet another of those "race" movies Nina Mae McKinney made during her lifetime. In this one, she's on an island practicing voodoo. I'll just now say that the all-black cast don't seem all that enthused with the dialogue they had to recite but I'm guessing there wasn't enough in the budget for retakes. I mean despite a cockfight, horse races, a fistfight (done in such an unconvincing manner), and voodoo ceremony, this is a very unexciting movie. There are some entertaining dances but that seems to be it. The version I watched on YouTube was only 51 minutes but it seems something was cut out. So, other than Ms. McKinney's presence, The Devil's Daughter doesn't have much to recommend it.