Happy 100th Nina Mae McKinney!

Yes, I know, The Horn Section already saluted the great Nina Mae McKinney a couple of years back.  But Wednesday, June 13th would have been Ms. McKinney's 100th birthday, so I think we ought to recognize.

The YouTube link in the prior post featured Ms. McKinney's fabulous vocal from "Pie, Pie, Blackbird" (1932).   SAFE IN HELL (1931) features more singing from lovely Nina Mae, who sings Clarence Muse's "Sleepy Time Down South" in that pre-Code classic.  Nina Mae sang in most of her 1930's films, and it was always a highlight:

YouTube has more Nina Mae McKinney treasures, including her full-length 1939 feature THE DEVIL'S DAUGHTER, which was filmed in Jamaica and co-starred Ida James:

If you enjoyed the clip of McKinney's rendition of "Everything I've Got Belongs to You" in my first Salute to Nina, here's the musical short PIE, PIE, BLACKBIRD (1932) in its entirety.  Nina Mae and the young Nicholas Brothers are joined by the Eubie Blake Orchestra for 11 amazing minutes:

And, finally, with the backing of Curtis Moseby's legendary Blue Blowers, here's Nina Mae at age 17 in her debut film, HALLELUJAH (1929):

Nina Mae McKinney passed away in 1967, but a hundred years after her birth, her legend is still growing.  Stephen Bourne (author of the excellent Butterfly McQueen Remembered) wrote the recently released Black  Garbo, an equally informative book about Ms. McKinney's career and the obstacles she faced as a charismatic African-American star in a far less enlightened era.  Both books are highly recommended by yours truly.

Happy Birthday Nina Mae, and as always there's more reviews to come here at The Horn Section.

Nina Mae McKinney in  HALLELUJAH! (1929)

Ladies on the Lam: SAFE IN HELL and THE LEGEND OF BILLIE JEAN

Put away your bootlegs: it's time for Missing No More!  Two more of The Horn Section's past review subjects are now on DVD for the first time, thanks once again to our good friends at the Warner Archive.   It's almost becoming a monthly occurrence.

While our two cult movies were released fifty-four years apart, they surprisingly have a lot in common.  Both center around a southern girl who is tough as nails: one a Corpus Christi teenager, the other a New Orleans secretary.  Both women suffer injustices at the hands of powerful males and financial hardship afterward.  Both also draw the line at providing physical favors to the men who wronged them.  When each lady defends herself, a felony is the (unintended) result, so both heroines end up running from the law.

That's a lot these two films have in common, despite the features taking place in very disparate eras: SAFE IN HELL (1931) is product of the "anything goes" pre-Code early thirties, while THE LEGEND OF BILLIE JEAN (1985) was produced in the middle of a decidedly conservative decade for Hollywood.  Reflective of their respective periods: the bulk of the former takes place in a literally Godless atmosphere, while BILLIE JEAN's title character is inspired and empowered by SAINT JOAN.  But hey, enough comparisons and contrasts.  Let's get to the good news.

The folks over at the Warner Archive finally agreed that fair is fair and released THE LEGEND OF BILLIE JEAN on November 1st.  Released through the label's Columbia Classics subdivision, it is reasonably priced at $14.96.

BILLIE JEAN's steady march to a loyal following didn't get off to a promising start, as it was an outright disaster at the box office in the summer of 1985 despite considerable promotion from MTV.  BILLIE JEAN was lost in the shuffle at theatres during the summer of BACK TO THE FUTURE.  It finally found its audience the way many initially overlooked movies did in the Eighties, via healthy home video rentals and saturation showings on cable.

THE LEGEND OF BILLIE JEAN did produce one immediate success, from its Chrysalis-heavy soundtrack: Pat Benatar's "Invincible", complete with the music video below featuring a healthy dose of clips from the film.  Ironically, one person who isn't a fan is Pat Benatar, who reportedly to this day derides the film in concert as "the worst ever made" before performing her hit "Invincible", the smash hit from the film's soundtrack. 

