MINOR LITTLE FILM "EYES IN THE NIGHT" (1942) IS QUITE A NICE SURPRISE TO DISCOVER. I myself discovered it years ago and was impressed by its polish. Of course, it did originate out of MGM so its quality shouldn't come as THAT much of a surprise -- even if it IS a very small B-picture. But MGM's B-pictures would be poverty row's big budget A-list extravaganza. Going in, one expects to see the typical poverty row programmer but instead one finds beautiful lighting and sweeping camera movements, high quality sets and costumes and a top notch cast. EYES IN THE NIGHT is no film noir and it's not really a mystery; in fact it's more like a "serious" version of the Humphey Bogart feature ALL THROUGH THE NIGHT. EYES involves a detective and a murder but it is more concerned with a group of Nazis trying to snatch a secret formula. The detective angle is also quite interesting -- the detective is blind. "Mac" Maclain (Edward Arnold) has a loyal and ingenious seeing-eye dog named Friday (played by Himself naturally) but "Mac" is also shown quite early on as someone who can take care of himself: he is a scrapper who can make mincemeat out of a couple men in an early "self-defense class"-type scene. Arnold's considerable bulk is believeable in bringing this aspect of the blind detective to life since he appears to be built like a tank. Mac's niece Norma (Ann Harding) has married a scientist Stephen Lawry (Reginald Denny) and clashes with his headstrong daughter Barbara (Donna Reed). Barbara is seeing a cad named Paul Gerente (John Emery) who happens to be Norma's old flame. Stephen is working on something secret for the U.S. military and has the plans locked up in his safe while he goes off to conduct testing. As previously noted, there is a murder (actually a couple) and a group of Nazi spies. I'm not going to give more away because you should really see the film for yourself.

EYES IN THE NIGHT is based on a mystery novel by Baynard Kendrick entitled "The Odor of Violets". Kendrick (who also created the characters for the "Longstreet" TV series) himself wrote the screenplay along with Guy Trosper and Howard Emmett Rogers. Trosper was a screenwriter responsible for JAILHOUSE ROCK, ONE-EYED JACKS, THE BIRDMAN OF ALCATRAZ, THE SPY WHO CAME IN FROM THE COLD as well as THE PRIDE OF ST. LOUIS (1952) for which he was nominated for an Oscar. Rogers wrote the cult film TARZAN AND HIS MATE (I wonder if he wrote the nudey swimming scenes), LIBELED LADY, FOR ME AND MY GAL and CALLING BULLDOG DRUMMOND among others. Now that's some line of talent in the script department. But then we get to the director who may be a bit of a surprise: Fred Zinnemann. Yes, THAT Fred Zinnemann; who gave us HIGH NOON, MEMBER OF THE WEDDING, FROM HERE TO ETERNITY, OKLAHOMA, A MAN FOR ALL SEASONS, DAY OF THE JACKAL and JULIA! As I said, when MGM makes a tiny little B-picture, this is the level of talent they utilize.

