The Girl in Room 20 (1946) Online

Movies aimed at black audiences in the 1940s often had white producers and directors, though the casts were black. But this one was directed by and co-stars the gifted Spencer Williams, who would in a few years become a national tv star as Andy on "Amos n Andy." Like other black-targeted films of the era, this one's super-low-budget (the sets look like cardboard), with a simplistic story (nice country girl with a good voice comes to NYC and falls in with city slickers), an almost surreally pieced-together musical score, and few professional actors besides Williams himself, who's very good as a kindly cabbie who looks after the girl. And, like a lot of black films from the era, it somehow triumphs over those shortcomings, and is a charmer. Sadly, the DVD version I've seen was made from a print badly mauled by time, with an audio track that's sometimes indecipherable.

(There are spoilers) Sweet Daisy Mea Walker looking to make something of herself leaves her family and hometown sweetheart Dumbar Hamilton taking a train, out of the little Texas town of Perryville, for the Big Apple New York City. Dasie Mea plans to strike it big as a singer of Gospel Music in an all-black New York Baptist Church.

Getting to NYC Daisy Mea learns right away that it's not the wonderful town that she thought it was back in little Perryville Texas when she's saved from ending up working for a local Harlem madam Mamie, as one of her call-girls, by kindly and caring taxi driver Joe Phillips. This happened when Daisy Mea naively goes to the address of a friend of her parents who had long moved out.

Joe getting Daisy Mea a room, room 20, at a local hotel has her fall in with the troupe of entertainers, Moody and his dancing partners Jones and Clementine, who are so impressed with Daisy's beautiful and angelic voice that she's asked by Moody to join their act at the Congo Club. Seeing her chance to make the big time Daisy Mea quickly accepts and becomes an immediate sensation as the troupe's lead singer.

With Daisy Mea not knowing any better she's approached by Arnold Richardson who tells her that as her manager he'll open up doors for her in show business that will make her a top hit not only in the world of Black Gospel Music but will get her a contract with a major record company that will expose her and her music all over the country to millions of people, black and white. What Richardson really wants is to get Daisy Mea into his and his Harlem madam's Mamie stable of call girls. Richardson who tries to make Daisy Mea think that he's in love with her is, unknown to Daisy, married and has been cheating on his old lady who if she ever finds that out would kill him. Joe finding out about Richardson's plans for Daisy Mea in a local newspaper, and knowing that he's married, call's Daisy's sweetheart back in Perryville Texas asking him to come to NYC as soon as possible before his girl, Daisy Mea, ends up in both Richerdson's and Mamie's evil clutches.

Mrs. Richardson finds out about her husband's infidelity at the beauty boutique when she over hears two women talking about Richarson's love life, reported in a neighborhood newspaper gossip column, and goes to his office looking to put a bullet between his eyes but Dunbar and Joe get there first. Richardson all alone with Daisy Mea tries to force himself on her but Dunbar comes to her rescue. In the middle of a knock-down and drag-out brawl an outraged Mrs. Richardson pops in, catching the creep with another women, and takes a shot at the dirty two-timing rat. Mr. Richardson being the bad shot that she is misses her husband but hits Daisy Mea instead with Richardson running for his life and disappearing out of sight never to be seen again in the movie.

Getting the full support from Dunbar Joe and her friends the Moody Troupe and Daisy Meais nursed back to health. Fully recovered Daisy Mea is just about to sign a long term contract, together with the Moody dancers, when Dunbar get's a telegram telling him the amazing news that oil was struck under his grocery store and he's now a millionaire. Taking Daisy Mea back home to Perryville to get married Dunbar also invites Moody Jones and Clementine to move back home with him and Daisy Mea and live, rent free, happily ever after; You can just guess what Moody & Co, who were always broke and on the verge of getting evicted from their hotel room, answer was.

Continuing to review films featuring African-Americans in chronological order for Black History Month, we're now at 1946 when director/actor Spencer Williams has put out another of his "race movies" for a black audience in segregated area theatres. Here, he plays a kindly cab driver named Joe Phillips who helps a naive country girl-and aspiring singer-named Daisy Mae Walker (Geraldine Brock) avoid the more sleazy types in New York City in order to be friends with the right show business types and living in the most friendly, if a little cheap, hotel. Despite that, there's still some unsavory types that manage to snag her though when her boyfriend, Dunbar Hamilton (R. Jore), from back home comes over, things threaten to take a violent turn...Ms. Brock's singing voice is very pleasant whether singing "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot" (a song ironically used to parody the typical Negro song in films like Blazing Saddles and Revenge of the Nerds) or another song-"Danny Boy"-whose melody I recognized but not the lyrics. And after just seeing Williams portray a sleazy bar owner in his Go Down, Death!, it was a nice change of pace watching him here as the nicest character here. The film itself has an amateurish feel throughout especially during a fight scene when-after seeing the two men struggle-the only way you'd know how rough things are is by hearing the loud sound effects while the camera is on Williams or Ms. Brock reacting. Still, the story is good despite the contrivance of the end scene and this is a pleasant enough viewing experience for me. So on that note, I recommend The Girl in Room 20. P.S. One of the players here is one Myra D. Hemmings who's a mentor of Ms. Brock and had previously appeared in the aforementioned Go Down, Death! And the film on the DVD disc I played began with an intro narrated by Ossie Davis about The Tyler-Texas Black Film Collection which had several once-lost "race movies" from the '30s and '40s discovered in an abandoned warehouse there one night in August 1983 by a Dr. Gene Wiken Jones, a Southern Methodist University Professor and Director of Southwest Film Video Archives.

Girl in Room 20 (1946)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

Spencer Williams' directed this drama with an all black cast. A country girl (Geraldine Brock) moves to the big city with dreams of becoming a famous singer. Once in the big city she's befriended by a cab driver (Williams) but also runs in with the wrong crowd who hope to take advantage of her. Despite the extremely low budget, director Williams is able to tell a pretty good story, although it's over the top happy ending comes off very forced. Williams gives the best performance in the film but Brock does a fine job as well and her singing is quite nice.