Two-Gun Man from Harlem (1938)
** (out of 4)
Cowboy Bob Blake (Her Jeffries) is accused of a murder he didn't commit so him and his brother (Mantan Moerland) head off. Soon Bob takes over the identity of a gangster as he tries to find out who the real murderer is. It turns out there's a greedy landowner wanting to steal some land and he hires a man (Spencer Williams) to kill a witness.
If you've seen any "B" Western from this era then the plot of this should be rather familiar. What separates this film is the fact that it features an all black-cast, which makes it a rare race film set in the West. As was the case with many race pictures from its era, sadly there just wasn't too much money to be spent so there are flubs in the film and other technical issues but these things are to be expected.
For the most part I thought the film was mildly entertaining as long as you don't expect too much from it. After all, it is a "B" Western shot with an extremely low-budget so one shouldn't be expecting the work of John Ford anyways. I thought Jeffries and Williams were both good in their roles and overall I thought the acting was a lot better than we typically see. Matthew 'Stymie" Beard has a small role and adds some charm (and dialogue issues) as does Moreland.
TWO-GUN MAN FROM HARLEM certainly isn't a classic movie and it's not going to appeal to too many people. With that said, if you're interested in these early race movies it's certainly worth watching.