And speaking of talent, that brings us to the cast. Edward Arnold steps away from his busy character acting status in such films as THREE ON A MATCH, WHISTLING IN THE DARK, THE GLASS KEY, YOU CAN'T TAKE IT WITH YOU, MR. SMITH GOES TO WASHINGTON, MEET JOHN DOE, and THE DEVIL AND DANIEL WEBSTER in order to play the lead here as blind detective Duncan "Mac" Maclain. Arnold is excellent in the role making a blind detective who can take on murderers and spies seem perfectly plausible. He is ably abetted by Friday the German Shephard who is an excellent trained actor performing lots and lots of terrific stunts as well as being a pretty good little actor himself. Ann Harding will forever be known to me from her terrified leading lady status opposite a scene-chewing Basil Rathbone in the classic thirties thriller LOVE FROM A STRANGER. A very young Donna Reed plays her "Veda"-like role as the petulant daughter nicely as well; proving she had acting chops even this early in her career. Reed, of course, would win the Oscar for FROM HERE TO ETERNITY (once more teaming with director Zinnemann) as well as memorable roles in THE PICTURE OF DORIAN GRAY and IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE. Silent film veteran Reginald Denny was around for a long time in films ranging from Buster Keaton's PARLOR, BEDROOM AND BATH, PRIVATE LIVES (1931), THE LOST PATROL, ROMEO AND JULIET (1936), a slew of BULLDOG DRUMMOND films as sidekick Algy, Alfred Hitchcock's REBECCA, MR. BLANDINGS BUILDS HIS DREAM HOUSE, CAT BALLOU and all the way to his final film: BATMAN based on the campy 60's TV series. Caddish Paul Gerente is played by terminal cad John Emery who played similarly-flavoured roles in such films as HERE COMES MR. JORDAN, Hitchcock's SPELLBOUND, ROCKETSHIP X-M, THE MAD MAGICIAN, Jayne Mansfield starrer THE GIRL CAN'T HELP IT, KRONOS and the BORIS KARLOFF'S THRILLER episode "The Devil's Ticket" as the Devil himself. Type casting. Longtime character actress Rosemary DeCamp appears here as a compromised maid in with the Nazis; among her countless roles on television and in films are YANKEE DOODLE DANDY (playing much older than her actual age as was her wont) as James Cagney's mother, STRATEGIC AIR COMMAND with James Stewart, William Castle's scare-fest 13 GHOSTS as well as recurring roles on TV's THE LIFE OF RILEY (as Peg), THE BOB CUMMING SHOW and THAT GIRL (as Marlo Thomas' mother Mrs. Marie). Stage actress Katherine Emery is nicely sinister as the Nazi bund leader. This was her first film role and her small list of movies includes Val Lewton's chiller ISLE OF THE DEAD with Boris Karloff, and her final film THE MAZE. And I'm sorry but nobody can convince me that Katherine Emery is not the long-lost sister of Mercedes McCambridge; the resemblance is uncanny and the voice is almost exactly the same if only lower! Another Nazi is played by Stanley Ridges who is probably most familiar to horror fans for his showing role in the forgettable borefest BLACK FRIDAY alongside wasted Boris Karloff and Bela Lugosi; other films includes roles in UNION PACIFIC, EACH DAWN I DIE, MR. DISTRICT ATTORNEY, SERGEANT YORK, TO BE OR NOT TO BE, WILSON, POSSESSED and THE FILE ON THELMA JORDAN. Finally we have a small role by the beloved comedian Mantan Moreland! What more could you want from a film?!?! EYES IN THE NIGHT comes in a really nice print on an Alpha DVD as well as viewable in its entirety on the Internet Archive (link can be found over on the right). This is really a nice little film. No classic but certainly much better than it has a right to be.

DR. SHOCK'S HALLOWEENIE MOVIE OF THE DAY: KING OF THE ZOMBIES (1941). Justly famous as one of the best Monograms ever -- and that rest solely on the capable shoulders of the magnificent Mantan Moreland; who simply steals the film. Now, I'm not saying that KING OF THE ZOMBIES wouldn't be a good movie without Mantan; it's actually one of the more competently-made Monogram B-pictures in the stable: Jean Yarbrough's direction is snappy and eliminates all draggy bits. However, it's debatable whether the film would be what it is now -- a horror comedy -- without the virtuoso performance of Mantan Moreland. And surely the director and the studio knew what gold they had because they gave Moreland free reign in KING OF THE ZOMBIES to become it's de facto star. Naval intelligence agent Bill Summers (John Archer), his valet Jefferson Jackson (Mantan Moreland) and pilot "Mac" McCarthy (Dick Purcell) are flying to the baHAYmas (that's the way they pronounce it) searching for a missing admiral when they hear a mysterious radio broadcast in a foreign language eminating from a tropical island below. When they go lower to investigate, the plane crashes -- into a creepy cemetery! Nearby is the equally creepy house of Dr. Miklos Sangre (Henry Victor) -- yes, the name means "blood" -- who offers the crash survivors lodging until the next boat to the island arrives in two weeks' time. There is a cadaverous butler Momba (Leigh Whipper), a cackling witch-like voodoo woman Tahama (Madame Sul-Te-Wan), a beautiful and sassy servant Samantha (Marguerite Whitten), Dr. Sangre's somnambulistic wife (Patricia Stacye) and Sangre's lovely niece Barbara (Joan Woodbury). There is also, as Jeff soon learns, a passle of zombies trudging around the house. Of course, we know Dr. Sangre is up to no good and he's actually "cultivating" zombies for the Nazis as an unending supply of cannon fodder. Wacky as it seems, certain Nazis actually considered such an option: the term for it was "todenkorps". But of course we're not watching the movie for the plot, really, are we??? No, we're watching it for the sheer joy of Mantan Moreland; whose wisecracks and putdowns lift the movie to another level. It really is a showcase for the comedian and everyone seems to have realized that and let Moreland run with it. For a particular treat, click here to listen to a medley of Mantan's "loquacious" quips!

