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Harlem on the Prairie (film)
Encyclopedia
Harlem on the Prairie is a race movie
, billed as the first "all-colored
" western
musical
. The movie reminded audiences that there were black cowboys and corrected a popular Hollywood image of an all-white Old West.
It was produced by Associated Features which was organized in 1937. The picture premiered at the Paramount Theatre
in Hollywood and was first shown in New York City at the Rialto Theatre on Broadway. The company had offices at 937 N. Sycamore Avenue, Hollywood, California, and the officers of the company were Jed Buell, president; Bert Steinbach, vice president; and Sabin W. Carr, secretary-treasurer.
Harlem on the Prairie was filmed on location at Murray's Dude Ranch
, Apple Valley, California
. The ranch was founded by N. B. Murray, a black businessman from Los Angeles
. President and chief producer Jed Buell, spent less than $50,000 on this picture.
both the title song, "Harlem on the Prairie", and the once popular hit "Romance in the Rain". The film's hero, Herbert Jeffrey, who at the time was a popular singer with Earl “Fatha” Hines Band
, initially conceived of making an all-black cowboy picture. He intended to distribute the film to the hundreds of black movie houses that had been set up across the South due to racial segregation. But, fortunately, with the help of Gene Autry
, another well-known screen cowboy, Jeffrey made a deal with Dallas-based Sack Amusement for national distribution.
The film was so successful that company owner Richard C. Kahn approached Jeffrey about continuing the saga of the black cowboy. Since rights to the original character of Jeff Kincaid were tied up with the original producer, Jed Buell, they created the character of Bob Blake and introduced his trusty horse Stardusk. The first film produced through this new partnership was Two-Gun Man from Harlem (1938
).
A 1940 newspaper credited the film with holding the large box office profits of any all Negro motion picture.
Race movie
The race movie or race film was a film genre which existed in the United States between about 1915 and 1950. It consisted of films produced for an all-black audience, featuring black casts....
, billed as the first "all-colored
Black people
The term black people is used in systems of racial classification for humans of a dark skinned phenotype, relative to other racial groups.Different societies apply different criteria regarding who is classified as "black", and often social variables such as class, socio-economic status also plays a...
" western
Western (genre)
The Western is a genre of various visual arts, such as film, television, radio, literature, painting and others. Westerns are devoted to telling stories set primarily in the latter half of the 19th century in the American Old West, hence the name. Some Westerns are set as early as the Battle of...
musical
Musical film
The musical film is a film genre in which songs sung by the characters are interwoven into the narrative, sometimes accompanied by dancing. The songs usually advance the plot or develop the film's characters, though in some cases they serve merely as breaks in the storyline, often as elaborate...
. The movie reminded audiences that there were black cowboys and corrected a popular Hollywood image of an all-white Old West.
It was produced by Associated Features which was organized in 1937. The picture premiered at the Paramount Theatre
Paramount Theatre (Los Angeles)
The Paramount Theatre in Los Angeles was a movie palace opened in January 1923 as Grauman's Metropolitan Theatre. It was built by impresario Sid Grauman, who had already built the Million Dollar Theatre a few blocks away, but who is best remembered today for his two Hollywood movie palaces,...
in Hollywood and was first shown in New York City at the Rialto Theatre on Broadway. The company had offices at 937 N. Sycamore Avenue, Hollywood, California, and the officers of the company were Jed Buell, president; Bert Steinbach, vice president; and Sabin W. Carr, secretary-treasurer.
Harlem on the Prairie was filmed on location at Murray's Dude Ranch
Murray's Dude Ranch
Murray's Ranch, sometimes called the Overall Wearing Dude Ranch, was a guest ranch in Apple Valley, California from the 1920s until the 1960s. The ranch was located at the northwest corner of Waalew Road and Dale Evans Parkway in Apple Valley, just outside the city limits of Victorville...
, Apple Valley, California
Apple Valley, California
-Climate:*On average, the warmest month is July.*The highest recorded temperature was in 2002.*On average, the coolest month is December.*The lowest recorded temperature was in 1949.*The most precipitation on average occurs in February.-History:...
. The ranch was founded by N. B. Murray, a black businessman from Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
. President and chief producer Jed Buell, spent less than $50,000 on this picture.
Cast
- Herbert Jeffrey: Jeff Kincaid
- Spencer WilliamsSpencer Williams (actor)Spencer Williams was an African American actor and filmmaker. He was best known for playing Andy in the Amos 'n Andy television show and for the directing the 1941 race film The Blood of Jesus. Williams was a pioneer African-American film producer and director.-Early career:Williams...
: Doc Clayburn - Connie Harris: Carolina, Doc's daughter
- George Randol: Sheriff
- Maceo Bruce Scheffield: Wolf Cain
- Mantan MorelandMantan MorelandMantan Moreland was an American actor and comedian most popular in the 1930s and 1940s.-Career:Born in Monroe, Louisiana, Moreland began acting by the time he was an adolescent, reportedly running away to join the circus...
: Mistletoe - Flournoy E. MillerF. E. MillerFlournoy Earkin Miller was an African American composer, singer, writer, and actor who appeared in vaudeville with Aubrey Lyles as Miller and Lyles....
: Crawfish (is credited with some of the writing) - Lucius Brooks: Musician (as The Four Tones)
- Leon Buck: Musician (as The Four Tones)
- Ira Hardin: Musician (as The Four Tones)
- Rudolph Hunter: Musician (as The Four Tones)
Plot summary
The story concerns events in the life of Doc Clayburn, who returns with his medicine show and young daughter, Carolina, to the country where twenty years before he had been a rider with a gang of outlaws and assisted in a gold robbery. The gold was hidden when all but Doc were killed in a fight with a posse, and was never recovered. When Doc is on his way to recover the gold and wipe out the memory of those early days and his straying from the straight and narrow, his caravan is trailed by a rival gang and he is killed. As he dies, Doc gives a map of the gold cache to Jeff Kincaid, a younger rider whom he entrusts with the plan of finding the gold and restoring it to its rightful owners. In doing this, Jeff encounters the heavies, and Mistletoe and Crawfish supply the comedy relief.Background
The film combines all the typical elements of a good old-fashioned western. Melodrama, comedy, romance, action, and suspense are woven together as the characters strive to complete the old man's last wish and search for the gold. Somewhere within all of the riding, shooting, and fighting bad guys Kincaid and his pistol toting back-up group, the Four Tones, manage to singSinging cowboy
A singing cowboy was a subtype of the archetypal cowboy hero of early Western films, popularized by many of the B-movies of the 1930s and 1940s...
both the title song, "Harlem on the Prairie", and the once popular hit "Romance in the Rain". The film's hero, Herbert Jeffrey, who at the time was a popular singer with Earl “Fatha” Hines Band
Earl Hines
Earl Kenneth Hines, universally known as Earl "Fatha" Hines, was an American jazz pianist. Hines was one of the most influential figures in the development of modern jazz piano and, according to one source, is "one of a small number of pianists whose playing shaped the history of jazz".-Early...
, initially conceived of making an all-black cowboy picture. He intended to distribute the film to the hundreds of black movie houses that had been set up across the South due to racial segregation. But, fortunately, with the help of Gene Autry
Gene Autry
Orvon Grover Autry , better known as Gene Autry, was an American performer who gained fame as The Singing Cowboy on the radio, in movies and on television for more than three decades beginning in the 1930s...
, another well-known screen cowboy, Jeffrey made a deal with Dallas-based Sack Amusement for national distribution.
The film was so successful that company owner Richard C. Kahn approached Jeffrey about continuing the saga of the black cowboy. Since rights to the original character of Jeff Kincaid were tied up with the original producer, Jed Buell, they created the character of Bob Blake and introduced his trusty horse Stardusk. The first film produced through this new partnership was Two-Gun Man from Harlem (1938
1938 in film
The year 1938 in film involved some significant events.-Events:*January — MGM announces that Judy Garland would be cast in the role of "Dorothy" in the upcoming Wizard of Oz motion picture. Ray Bolger is cast as the "Tinman" and Buddy Ebsen is cast as the "Scarecrow". At Bolger's insistence,...
).
A 1940 newspaper credited the film with holding the large box office profits of any all Negro motion picture.