| Harlem Rides the Range | |
|---|---|
 Film poster | |
| Directed by | Richard C. Kahn |
| Screenplay by |
|
| Story by | Spencer Williams |
| Produced by |
|
| Starring |
|
| Cinematography |
|
| Music by | Lew Porter |
| Distributed by | Sack Amusement Enterprises |
Release date |
|
Running time | 56 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
Harlem Rides the Range is a 1939 American Western race film directed by Richard C. Kahn. It followed the groundbreaking 1937 Western musical film Harlem on the Prairie .
Bob Blake (Herb Jeffries) and his sidekick Dusty (Lucius Brooks) are two cowboys riding across the countryside in search of adventure. They come across a ranch where it appears a murder has taken place but they find the victim of the crime, Jim Dennison (Leonard Christmas), still alive. Dennison is hiding in fear of his life after what had taken place at the ranch. Bob sees a picture of the rancher's daughter Margaret (Artie Young) and falls in love at first sight; he cannot stop talking about how beautiful the girl in the picture is. [1] Bob drops a glove when he leaves the ranch, which causes problems later.
The villain, Bradley (Clarence Brooks), wants to seize the ranch after terrorizing Dennison. Bob sets out to save Margaret and narrowly escapes a plot to frame him for the murder of one of the ranch foremen, Jim Connors (Tom Southern). Bradley uses Bob's dropped glove as part of the frameup. Bob is sent to jail, but is able to escape and tries to find Margaret. After a fight, Bob saves Margaret and they enjoy the romantic moment Bob had imagined when he first saw her picture. The ranch is saved; the story ends with Bob and Margaret together at last, and Bradley put in his place.
Sets for all-black movies (especially Westerns) were difficult to come by; Harlem Rides the Range (and other Herb Jeffries films) were shot at the 40-acre (16 ha) Murray's Dude Ranch in Apple Valley, California. [3] Originally established to give urban youth and their families the western experience, the ranch fell on hard times during the Great Depression and had become an interracial dude ranch which catered to film stars as well as ordinary families. The ranch's renewed popularity again enabled the Murrays to return to their original mission of helping inner city youth. [4]
Apple Valley is an incorporated town in the Victor Valley of San Bernardino County, in the U.S. state of California. Its population was 75,791 as of the 2020 United States Census. The town is east of and adjoining to the neighboring cities of Victorville and Hesperia, 35 miles (56 km) south of Barstow, and 49 miles (79 km) north of San Bernardino through the Cajon Pass. It was incorporated on November 14, 1988, and is one of the 22 incorporated municipalities in California that use "town" in their names instead of "city".
Herb Jeffries was an American actor of film and television and popular music and jazz singer-songwriter, known for his baritone voice.
A singing cowboy was a subtype of the archetypal cowboy hero of early Western films. It references real-world campfire side ballads in the American frontier. The original cowboys sang of life on the trail with all the challenges, hardships, and dangers encountered while pushing cattle for miles up the trails and across the prairies. This continues with modern vaquero traditions and within the genre of Western music, and its related New Mexico, Red Dirt, Tejano, and Texas country music styles. A number of songs have been written and made famous by groups like the Sons of the Pioneers and Riders in the Sky and individual performers such as Marty Robbins, Gene Autry, Roy Rogers, Tex Ritter, Bob Baker and other "singing cowboys". Singing in the wrangler style, these entertainers have served to preserve the cowboy as a unique American hero.
Ride 'Em Cowboy is a 1942 film starring the comedy team of Abbott and Costello, Dick Foran, Anne Gwynne, Johnny Mack Brown, Ella Fitzgerald, Samuel S. Hinds, Douglas Dumbrille, Morris Ankrum, and directed by Arthur Lubin. The film focuses on Abbott and Costello as they play the role of two peanut vendors on the run from their boss. Despite their lack of knowledge in the trade, they get jobs as cowboys on a dude ranch. The film is set in the West.
Harlem on the Prairie (1937) is American race movie, billed as the first "all-colored" Western musical. The movie reminded audiences that there were black cowboys and corrected a popular Hollywood image of an all-white Old West.
Murray's Ranch, sometimes called the Overall Wearing Dude Ranch, was a guest ranch in Bell Mountain, California from the 1920s until the 1960s. The ranch was located at the northwest corner of Waalew Road and Dale Evans Parkway in Apple Valley, just outside the city limits of Victorville. It was owned by African Americans and catered primarily to an African American clientele. It also served as the set for a number of "all-black cast" western movies including groundbreaking Western musical Harlem on the Prairie (1937).