The film has a particularly strong cast before you fold Mantan Moreland into the mix. Top-billed Dick Purcell was the first actor ever to portray Captain America on screen in the 1944 serial. He also appeared alongside Mantan Moreland and Joan Woodbury in 1942's PHANTOM KILLER as well as with Mantan and Frankie Darro in their first buddy film together: 1939's IRISH LUCK. KING OF THE ZOMBIES' ingenue Joan Woodbury, besides appearing in the aforementioned PHANTOM KILLER also appeared alongside Mantan Moreland in CHARLIE CHAN IN THE CHINESE CAT as well as BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN (she was the uncredited little queen in the jar), ROGUES TAVERN (1936), ALGIERS (1938) alongside Charles Boyer and Hedy Lamarr, THE LIVING GHOST (1942), BRENDA STARR REPORTER (1945) in the lead role, DeMille's 1956 THE TEN COMMANDMENTS and 1964's THE TIME TRAVELERS. KING OF THE ZOMBIES co-hero John Archer appears oddly far down in the credit list considering his leading role here. Archer, in addition to appearing on radio as THE SHADOW for about a year or so also featured in the films BOWERY AT MIDNIGHT (1942) with Bela Lugosi, SHERLOCK HOLMES IN WASHINGTON (1943) with Basil Rathbone, THE EVE OF ST. MARK (1944) with Vincent Price, WHITE HEAT (1949) with James Cagney, DESTINATION MOON (1950), and Budd Boeticcher's 1957 western DECISION AT SUNDOWN with Randolph Scott. The role of Dr. Sangre was actually originally meant for Bela Lugosi -- and imagine what a treat KING OF THE ZOMBIES would've been with both Moreland AND Lugosi vying for screen time! However, Lugosi instead was shunted off into THE INVISIBLE GHOST and Henry Victor replaced him. Having said that, Victor is no disappointment and plays the role rather well; he plays it completely straight with real Nazi menace. Victor, of course, appeared as the nasty strongman in Tod Browning's FREAKS (1932) as well as NICK CARTER MASTER DETECTIVE (1939), TO BE OR NOT TO BE (1942) with Jack Benny and Carole Lombard (in her final film) and SHERLOCK HOLMES AND THE SECRET WEAPON (1943). Director Jean Yarbrough is no stranger to genre features as well: his credits include THE DEVIL BAT (1940) with Bela Lugosi, THE GANG'S ALL HERE (1941) with Mantan Moreland and Frankie Darro, FRECKLES COMES HOME (1942) and LAW OF THE JUNGLE (1942) both with Mantan Moreland, several Abbott & Costello comedies, Universal's HOUSE OF HORRORS (1946) with Rondo Hatton and Martin Kosleck, SHE-WOLF OF LONDON (1946) the worst Universal horror film ever made, THE BRUTE MAN (1946) and THE CREEPER (1948) both with Rondo Hatton as "The Creeper" and the abyssmal HILLBILLYS IN A HAUNTED HOUSE (1967). As I've said repeatedly, KING OF THE ZOMBIES (which you may watch in its entirety by clicking here for the Internet Archives) may be an above-average Monogram B-picture that would've been worth watching in its own right but with the addition of Mantan Moreland the film becomes a star vehicle for a comedian who took the limitations of war-time Hollywood and eliminated them with nothing but his talent, his charm and his great humour.

