Moon Over Harlem (1939)

User Rating:

4.5/10   

Director:

Edgar G. Ulmer

Writers:

Mathew Mathews (story)
Shirley Ulmer (screenplay)

Genre:

Crime | Musical | Romance

Tagline:

Powerful drama... Ripped from the heart of harlem!

Plot Keywords:

Life Insurance | Job Seeking | Male Female Relationship | Choir | New York City

Cast

Buddy Harris	...	Dollar Bill (as Bud Harris)
Cora Green	...	Minnie
Izinetta Wilcox	...	Sue
Earl Gough	...	Bob
Zerita Steptean	...	Jackie (as Zerita Stepteau)
Petrina Moore	...	Alice
Daphne Fray	...	Pat
Mercedes Gilbert	...	Jackie's mother
Frances Harrod	...	Maud
Alec Lovejoy	...	Fats
Walter Richardson	...	Brother Hornsby
Slim Thompson	...	Long-Boy
Freddie Robinson	...	Half-Pint
John Bunn	...	Wallstreet
Marieluise Bechet	...	Nina Mae Brown

Runtime:

69 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Variray Blue Seal Recording)

Certification:

USA:Not Rated | USA:TV-PG (TV rating)

Filming Locations:

Meteor Studios, New Jersey, USA

Company:

Meteor Productions

Trivia:

To shoot this film on such a low budget, Edgar G. Ulmer shot this feature in 16mm using "short ends" (unexposed film at the end of a reel that was unused by the original purchaser).

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Keepers of the Frame (1999)

Soundtrack:

Stand Together Children

Moon Over Harlem marks Edgar G. Ulmer's rare foray into "race movies"

From director Edgar G. Ulmer came this, his rare foray in "race movies", Moon Over Harlem. The story, about a rich widow who unknowingly marries a gangster to the consternation of her daughter, is the kind that already seemed old hat in 1939, though Ulmer does the best he could under the circumstances with the low budget and a short schedule of only four days. The best one could say about the results is that the dialogue does keep flowing and the score mostly keeps playing. Too bad someone didn't try to keep the movie preserved enough to maybe clean up some of the wear on both the soundtrack and print. All that said, the performances of Buddy Harris as mob boss Dollar Bill, Cora Green as new wife Minnie, Izinetta Wilcox as daughter Sue who also provides a nice singing voice, and Earl Gough as Sue's crusading boyfriend Bob are pretty good despite their limited rehearsal time. And it's nice to see jazz legends like Christopher Columbus and New Orleans native Sidney Bechet perform here during the wedding reception. I was also slightly amused by Freddie Robinson as Half-Pint. Also, if I didn't read the cast list here on IMDb, I wouldn't have recognized Jacksonville, FL, native Mercedes Gilbert, who I previously saw in Oscar Micheaux's Body and Soul, in this movie. In summation, Moon Over Harlem is uneven as drama but should be interesting enough for anyone curious about these old movies made for a certain segment of the United States who were being treated as second-class citizens at this time.