Harlem Rides the Range (1939)

A cowboy and his sidekick try to help a homesteader from being cheated out of his property.

Director:

Richard C. Kahn

Writers:

Spencer Williams (story) (as Spencer Williams Jr.), Spencer Williams (screenplay) (as Spencer Williams Jr.)

Stars:

Herb Jeffries, Lucius Brooks, F.E. Miller

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Herb Jeffries	...	Bob Blake (as Herbert Jeffrey)
Lucius Brooks	...	Dusty
F.E. Miller	...	Slim Perkins
Artie Young	...	Miss Dennison
Clarence Brooks	...	Bradley
Spencer Williams	...	Watson (as Spencer Williams Jr.)
Tom Southern	...	Connors
Leonard Christmas	...	Dennison
Wade Dumas	...	Sheriff
John Thomas	...	Cactus
The Four Tones	...	Singing Group
The Four Blackbirds	...	Singing Quartet

Storyline

Bradley is after Dennison's radium mine and it appears that his henchman Conners has killed him. When Blake arrives at Dennison's, Bradley and Conners arrive at the same time. When Blake leaves he drops a glove. Bradley kills Conners and uses the glove to frame Blake. Learning of Bradley's plan to kill Dennison's daughter, Blake escapes jail and sets out to reach her first.

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Plot Keywords:

radium mine | wrongful arrest | all black cast | murder | missing corpse | 

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Taglines:

Men Of Action Blaze A Trail Of Love And Lead As Law And Order Comes To The Old West!

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Genres:

Western

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Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

1 February 1939 (USA)

Filming Locations:

Sindewinder Vallley, Apple Valley, Californa, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Hollywood Pictures Corporation (I)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

56 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

This film was first shown on television Friday 1 December 1939 on New York City's pioneer, and still experimental television station W2XBS.

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Connections

Featured in Posse (1993)

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Soundtracks

I'm a Happy Cowboy
Sung over the credits and by Herb Jeffries and The Four Tones

User Reviews

I'm a Happy Cowboy

Routine '30s oater, notable only for having an all-black cast at a time when that was rare. The story is one you've seen a dozen times if you've watched enough B westerns from the period. Cowboys Herb Jeffries and Lucius Brooks stumble into a situation where a rancher is fighting to keep his ranch from being taken away from him by villains after radium or something. They decide to help the rancher, spurred on in no small part by the rancher's daughter one of them falls in love with. It's all very simple but not a bad way to pass an hour. There are a couple of songs, which are enjoyable in their corniness. The stunts are unimpressive and the acting fairly one-note. I will say that it is interesting to see black actors at the time being allowed to act 'normal,' rather than as put-on stereotypes like Willie Best or Mantan Moreland. The closest thing we get to that sort of thing here is Lucius Brooks' comic relief sidekick, but even that is restrained compared to what you would see in a mainstream film at the time.