THE ULTIMATE PARTY TAPE "HORRIBLE HORROR" WAS RELEASED BY GOODTIMES VIDEO IN 1986 STARRING THE COOL GHOUL ZACHERLEY HIMSELF. Now, I don't know what kind of party has this tape playing in the background but THAT'S a party I wanna attend! Unfortunately for all of us, the nearly 2 hour tape is not available on DVD and, more to the point, it wasn't even released in high quality SP (the fastest VHS speed) but was in the slower, lower quality LP or even (gasp) EP speed! But the gloriousness of pure gold glisters no matter how muddy. This was a tape I simply adored from the first moment I clapped eyes on it -- I believe, in a big bin of video tapes at K-Mart! Clutching it to my worm-infested bosom, I flew home on pterodactyl wings and popped it in the VCR.

Naturally, the reasons for the tape to exist are two-fold: firstly to provide a forum in which to sell a passle of trailers and public domain horror movie clips. But even better was the chance to see the great Zacherley -- granddaddy of all TV horror hosts -- once again in harness and in ghoulish action for more than a few minutes. This is a rare opportunity to see Zach do his classic stuff -- and in COLOUR yet -- something which hadn't been seen since his late 50's-early 60's heyday first on Philadelphia local TV (as Roland) and then (as Zacherley) after his move to New York City television. Zacherley is in top form on HORRIBLE HORROR as he revives and elaborates on his classic schtick: electrocuting wind-up monster toys, jousting with a stuffed vampire bat (uh, it's a girl...), dissecting his patented green jello amoeba or probing a cauliflower brain. Zach even revives his original concept of sneaking himself into the movies we're watching. . . as well as providing a nice cameo appearance by his wife "My Dear" in the box. Zacherley even provides a priceless television appearance from the 1950's in which, apparently on Pat Boone's TV programme, the Cool Ghoul serenades him outside a window in the rain. This is the kind of archival footage of Zacherley we didn't get to see until the release of THE ZACHERLEY ARCHIVES on VHS and, later, DVD.

SIDEBAR: When I met the great man himself several years ago, Zacherley kindly autographed my DVD of THE ZACHERLEY ARCHIVES in his own inimitable way: "From Zacherley and all the creeps in Transylvania". Take a gander below.

So, what is all this getting at??? Is HORRIBLE HORROR the best video in the entire world. Well, of course it is. How could something that combines the greatest horror host ever with piles of horror and science fiction clips be anything BUT?!?!?

And what about those aforementioned clips? Well, as I said, they are culled from scads of movie trailers and public domain monster movies. However, the conceit of the HORRIBLE HORROR video is that Zacherley, after about 500 years or so, has been evicted from his Transylvanian castle so he has to gather together all his treasures and move out. Many of these treasures, of course, are film reels which the Cool Ghoul thankfully plays for us (with the help of his unseen, groaning assistant Ygor). Ygor and Zacherley has thankfully compiled the clips into loose categories such as "Creatures I Have Known And Loved", "Dracula's Home Movies" and "Special Effects...or Is It Special DEFECTS?!".

Just listen to this list of horror and science fiction fun on display in HORRIBLE HORROR: so-called Dr. Radford Bain of the Information Service warning us of the terrible threat of THE KILLER SHREWS -- even though those on display look about as dangerous as hamsters, THE ALLIGATOR PEOPLE complete with facial bandaging which looks more like a urinal, Mexican monster BRAINIAC sucking the brains out of a pudgy-fingered ingenue, a slightly-booze-soaked Lon Chaney Jr. attempting menace as THE INDESTRUCTIBLE MAN, Jonathan Haze feeding a severed hand to his bloodthirsty plant in LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS, intergalactic invader Ro-Man (with the gorilla suit and wacky diver's helmet) carrying off a damsel who seems more inclined to giggle than to scream, a young Peter Graves trying to take an alien with ping-ping ball eyes seriously in KILLERS FROM SPACE, Bela Lugosi pretending he's a wall painting and sneezing on one of the Dead End Kids -- of course, Bela made his sneeze sound distinctively like "Oh Shit!", Mantan Moreland stealing the entire movie KING OF THE ZOMBIES away from the rest of the cast by being "loquacious", evil overlord Vultura twisting the nipple-knob of a leftover PHANTOM EMPIRE robot in CAPTAIN VIDEO, MASTER OF THE STRATOSPHERE, Ray "Crash" Corrigan (with a fin on his head) strapped to the front of a vehicle of death (driven, in fact, by a young bit player named Lon Chaney Jr.!) in THE UNDERSEA KINGDOM, and Edward D. Wood Jr. making himself happy with "a pair of lace undies" in GLEN OR GLENDA.

HORRIBLE HORROR also contains some more rarities which I've not seen practically anywhere else. Besides the aforementioned Zacherley TV appearance on The Pat Boone Show there is also Barry Atwater (the vampire in the original telefilm THE NIGHT STALKER) in full Dracula gear leading us in the taking of "The Oath" to the Count Dracula Society: "I do hereby swear, aver and depose that I will hereinafter assist all the efforts of the Count Dracula Society . . . so long as they remain consistent with the loyalties of a good American . . . and in sign whereof I will receive all priviledges thereto, so help me Christopher Lee!" This rarity alone, which I've never seen ANYWHERE else, is worth the (small) price of admission. Also present are the classic bloopers on the set of ABBOTT AND COSTELLO MEET FRANKENSTEIN, Rod Serling's "raspberry blooper" from THE TWILIGHT ZONE, Bela Lugosi's early 30's "Intimate Interview" as well as his classic assault on Betty Boop (Betty...you have booped your last boop!"), a rare 1950's Bela Lugosi TV appearance on YOU ASKED FOR IT! performing his "weird vampire bat illusion", as well as scenes from early TV programmes like CAPTAIN MIDNIGHT, FLASH GORDON and the Universal/Hammer Films co-production TALES OF FRANKENSTEIN. From the sound of things, you might think the King of Horror Boris Karloff doesn't appear in this video; well, he certainly does (ranging from the classic chess "confrontation" against Bela with the skull on the mantlepiece between them to DICK TRACY MEETS GRUESOME. However, probably owing to Karloff's slightly better fortune in the movie business, he doesn't appear as much as Lugosi or even Chaney Jr. This despite the relative wealth of Karloff poverty row material from THE APE to the Mr. Wong pictures to FRANKENSTEIN 1970 to VOODOO ISLAND to THE DEVIL COMMANDS or any of the Columbia "mad doctor" movies. Ah well, that's show-biz!

HORRIBLE HORROR is so good (if you're a true horror and science fiction fan) that it leaves you wanting A LOT more! The producers could have made the video twice as long and we STILL would be asking for more. I've always dreamed of being given the chance of editing in EVEN MORE old clips. After all, there is SO MUCH still missing -- where are THE SLIME PEOPLE, for instance, or any of the Santo movies, THE PHANTOM FROM 10,000 LEAGUES, CREATURE FROM THE HAUNTED SEA, DEMENTIA 13, PLAN 9 FROM OUTER SPACE, MR. WONG DETECTIVE or any of 100 I could mention which are not included herein. Someone should have commissioned a sequel -- HORRIBLE HORROR 2 -- long before now. With Zacherley himself still making the trek to every Chiller Theater convention in his early 90's, there is still a chance, of course, but methinks the powers that be have missed the boat. But at least we have the wonderful wackiness of HORRIBLE HORROR (as well as THE ZACHERLEY ARCHIVES dvd) to revisit again and again. And again!

CHARACTER ACTORS PART 5: MANTAN MORELAND Here's a few of the reasons why I love him: Harlem on the Prairie (1937) Spirit of Youth (1938) Two-Gun Man From Harlem (1938) Riders of the Frontier (1939) w/ Tex Ritter Irish Luck (1939) w/ Frankie Darro Chasing Trouble (1940) w/ Frankie Darro On the Spot (1940) w/ Frankie Darro Laughing at Danger (1940) w/ Frankie Darro Up in the Air (1940) w/ Frankie Darro Drums of the Desert (1940) w/ Ralph Byrd Up Jumped the Devil (1941) w/ Maceo B. Sheffield Lucky Ghost (1941) w/ F.E. Miller & Maceo B. Sheffield You're Out of Luck (1941) w/ Frankie Darro King of the Zombies (1941) The Gang's All Here (1941) w/ Frankie Darro Mr. Washington Goes to Town (1941) w/ F. E. Miller Dressed To Kill (1941) Professor Creeps (1942) w/ F. E. Miller Freckles Comes Home (1942) w/ Gale Storm Law of the Jungle (1942) The Strange Case of Dr. Rx (1942) w/ Lionel Atwill A-Haunting We Will Go (1942) w/ Laurel & Hardy Phantom Killer (1942) Eyes In the Night (1942) w/ Edward Arnold & Donna Reed The Palm Beach Story (1942) w/ Claudette Colbert Cabin in the Sky (1943) w/ Ethel Waters & Lena Horne Hit the Ice (1943) w/ Abbott & Costello Revenge of the Zombies (1943) w/ John Carradine Mantan Runs For Mayor (1946) Mantan Messes Up (1946) Come On, Cowboy (1948) w/ F. E. Miller Spider Baby (1968) w/ Lon Chaney Jr. Watermelon Man (1970) w/ Godfrey Cambridge Over to the right there in the archives you'll find me blathering on about Mantan Moreland and his groundbreaking interracial "buddy films" with Frankie Darro. Look over there. It's in February 2006 archive and the article is called "IRISH LUCK". Go ahead. I'll wait. Oh, you're back. OK, well Mantan was really the star of almost every picture he was in (take King of the Zombies for just one example -- he's the only reason to watch it and he lifts the film from abysmal to magical). Like all other actors of colour at the time, Mantan Moreland was mostly relegated to the role of valet, porter, janitor, chauffer or any number of other working class jobs. For this inescapable fact of life in old Hollywood, Moreland would later be lambasted and ridiculed for his "demeaning and offensive roles". This was quite unfair and, in fact, quite untrue. Unlike stereotyped portrayals by, for instance, Stepin Fetchit, Mantan Moreland shaped his film portrayals in much the same manner as Eddie "Rochester" Anderson; that is, he was usually smarter than his boss and didn't hide that fact -- slipping in sarcastic barbs which usually went over their heads. In his new book “Mantan the Funnyman”, Michael H. Price describes an interesting conversation he once had with the N.A.A.C.P.’s Dr. Richard Jones; who referred to Moreland as an “Uncle Tom” and admitted that his organization actively strove to “put the wraps on his career”. “Well, sir,” replied Price, “all due respect, but I’ve always found Mantan to be pretty darned heroic and quick-witted. Closer to Paul Robeson than to Stepin Fetchit, if you’re talking about dignity and resourcefulness.” Price later goes on to relate Dr. Jones’ response: “Well, it’s not as though we had tried to kick him out of the race, or any such thing. The organization’s lobbyists merely discouraged his employment among the moving-picture companies and urged him to apply his talents to a higher calling.” Price goes on to make the cogent point that Dr. Jones added “That was a long time ago” as if to suggest that character assassination and career sabotage came equipped with a statute of limitations”. Mantan was a life-long consummate comedian and, as such, went for the laugh. In his good number of horror films (and mysteries featuring Charlie Chan), Mantan played the scared assistant in much the same manner as Lou Costello would have. The mere fact that some people falsely point to this as "a demeaning portrayal" simply because of the colour of Moreland's skin points out their own racism; if comedians like Lou Costello, Harold Lloyd, Bert Lahr or the Three Stooges could portray the same type of cowardly characters why should Mantan Moreland be denied the same right?!? Speaking of the Three Stooges, it was the express wish of both Moe & Shemp Howard that Mantan Moreland take Shemp's place in the Three Stooges. Moe, as late as 1973, was still lamenting the fact that the studio would not allow it and stuck them with prissy Joe Besser. While Mantan was only a supporting player in mainstream Hollywood films, he was allowed to headline in films made for and by African Americans such as Lucky Ghost (one of his funniest). The political correctness which almost destroyed his career in the 1950's hurt Moreland very badly; especially since he knew in his heart he never demeaned himself on the silver screen. It wasn't until the 60's when Mantan's career began to be reevaluated and his unfair treatment began to subside. Director Jack Hill brought him aboard for his film "Spider Baby" and others like Bill Cosby and Carl Reiner welcomed Mantan on to their productions as well. Sadly, his chronic ill health finally ended Moreland's life just as he was beginning to find work again. The fact remains, however, that Mantan Moreland lived to provide joy and entertainment for the entire world. *** All sentences in red are either direct quotes or paraphrases from Michael H. Price’s book “Mantan the Funnyman” available from Midnight Marquee Press. CLICK HERE and buy a copy right away!

