It's just a big coincidence that several days after the revelation, or not, of Virginia governor Ralph Northam being, or not, that blackfaced guy on a 1984 medical yearbook page which may, or not, force him to resign, I'm reviewing a movie starring a guy often known for doing many performances in such makeup-Eddie Cantor. Also, that one of the characters happens to be from that very state. The number Eddie appears as such is "Mandy" by Irving Berlin. I should note that neither Eddie nor Irving were racists, per se, as Eddie reportedly was often moved by how the people of the African-American race overcame whatever bigotry they endured, and Irving actually wrote a song for Ethel Waters-"Supper Time"-that described her trying to cheerfully feed her children some food despite her knowing of another lynching for "Thousands Cheer" the year before this movie. I should also note that accompanying Eddie on the "Mandy" number near the end of it were The Nicholas Brothers-Fayard who was then 19 or 20 and Harold who was 12 or 13-with each keeping Eddie from tap dancing when his brother was doing so. Also appearing in this movie were the "Our Gang" kids of the time-like Leonard Kibrick, Tommy Bond before he became Butch, and Matthew "Stymie" Beard, of which Leonard and Stymie had some choice lines. They appeared in the beginning and the Technicolor end. There's also Edgar Kennedy, who previously played a cop in earlier "Our Gang" shorts, playing one of the step brothers of Eddie. Others in the cast were Ethel Merman, Ann Sothern, and George Murphy. In summary, Kid Millions was quite a treat of a musical comedy, despite some politically incorrect elements. P.S. The print I watched online had skipped some frames digitally.
Review of Kid Millions
Kid Millions
(1934)
Desipte some politically incorrect elements, Kid Millions was still quite enjoyable
7 February 2019