Reform School | |
---|---|
Directed by | Leo C. Popkin |
Written by | Joseph O'Donnell Hazel Barnes Jamieson |
Screenplay by | Zella Young |
Produced by | Harry M. Popkin |
Starring | Louise Beavers Reginald Fenderson Monte Hawley |
Cinematography | William Hyer |
Edited by | Bart Rauw |
Music by | Lou Frohman |
Distributed by | Million Dollar Productions, Inc. |
Release date | April 27, 1939 |
Running time | 82 mins |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Reform School is a 1939 Million Dollar Productions American film produced by Harry M. Popkin, directed by Leo C. Popkin, written by Joseph O'Donnell and Hazel Jamieson and starring Louise Beavers. [1] [2] [3] [4]
In 1944, the film was rereleased as Prison Bait.
Beavers plays Mother Barton, a probation officer [5] of a large city who believes in a plan for an "honor system" at a reform school. When the previous superintendent of the school is ousted, she becomes superintendent and must address a brutal guard, the previous superintendent's henchmen and students at the school. [4]
The film marked the debut of the Harlem Tuff Kids, a group that included Eugene Jackson, DeForrest Covan, Eddie Lynn and Bob Simmons. [6] The group also appeared in the 1942 film Take My Life .
In 2022, a print restored by the Academy Film Archive premiered on the Turner Classic Movies television channel.
Ethel Waters was an American singer and actress. Waters frequently performed jazz, swing, and pop music on the Broadway stage and in concerts. She began her career in the 1920s singing blues. Her notable recordings include "Dinah", "Stormy Weather", "Taking a Chance on Love", "Heat Wave", "Supper Time", "Am I Blue?", "Cabin in the Sky", "I'm Coming Virginia", and her version of "His Eye Is on the Sparrow". Waters was the second African American to be nominated for an Academy Award, the first African American to star on her own television show, and the first African-American woman to be nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award.
Eugene W. Jackson II was an American child actor who was a regular of the Our Gang short series during the silent Pathé era.
Louise Beavers was an American film and television actress who appeared in dozens of films and two hit television shows from the 1920s to 1960. She played a prominent role in advancing the lives of African Americans through her work and worked with fellow advocates to improve the plight and image of blacks.
John Ridgely was an American film character actor with over 175 film credits.
The Big Wheel is a 1949 American drama sport film directed by Edward Ludwig starring Mickey Rooney, Thomas Mitchell, Mary Hatcher and Michael O'Shea. It includes the final screen appearance of Hattie McDaniel.
Babes in Arms is the 1939 American film version of the 1937 coming-of-age Broadway musical of the same title. Directed by Busby Berkeley, it stars Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland, and features Charles Winninger, Guy Kibbee, June Preisser, Grace Hayes, and Betty Jaynes. It was Garland and Rooney's second film together as lead characters after their earlier successful pairing in the fourth of the Andy Hardy films. The film concerns a group of youngsters trying to put on a show to prove their vaudevillian parents wrong and make it to Broadway. The original Broadway script was significantly revamped, restructured, and rewritten to accommodate Hollywood's needs. Almost all of the Rodgers and Hart songs from the Broadway musical were discarded.
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Ralph Cooper, was an American actor, screenwriter, dancer and choreographer. Cooper is best known as the original master of ceremonies and founder of amateur night at the Apollo Theater in Harlem, New York City, in 1935. He wrote, produced, directed and acted in ten motion pictures. Titles include, The Duke Is Tops, Dark Manhattan, Gangsters on the Loose and Gang War. Because of his debonair good looks, he was known as "dark Gable" in the 1930s.
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Unashamed is a 1932 American pre-Code crime drama film directed by Harry Beaumont, written by Bayard Veiller and starring Helen Twelvetrees, Robert Young, Lewis Stone, Jean Hersholt, John Miljan and Monroe Owsley. It was released on July 2, 1932 by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.
Life Goes On is a 1938 crime drama directed by William Nolte and starring Louise Beavers, Edward Thompson, Reginald Fenderson, and Laurence Criner. It was produced by Million Dollar Productions, which created race films with African-American casts for distribution to "colored only" theaters during the years of segregation.
Leo C. Popkin (1914–2011) was a film director and producer in the United States. His brother Harry M. Popkin was the executive producer of Million Dollar Productions, a partnership that included Ralph Cooper.
One Dark Night is an American film released in 1939. Also known as Night Club Girl. It was directed by Leo C. Popkin. It was produced by Harry M. Popkin. The film features an African American cast including Mantan Moreland in a dramatic role.
Million Dollar Productions was a movie studio in the United States active from 1937 until 1940. It was established to produce films with African American casts. It was a partnership between Harry M. Popkin, Leo C. Popkin and Ralph Cooper.
While Thousands Cheer is a lost American film released in 1940. Leo C. Popkin directed. It was the only football-themed film with an African American lead character for decades. It starred Kenny Washington, a football star from UCLA who went on to become the first African American in the NFL after initially being refused an opportunity to play in the league due to segregation.
Gang Smashers, also released as Gun Moll, is an American film released in 1938. It features an African American cast. The National Museum of African American History and Culture has a poster for the film in its collection. Leo C. Popkin directed the Million Dollar Productions film from a screenplay by Ralph Cooper. The University of South Carolina libraries have an 8-page pressbook for the film. Nina Mae McKinney stars in the film a thriller about the Harlem underworld and racketeering.
Reginald Hartley Fenderson was an American actor in theatrical productions and films in the United States. He appeared in various films with African American casts in the 1930s and 1940s.
Tom Southern, also known as Tommy or Thomas Southern, was an actor in American film and stage productions as well as a songwriter. He was a theater actor with the Lafayette Players.
Take My Life is an American film released in 1942. It featured a group of young actors known as the Harlem Tuff Kids. In this film they join the U.S. Army. The group also appeared in the 1939 film Reform School. Both were produced by Million Dollar Productions. Oakton Community College has a poster for the film in its collection. The poster includes the taglines Harlem Goes to War! and Thrill to the Brown Bombers in Action.