DYNAMIC DUOS PART 8: RACIAL EQUALITY . . . IN 1940?!?

What's all this Lethal Weapon malarchy? Hollywood's first integrated buddy team was the unheralded and forgotten pairing of Mantan Moreland and Frankie Darro. In a series of films beginning with "Irish Luck", Mantan & Frankie were amateur sleuths fighting crooks in hotels, radio stations and trucking companies. The strange thing for the time was that both men were genuine friends and treated each other as equals. Both men were on equal economic and social footing; in "The Gang's All Here" Frankie and Mantan were both truck drivers, in "Up In the Air" both men worked in a hotel, etc. Unlike all other Hollywood product of the era (and even long after), these films depicted a white guy who treated a black guy as an equal partner and that, I think, makes these films remarkable. Any person of color in forties films was ALWAYS a servant/employee of the white establishment figure; Mantan and Frankie was co-workers, good friends and equal partners. The white authority figures in this series of films would still look down on Mantan as a menial but Frankie got the same treatment. And each time it happened, Mantan was ready with a barbed gag line to make the audience laugh. Mantan Moreland would later be crucified in the 60's by the NAACP for so-called "demeaning" roles but this was completely unfair and hurt the actor deeply. Unlike such actors as Stepin Fetchit, Moreland didn't bow and scrape but usually had a witty remark to make to "the man". The whole point of these movies was that Mantan and Frankie were the underdogs; working class stiffs who were just trying to get by but always got mixed up in some comical caper. At the end of these films, our two poor laborers always ended up on top as they watched the bad guys get carted away to justice. Along the way, Frankie and Mantan managed to demonstrate that an integrated equal partnership had prevailed. All this during the hopelessly segregated forties. Not bad for a bunch of poverty row quickie B-pictures. Not bad for Mantan Moreland and Frankie Darro.

