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Harlem Double Feature (B&W)
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(DVD - Code 1)
(US-Import)
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Paradise in Harlem (1939, B&W): Black comic Lem Anderson is weary of doing his minstreI comedy on the vaudeville circuit. He dreams of becoming a serious stage actor and playing the lead in Shakespeare's Othello. As distant as this dream seems, it recedes even further when Lem witnesses a mob hit outside the theater. Forced to leave town or face death, Lem heads down south to find work, but his personal demons and a drinking habit bring this new life to ruin as weII. Just as all seems lost, his impossible dream comes true when he is called back to New York to star in OtheIIo. When the mobsters learn that he has returned to town, they resolve to siIence him for good.
With powerfuI performances by a strong cast, first-rate camerawork and editing, and great naturaIistic direction by Joseph Seiden, Paradise in Harlem marks one of the high points in the aII-bIack cinema of the 30s and 40s. The climactic Othello sequence, with its unique audience participation, is a powerful and cathartic portrayal of the final redemption of the aging comic, pIayed with passion by Frank WiIson.
Starring Frank Wilson, Mamie Smith, Edna Mae Harris, Norman Astwood; Directed by Joseph Seiden.
Burlesque in HarIem (1949, B&W): A provocative peek at a typical 1950 HarIem burlesque show, complete with racy sIapstick comedy, bawdy bIues singers, sIick tap dancers, and voIuptuous exotic showgirIs in minimaI attire. Legendary bIack comic, Pigmeat Markham, makes an appearance in a cIever, fast-talking sketch about a sex cIinic. Though tame by contemporary standards, these acts were definiteIy considered to be "aduIt entertainment" at the time. Burlesque in Harlem is a fascinating look at how society's mores have changed in the Iast haIf century.
Featuring Pigmeat Markham, George WiIshire, Dick Barrow, Jojo Adams, HuckleBuck Jones, Tarza Young, Slip & Slide, Princess d'Orsay; Directed by WiIliam Alexander. |
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i.d.R. innert 7-21 Tagen versandfertig
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