HARLEM DOUBLE FEATURE - DVD
Gang War & Broken Strings
GANG WAR
Bullets fly and blood flows in the streets of Harlem as three rival gangster
bosses vie for control of the lucrative jukebox racket. Aptly named "Killer"
Meade (Ralph Cooper) eventually rises to the top of this seamy heap by ruthlessly
exterminating the competition, but the one person closest to him puts the
police on his trail. The all-powerful crime lord is caught in a running
gun-battle with the cops across the rooftops of the city. A rugged and charming
actor, multi-talented Ralph Cooper was variously billed as the "Bronze Bogart"
and the "Dark Gable." A song-and-dance man, he learned the movie trade by
paying close attention on the set while choreographing the Shirley Temple
film, 'Poor Little Rich Girl.' He went on to make a series of hits on the
"Black" cinema circuit. Cooper was also one of the founders and
early emcees at Harlem's famed talent showcase, the Apollo Theater. Gang
War was directed by crime film specialist, Leo C. Popkin, who produced the
noir classic 'D.O.A.' in 1951. Starring Ralph Cooper, Gladys Snyder, Maceo
Sheffield.
BROKEN STRINGS
The gifted hands of a world-renowned musician are crippled in a car crash.
Reduced to giving lessons to children on the instrument he once mastered,
violinist Arthur Williams (Clarence Muse) has become an embittered malcontent.
Frustrated by the apparent lack of discipline in his students (one of them,
his own son), and despairing of the decadent rise of primitive swing music,
he is sorely in need of some kind of miracle-whether medical or musical.
Revered black actor Clarence Muse brings depth and gravity to this inspiring
tale of the curative powers of love and music. Muse had a distinguished
50-year career in both "black" and "white" cinema, dating
back to 1929, appearing in such classics as Huckleberry Finn (1931), White
Zombie (1936), Count of Monte Cristo (1934), Show Boat (1936), Shadow of
a Doubt (1943), Heaven Can Wait (1943), Double Indemnity (1944), Lost Weekend
(1945), Porgy and Bess (1959), Car Wash (1976) and The Black Stallion (1979).
Broken Strings also features an adolescent appearance by 'Our Gang' graduate,
Matthew "Stymie" Beard. Also starring Clarence Muse, & Darby
Jones. Directed by Bernard B. Ray.
(Both from 1940 - B&W - 123 Minutes Total) This DVD is in Mint!
