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Reviews
Homicide Bureau (1939)
Patriot Act precursor
Political ironies abound as hopelessly right wing L.A.P.D. investigator Bruce Cabot bridles under foolish legal restraints conflicting with his tried and true police state methods such as breaking and entering, unlawful searches and seizures, and beating up suspects.
Particularly frustrating are naïve wealthy liberal matrons who misguidedly protest violations of evildoers' constitutional guarantees.
The pre-Patriot Act bad guys are colluding with warring foreign powers (read 1930s Japan and Germany) wanting American scrap metal for munitions.
Youthful lab chemist Rita Hayworth (modernly called a forensic investigator) does precise scientific sleuthing with her amazing Spectrograph, a wondrous device that tells all, even resulting in a marriage proposal from callous cop Cabot whose police brutality contributes to the gang's downfall.
A laughably bad film, concluding with the police commissioner apologizing for hampering his "coppers" with "too many kid gloves." Clearly illegal police procedures win the day keeping America's junkyards safe from hostile foreign dictatorships.
Demonstrating versatility, actor Marc Lawrence, later blacklisted in the anti-Communist 1950s, plays a fascist thug.
Borrah Minevitch and His Harmonica School (1942)
Rhythm, racial integration & JonBenet Ramsey
Above average nine-minute musical short. Inclusion of black harmonicist Ernie Morris racially integrates this WWII era campy curio directed by Jean Negulesco who would later create noirs such as Nobody Lives Forever, Road House, Under My Skin and the neglected Mask of Dimetrios.
Features a funny vaudeville bit involving three guys ejecting rubber eggs from their mouths. Watch the facial expressions.
Includes several elements now politically incorrect: sight gags involving a dwarf, fat humor, and in particular, a JonBenet Ramsey look alike seductively dancing a samba.
In black and white. Shown occasionally on Turner Classic Movies in their "Short Subjects" section. You can sometimes catch it sandwiched in between regular TCM features.
They don't make music videos like they used to.
Fear of a Black Hat (1993)
Truly hilarious satire spotlighting culture clash on several levels - something for everyone - not to be missed
You don't have to know a thing about rap music to love this screamingly funny satire about culture clash, the media, fame, hypocrisy and a lot more.
A black woman (college-educated, oh-so-serious public TV type) is filming a documentary on a three-man rap group from the streets. Calling their mean selves Niggas With Hats (NWH), they're very concerned, at least while on camera (which is all we see) with maintaining their `hood' persona.
All their managers are mysteriously shot dead while NWH are `out of town' (wink, nudge). Early on they switch from using family members as managers to employing Jewish white boys. Before the film ends, they go through six of these poor fellows.
The dialog between the group and their middle-aged Caucasian record company owner is sidesplitting. With misplaced confidence, the businessman feels compelled to speak street talk in a doomed attempt to bond with his artists. We watch the astonished faces of our rappers as they listen to his ludicrous slang, which dates back to Malcolm X's time.
NWH even puts out a Christmas album called `Ho, Ho, Ho's.' A rival rap group dogs their rise to fame, each outfit trying to destroy the other. NWH finally prevails, however, when it's discovered that the opposition's lead singer went to a prep school and even edited its yearbook. His career ruined, the antagonist and his crew are banished in shame.
There's an angry Spike Lee wannabe and an opening act, Vanilla Sherbet, a bouncy white rapper who insists he was raised by a black family. The concert audiences are pimply white youth who ape the group's moves, clothing and speech mannerisms and for whom the rappers can barely disguise their utter contempt.
Relating these details in no way spoils the fun, for it's the telling of the tale and the facial expressions of those to whom all of this happens that make the movie.
No matter what your age or background, you'll be howling out loud through many parts of this parody. See it soon.