The Range Busters is a 1940 American Western film directed by S. Roy Luby and written by John Rathmell. The film is the first in Monogram Pictures' "Range Busters" series, and it stars Ray "Crash" Corrigan as Crash, John "Dusty" King as Dusty and Max "Alibi" Terhune as Alibi, with Luana Walters, LeRoy Mason and Earle Hodgins. It was released on August 22, 1940.
Trail Riders is a 1942 American Western film directed by Robert Emmett Tansey. The film is the eighteenth in Monogram Pictures' "Range Busters" series, and it stars John "Dusty" King as Dusty, "Davy" Sharpe and Max "Alibi" Terhune, with Evelyn Finley, Forrest Taylor and Charles King.
The Bronze Buckaroo is a 1939 American Western race film directed by Richard C. Kahn. The Bronze Buckaroo stars Black cowboy singer Herb Jeffries, here billed as Herbert Jeffrey.
Fugitive Valley is a 1941 American Western film directed by S. Roy Luby. The film is the eighth in Monogram Pictures' "Range Busters" series, and it stars Ray "Crash" Corrigan as Crash, John "Dusty" King as Dusty and Max "Alibi" Terhune as Alibi, with Julie Duncan, Glenn Strange and Bob Kortman.
Two Gun Man from Harlem is a 1938 American contemporary Western film directed by Richard C. Kahn. It was produced by Merit Pictures, distributed by Sack Amusement Enterprises and featured an all-African-American cast.
Haunted Ranch is a 1943 American Western film directed by Robert Emmett Tansey. The film is the twentieth in Monogram Pictures' "Range Busters" series, and it stars John "Dusty" King as Dusty, "Davy" Sharpe and Max "Alibi" Terhune, with Rex Lease, Julie Duncan and Glenn Strange.
Two Fisted Justice is a 1943 American Western film directed by Robert Emmett Tansey. The film is the nineteenth in Monogram Pictures' "Range Busters" series, and it stars John "Dusty" King as Dusty, "Davy" Sharpe and Max "Alibi" Terhune, with Gwen Gaze, Joel Davis and John Elliott.
Thunder River Feud is a 1942 American Western film directed by S. Roy Luby and written by John Vlahos and Earle Snell. The film is the twelfth in Monogram Pictures' "Range Busters" series, and it stars Ray "Crash" Corrigan as Crash, John "Dusty" King as Dusty and Max "Alibi" Terhune as Alibi, with Jan Wiley, Jack Holmes and Rick Anderson. The film was released on January 9, 1942.
Breed of the West is a 1930 American pre-Code Western film directed by Alan James, starring Hal Taliaferro, Virginia Brown Faire, and Buzz Barton.
The Kid's Last Ride is a 1941 American western film directed by S. Roy Luby and written by Earle Snell. The film is the fifth in Monogram Pictures' "Range Busters" series, and it stars Ray "Crash" Corrigan as Crash, John "Dusty" King as Dusty and Max "Alibi" Terhune as Alibi, with Luana Walters, Edwin Brian and Alan Bridge. The film was released on February 10, 1941, by Monogram Pictures.
Trailing Double Trouble is a 1940 American Western film directed by S. Roy Luby and written by George H. Plympton and Oliver Drake. The film is the second in Monogram Pictures' "Range Busters" series, and it stars Ray "Crash" Corrigan as Crash, John "Dusty" King as Dusty and Max "Alibi" Terhune as Alibi, with Lita Conway, Nancy Louise King and Roy Barcroft. The film was released on October 10, 1940, by Monogram Pictures.
Lela Murray was a prominent black businesswoman, community leader, and advocate for civil rights in Los Angeles during the first half of the 20th century. She co-founded Murray's Ranch, billed by the press as "the only Negro dude ranch in the world," in Bell Mountain, California, providing a place of recreation and leisure to people of color during a period of racial segregation and anti-black sentiment in the United States.
Lucius "Dusty" Holcey Brooks was a musician, recording artist, and actor in American films. An African American, he portrayed a comedic sidekick in several Western films with African American casts. He performed as part of the Four Tones in several films. He also recorded numerous songs with the Four Tones.
Artie Francis Young was an African-American dancer, and actress of theater and film in the 1930s and 1940s. Her film work includes soundies. Young was considered one of the prettiest girls from Harlem in the 1940s. She went by many name variations, including Artie Brandon, Artie Brandon Young Reed, and Artie Young Davis.