If this is true, then lighten up Ms. Benatar!  It's been twenty-five years and you were ten years older than the target audience to begin with.  In my review I noted that BILLIE JEAN has its problems script-wise, but it's also easy to see why this film strikes a chord with many.  It's great to see it not only newly remastered, with including an all-new commentary as well.  Way to go, Warner!

Perhaps even more impressive is the release of SAFE IN HELL (1931), which never saw a home video release of any kind before November 8th, when Warner Archive came through for us pre-Code aficionados and made it available for $19.95.  Here's a few minutes from the film, as leading lady Dorothy Mackaill checks into the Tortuga hotel managed by Nina Mae McKinney:

It's a rare appearance by McKinney, who was only 19 at the time, and features the equally underappreciated stars Dorothy Mackaill and Clarence Muse.  I have to say that in all my years seeking out obscure hidden treasures of cinema, SAFE IN HELL remains one of the most pleasant surprises I've ever stumbled across.

Directed by the great William Wellman (PUBLIC ENEMY, A STAR IS BORN), SAFE IN HELL offers McKinney and Muse non-sterotypical roles, all too rare for African-American actors in the Thirties. Wellman's underrated work is also tough and uncompromising right up to the less than happy denouement which is a surprise, even for pre-Code Hollywood.

If you haven't shopped at the Warner Archive yet, by all means browse the inventory, as they are adding new films weekly.  Hey, if you're reading this blog regularly, you're probably interested in what they have to offer, right?

More reviews on the way, as always.  In the meantime, how about a little more of THE LEGEND OF BILLIE JEAN's soundtrack?  Here's the late Wendy O. Williams with "It's My Life":

THE HORN SECTION Salutes: Nina Mae McKinney (1912-1967)

Before there was Dorothy Dandridge, even before there was Lena Horne....Hell, fully a decade before there was Lena Horne...there was the beautiful and talented Nina Mae McKinney.

Her second film, 1931's SAFE IN HELL, was Number 24 in the "Why the Hell isn't this on DVD yet?" series last May. While playing the non-stereotypical role of the hotel manager--very rare for a black actress in 1931--McKinney also offered a playful rendition of "Sleepy Time Down South"---incidentally, co-written by her SAFE IN HELL co-star, Clarence Muse. Muse was a longtime actor, director, writer and composer who was still working 45 years later in CAR WASH and who has a cafe theatre named after him right here in Dallas at 650 South Griffin Street.

The clip above offers another opportunity to enjoy Ms. McKinney's singing talents. From the 1932 short, "Pie Pie Blackbird", she sings "Everything I've Got Belongs to You", accompanied by Eubie Blake's orchestra. For more of Ms. McKinney, check out her later films, SANDERS ON THE RIVER and DEVIL'S DAUGHTER. More reviews to come....

Film Review: SAFE IN HELL (1931)

 


Why the Hell isn't this on DVD yet? -- Number 24





SAFE IN HELL (1931 First National Pictures) Starring Dorothy Mackaill, Nina Mae McKinney, Donald Cook, Ralf Harolde, Clarence Muse, John Wray, Morgan Wallace and Ivan Simpson. Directed by William Wellman.

Forced into prostitution fter a blackballing from former boss Ralf Harolde’s jealous wife, Dorothy Mackaill is horrified to find that Harolde is her next client. She draws the line at servicing the man responsible for her loss of honest work, but Harolde won’t take no for an answer easily. In the process of defending herself and escaping she knocks Harolde unconscious shortly before a fire starts (from his cigarette).  Learning she is about to face charges for murder and arson, Mackaill decides to go on the lam.

Before she can leave Mackaill is surprised by her ex Donald Cook, bearing gifts and a marriage proposal: after months at sea, he’s unaware of her forced change in profession. Faced with a quick decision to make as the police close in, Cook has her stowaway on his next ship assignment. Cook’s idea is to leave her at the first stop, Tortuga, a tiny Caribbean island with swarming insects and brutal heat, but without an extradition treaty with the U.S.  Predictably, this means that she isn’t the only person hiding there, but despite the near-unbearable living conditions she agrees to wait there for Cook’s return--“safe in Hell”. This “safety” is a relative term with an island full of criminals and corrupt law enforcement, and becomes even more so after Harold turns up alive.