"Irish Luck" is the first film of the unheralded and forgotten comedy team of Mantan Moreland and Frankie Darro. The two men sadly only had a handful of pictures in which to craft their partnership but these films are historically important and deserve to be better known. Frankie Darro and Mantan Moreland remain the very first film team in cinematic history to depict a white man and a black man as equal partners. In each one of their films together, Darro and Moreland were on equal social and professional levels in the depiction of their film characters. Both men were friends on screen and in real life (in fact, Darro served as pallbearer at Moreland's funeral). In each film, Darro interacted with Moreland as if there were no color barrier between them while Mantan behaved as Frankie's equal in each film situation. The significance of such a matter of fact cinematic depiction of racial equality is monumental in film history (especially as it occurred in 1939: the year Hattie McDaniel won an Academy Award for playing Vivien Leigh's slave -- no equality to be found in their screen partnership!) "Irish Luck" (subtitled "Amateur Detective") is based on the obscure mystery novel "Death Hops the Bells" by Charles Molyneux Brown and concerns the amateur crime-fighting exploits of bellhop Buzzy O'Brien (Darro) and hotel baggage clerk Jefferson (Moreland). The film opens seemingly halfway into another movie. Fire engines and police cars speed to the Hotel Royale with sirens screaming. Buzzy is seen hiding underneath a bed in a hotel room while unknowing gangsters discuss their plans. Simultaneously a suicidal woman paces back and forth on the hotel roof ledge; this is the cause for concern among the racing fire engines and police cars. A bewildered viewer must at this point be thinking that the DVD company must have left out a couple of reels from the beginning of the film. What is going on?!? Of course, this isn't the actual plot of "Irish Luck" but only a quick setup to portray the characters of Buzzy and Jefferson as amateur sleuths. The suicidal woman on the roof is in actuality only a dummy rigged up by Jefferson to get the cops to the hotel quick in order to catch the gangsters who have Buzzy trapped under a bed. This is the only way to get help fast since the pair's previous amateur sleuthing has so annoyed the authorities that calling the police would be a case of our heroes merely "crying wolf". Naturally, Detective Steve Lanahan (Dick Purcell who would later co-star with Mantan Moreland again in both "King of the Zombies" and "Phantom Killer") arrests the gangsters and gives Buzzy a telling-off about playing detective. Buzzy promises he's through with sleuthing and the pair go back to work at the hotel. Before too much time goes by, Buzzy's penchant for clue-gathering lands him right in the middle of another mess. Hotel guest Kitty Monahan (Sheila Darcy) asks Buzzy to call down to the front desk and ask if there is a Thaddeus Porter staying in the hotel. There is. When Buzzy looks at the tip Kitty has slipped him, it turns out to be a small charm of the "see no evil hear no evil speak no evil" monkeys. Buzzy discovers that Porter is a big time banker and manages to finagle delivering a telegram to the man. On the way up to Porter's room, Buzzy barrels into another man as he exits the elevator. Buzzy falls flat on his back as the man, holding his injured nose, berates him for clumsiness. The man gets on the elevator and disappears before Buzzy notices a baggage claim check the man must have dropped. Too late to return it, Buzzy heads for Porter's room. He just glimpses the door to Kitty Monahan's room closing. When he turns the corner, he finds Jefferson knocking on Porter's partially ajar door. The two men push open the door to find the dead banker's corpse. Jefferson tells Buzzy he saw a woman in a striped dress leaving Porter's room. Buzzy secretly opens Porter's telegram which reads: "K. M. left for Bluff City by bus this morning. Have Her Watched. She may contact Jim. Signed Wilkins, Sheriff". Buzzy pretends to call the police, locks Jefferson in the room with the corpse and bolts to Kitty's room to warn her she was seen leaving Porter's room. Kitty insists she went to see Porter and was told to hide in the bedroom when two unidentified men knocked on the door. They argued with Porter and left. She came out to find the banker had been stabbed. Buzzy has Kitty quickly get out of her striped dress and go down to the lobby to await instructions. Buzzy disposes of the dress down a laundry chute and rejoins Jefferson in the murder room. Buzzy then calls the police for real this time and once again faces the exasperated displeasure of Detective Lanahan. The plot soon comes to involve Kitty's missing brother Jim and $100,000 in missing bank bonds but the plot of "Irish Luck" is only secondary to the screen presence of Darro and Moreland. They are the real reason to watch the film; even though the mystery plot is quite good in itself. Michael Price and George Turner (in their book "Forgotton Horrors 2") remark that "Darro and Moreland are about equally matched in the google-eyes department when it comes to scared-silly reactions." This fact can readily be seen by just glancing at the back of the Alpha DVD of "Irish Luck" which displays a photo of both actors in full "google". Price and Turner go on to say: "Darro concentrates on the boyish impulsiveness that generates their close shaves, where Moreland is more the wise and resourceful party who has a philosophical quip for every occasion and an outlandish solution for the final desperate encounter." This formula for their film characterizations would be used in all of their further screen teamings. Being the first film in this loose series, "Irish Luck" hasn't fully crystalized the on screen chemistry of the Moreland/Darro team. Subsequent entries in the series would showcase the comfortable and relaxed magic the two actors could create effortlessly when working together in such joyful romps as "Up In the Air" and "You're Out of Luck". Frankie and Mantan were a natural team. Someone must have realized how good they were on screen together or why else would they have been assigned to make over a half dozen pictures together. This realization makes it even more odd that the two were never touted as a screen team even though they clearly were (and a great one at that). As Price and Turner lament in "Forgotten Horrors 2" (as the only champions of the Darro/Moreland team I've ever seen), the simple addition of an ampersand in movie posters and advertising would have drawn the public's attention to the fact that Mantan & Frankie were a team and cemented that idea in the collective public consciousness. This could have led to more and better film teamings and a wide recognition among film scholars of the ground-breaking importance of the film partnership of Frankie Darro and Mantan Moreland.