Dirty Gertie from Harlem U.S.A. (1946)
** (out of 4)
W. Somerset Maugham's story "Miss Thompson" was often turned into a feature by Hollywood but this version here comes from director Spencer Williams and it has him once again taking a very low-budget and turning out a "race" picture. The film centers on Gertie LaRue (Francine Everett), a singer who comes to work at a small club but soon her past is going to catch up with her. DIRTY GERTIE FROM HARLEM U.S.A. features a terrific title but sadly it's yet another example of a black production simply not having the money to compete with not only Hollywood but even the lowest budgeted movie out there. I watch a lot of really, really low-budget horror movies and I'm really not sure I've ever seen one that had a lower budget than what Williams and countless other "race" picture directors had to work with. It's clear that they couldn't afford too many takes as there are several scenes where actors mess up but keep on going. There's even a very long sequence where a boom mic is visible and in a rather embarrassing way as it's floating around the top of the screen from left to right. The film also doesn't have much camera movement and there are other technical problems along the way. With that said, I think film buffs will be slightly entertained simply because it is something different than what the major studios were turning out at the time. At just 60-minutes the film moves along well enough and while the story is nothing special I thought it was at least entertaining. Star Everett, who was considered the most beautiful woman in Harlem, had a pretty interesting life and her performance here is worth watching the film for. Director Williams appears here playing a female psychic yet there's never an attempt for him to "look" or sound like a woman.
