Θαύμα στο Χάρλεμ

PUNQ2.0

Stepin Fetchit! The dude was super successful in the 1930s. The first black entertainer to become rich. But the 1940s were brutal to him. His style of comedy was not PC enough for the 40s crowd, and you can only imagine how today's audience react to him. I enjoy his style in a vulgar way so I was glad to see him again. He only appeared in two films all decade. Both low budget black cast films., and his career was soon to be over. In this film he's only a bit player delivering some of that patented slow comic relief of his, the same kind he would do at the height of his career in "white Hollywood", all while there is a murder mystery going on around him. Not a super impressive mystery, but almost on par with the standard poverty row studio outputs, and certainly the black cast aspect gives it its own flare.

Ruth Scouller3.0

An interesting little B-movie which gamely backs an all-black cast in a few indoors locations. Lots of candy, chemicals, twists, devout ol' coffin-shopping mama and bountiful moralistic melodrama in a wrongful murder mystery. Future filmmaker William Greaves pops up in a cast which also includes Stepin Fetchit. The use of resources is infectious. Miracle in Harlem has a nice community group feel. The film at times seems a soap-revue excuse to throw in a line of talented performer friends for their 15 minutes, and in general there is a lot of natural diegetic singing that would be called 'musical' in a whiter story. Also seems to thematically comment on the immorality of eugenics, the emerging atomic age, the playboy lifestyle, and the ability of the law to sneakily fleece black people of their Christian goodness, livelihoods, even lives. Spike Lee would dig it.

Larry Yoshida3.0

Somewhat soap opera-ish all-black murder mystery with supernatural/religious overtones. An elderly crippled woman has premonitions of death. At the same time, she and her niece are swindled out of their small but thriving candy company by the sleazy son of a candy magnate. Several murders, love triangles, blackmail, and revenge follow. Multiple musical numbers. Stepin Fetchit is in it (in a thankfully small role). Worth a look.