Sepia Cinderella (1947)
** (out of 4)
Barbara (Sheila Guyse) is secretly in love with band member Bob (Billy Daniels) but after he makes a hit record she fears that he might be lured away by the vamp Vivian (Tondaleyo).
Here's another low-budget race movie that was produced to be shown in black theaters across America. If you're looking for something ground-breaking then you're obviously not going to find it here but if you're a fan of these race movies then there's plenty to enjoy here. Obviously, the main reason to watch this is for the music of Daniels who was still a bit before his prime.
Even though Daniels hadn't quite found his mark yet, it's still fun seeing him before he was extremely famous and for the most part the musical numbers here are good enough. You won't be looking the songs up afterwards to add to your MP3 players but while the movie is going on they kept me entertained. The strangest thing about this movie is a quick cameo by former child star Freddie Bartholomew.
I'm really not sure how Bartholomew got in the picture but it was clearly meant as a way for him to be introduced back to cinema after the war. It's a little confusing as how being in a race picture would have helped but the cameo is quite bizarre but interesting if you're a fan of his. Apparently Sidney Poitier is also somewhere in the cast as an extra but I was unable to see him.
SEPIA Cinderella isn't a masterpiece or even a good movie but it's a mildly entertaining picture.