As directed by William Wellman (PUBLIC ENEMY), SAFE IN HELL is one of the most downbeat films of the edgy pre-Production Code early thirties. Poor Mackaill is a female Job who simply can't catch a break. Finances press her into selling her body, then into warding off the unwanted attention of countless men while living in exile in a nightmarish atmosphere. Cook is the “one decent man in her life” but even he slaps her when he finds out she’s been hooking in his absence. The mistakes she makes (accepting Wallace’s “help” and weakening to ‘join the party’ one night after weeks of isolation) are only human given the circumstances.

"You can swallow 'em, or strain 'em out--your choice!"

The Tortuga presented here is anything but an island paradise---the heat is scorching.  The air is thick with insects, the drinking water and peanuts both contain worms, and lascivious, unshaven criminals are everywhere. The island isn’t just a figurative Hell, it’s literally “Godless”--- the only minister has been dead for months, and his death has gone completely unnoticed in town.

Twisting the concept of a tropical paradise isn’t the only way Wellman and the writers (Joseph Jackson and Maude Fulton) invert expectations repeatedly.  Our vicious criminals turn out to be honorable, practically harmless, supporting Mackaill after Harolde’s arrival. Meanwhile policeman Wallace is the biggest menace of all. Setting much of SAFE IN HELL outside the U.S. also allowed African-American stars Nina Mae McKinney and Clarence Muse to avoid the stereotypical characters they were having to play in other films.

McKinney isn’t playing a nightclub singer or maid---she’s the hotel manager who befriends Mackaill after finding out their common ground (they’re both from New Orleans, and on the lam).  McKinney was only 19 at the time, but demonstrates undeniable beauty and star quality. She’s also a fantastic singer; she gets at least one song in all of her films, here it’s “Sleepy Time Down South” (which was written by co-star Muse). One can only imagine what Hollywood squandered by not allowing her more opportunities to develop her talent. After SAFE IN HELL McKinney wouldn’t appear in another feature for four years.

Mackaill, a British-born starlet during the 1920’s, was also underutilized in the sound era. In a role originally intended for Barbara Stanwyck, Mackaill is terrific. She takes no guff from anyone, but shows her sensitive side with Cook as well. Their scenes together at the deserted church and at the hotel are surprisingly touching in what is otherwise one of the most relentlessly unsentimental of all films, pre-code or otherwise.

How un-sentimental is SAFE IN HELL?  Even SCARFACE and LITTLE CAESAR gave viewers some comfort: a happy ending in which the murderous protagonists pay for their crimes at the end. Here, Mackaill isn't found guilty of any crime, and her actions are honorable, even courageous.  But she's denied her happy ending anyway. Ultimately, she may be safer in the literal Hell than the figurative one.

So…why isn’t this on DVD?

Director Wellman is really the biggest name here. The film is 77 years old, and as stated above is quite a downer.

Why it should be on DVD:

This would fit in perfectly with the TCM Archives’ FORBIDDEN HOLLYWOOD collection of pre-code classics. Two FORBIDDEN box sets have already been released. SAFE IN HELL even airs on TCM about once a year---all the more reason to get it into Volume 3.

If not in a FORBIDDEN HOLLYWOOD collection, why not a Wellman box set? Either way, SAFE IN HELL is a tough, interesting film that needs greater availability and exposure---it was never even released on VHS to my knowledge in the U.S.

So what if the actors aren’t exactly household names today. Mackaill and McKinney certainly deserve greater notice. They're both very talented, and McKinney was arguably the most beautiful actress of the early 1930’s.  SAFE IN HELL includes one of Mackaill’s best performances, and in fact, your only opportunity to see McKinney in a feature in the years between 1929’s HALLELUJAH! and 1936’s SANDERS OF THE RIVER.

Until we get a DVD release, this one is well worth your DVR space next time TCM trots it out.