| Harlem Is Heaven | |
| Director: | Irwin R. Franklyn |
| Cinematography: | Charles J. Levine |
| Editing: | Elmer J. McGovern at H.E.R. Laboratories[1] |
| Studio: | Lincoln Pictures, Inc., New York, N.Y. |
| Distributor: | Lincoln Pictures, Inc.; Sack Amusement Enterprises |
| Runtime: | 69 minutes (original cut)[2] |
| Country: | United States |
| Language: | English |
| Budget: | Under $50,000 |
Harlem Is Heaven is a 1932 American pre-Code crime drama and musical film directed by Irwin Franklyn and featuring a virtually all African-American cast.[3] Bill "Bojangles" Robinson stars in his first leading role on screen, along with Putney Dandridge, John Mason, and some of the top entertainers of the period from Harlem's famous Cotton Club, including James Baskett, Anise Boyer, Henri Wessell, and Alma Smith. Eubie Blake and his orchestra perform most of the background music and instrumentals during the film's onstage song and dance numbers.
Preceding the opening scene of Harlem Is Heaven is a contemporary montage of residents walking and parading on the streets of Harlem, moving images that are accompanied on the screen by a scrolling prologue. Part of that introductory text provides the viewer with a brief history of a special tree in Harlem, an elm that in 1932 still grew next to one of the neighborhood's busy sidewalks:
One evening on a sidewalk in Harlem, Jean Stratton (Anise Boyer]a young unemployed actress and dancer from West Virginiastands next to "The Tree of Hope", openly praying and imploring the legendary tree to help find her work. When she stops one passing man to ask how long she needs to stand under the tree to get a job, a nearby police officer thinks she is a soliciting prostitute, so he arrests her. A group of spectators gather around the officer and Jean, including "Money" Johnson (James Baskett), who gets the officer to release her. Money is a local theater owner widely known in Harlem. He is also a racketeer who specializes in "policy games" or gambling, as well as circulating phony investment schemes around New York as well as in Philadelphia and other cities. After the officer and the onlookers leave, Money offers Jean a job at his Acme Theatre, gives her some cash as an advance on her salary, and tells her to report to his office the next day.
At the appointed time, Jean meets Money, who introduces her to Bill (Bill Robinson), Acme's star performer and director of its dance and other stage productions. There Jean also meets another performer, a handsome young actor and dancer named "Chummy" Walker (Henri Wessell). Both Chummy and Bill are immediately smitten with Jean even though she initially refers to them as her protective "big brothers". Money, however, has his own plans to seduce her. After a stage rehearsal, Money warns Chummy that "Miss Stratton" is more than his protégée, declaring her his "personal and private property". He then orders Chummy to invite Jean to a party at the theater after that evening's show. The party in reality will be set up as an intimate dinner with just Money. Chummy warns Jean of Money's intentions, but she ignores him and goes to the office, where the theater boss forces himself on her. As she struggles to leave, Bill enters the office, a fight ensues, and Bill knocks out Money. The next day Bill and Jean learn they have been fired.
Bill quickly gets a new job performing at a nearby nightclub owned by Knobs Moran (Bob Sawyer), Money's bitter rival in both entertainment and crime. Money now seeks revenge, especially against Chummy for divulging his plan to take advantage of Jean. Money then hatches another plan, one to get Chummy imprisoned. Money enlists him as the front man in marketing a bogus new hair-straightening product. Money is careful in arranging the scam so he is not openly involved, while assuring Chummy that the new product is genuine and will earn huge profits for everyone. Initially successful selling the product, Chummy is soon arrested and jailed for fraud after all the investors lose their money, including Bill's close friend John "Spider" Mason, who had committed most of his life savings to the enterprise.
While visiting the police station to see Chummy, Jean learns of Money's role in devising the fraud, so she visits Greta (Alma Smith), one of Money's girlfriends who knows details about the scheme. After a brutal fight with Greta, Jean forces her to provide the district attorney with information proving Money's guilt, which results in Chummy's release from jail. Spider then learns from newspaper reports that it was Money, not Chummy, who had concocted the phony investment. Now seeking his own revenge for the loss of his money, Spider confronts Money in his office. After Money tries to shoot him, Spider uses a razor to kill the crime boss as he pleads for mercy. The story then ends in Bill's apartment, where Bill, his mother visiting from Richmond, Jean, and Chummy have gathered. Earlier, Bill had realized that Jean and Chummy had fallen in love, so he urges them to get married before he cheerfully leaves the apartment to see another friend.[4] [5]
In 1932, according to the widely read New York-based trade paper Variety, the film made over $4,000 during its opening week at just the Renaissance Theater in Harlem. That financial success led to its run being extended there.[2] Variety in its June 7 edition also provides a lengthy assessment of the production. In its review the paper recommends the film's presentation to both white and black audiences, recognizes the drawing power of Bill Robinson at the box office, and finds Robinson and Baskett's performances to be the strongest elements of the quickly made, low-budget production:
In a more recent assessment of the film, in 2011, The World Cinema Review pans its storyline and acting but extols the dance and musical performances, especially those by Robinson: