Cheap Big Timers (Video) (Bud Pollard) Price

Related Products

Customer Reviews of Big Timers

A controversial "All Black Cast Classic" from 1945
I have only recently begun to discover the "All Black Cast Classics" from the mid-twentieth century, and Big Timers would seem to be a classic representative of the genre. Many of these films are controversial and labeled black exploitation by many of today's critics and viewers. I try not to watch these films through lenses of racism, and frankly I'm impressed by the appeal of these films. Big Timers not only features a compelling storyline, it simply oozes with talent. Music, singing, dancing - these folks forevermore put on a show, and I am of the opinion that these performers, having already been denied the prominence they deserved as talented individuals during their own era, deserve the recognition today that was not afforded to them then.

Big Timers features Stepin Fetchit (born Lincoln Perry), an extremely controversial but fascinating entertainer. His unusual name does much to explain the man's image; he, perhaps more than any other black entertainer, has long been scorned for his stereotypical portrayal of the shiftless, unintelligent, lazy black man who follows the beck and call of white actors. In his era, though, he was highly successful; in fact, he was a celebrated crowd-pleasing comedian and the first black actor to become a millionaire (although he declared bankruptcy in 1947, two years after this particular film was released). Many people refuse to show or watch Stepin Fetchit movies now, and I think this is a real shame. He is a most unusual performer from both a stylistic and historical viewpoint.

As for the film itself, it offers a story that almost everyone then and now can understand and relate to; this is a story about the poor folks who work for rich folks. Betty Washburn (Francine Everett) is a talented young singer who is set to marry the man she loves, aviator Tom Powers. Because Betty has such a professional singing voice, Tom, who comes from a wealthy family himself, thinks her family is comfortable if not wealthy; in actuality, Betty's mother Cora (Lou Swarz) is a chambermaid at a nice hotel who has worked and saved her money over the years in order to pay for Betty's music training. In order to calm her daughter's fears, Cora borrows the apartment of entertainer Mabel Page (Gertrude Saunders) while she is out of town, entertaining her future in-laws in high style. When Mabel returns home unexpectedly, disaster is averted when Cora explains the situation to her; not only does Mabel let the cat stay in the bag, she calls up the members of her U.S.O. touring group and puts on a grand show for the happy couple. It is indeed quite a show. There's an all-girl orchestra, a dance number, a "jungle dance" by a very curvy, hip-swinging Tarzana, a vintage mumble song and dance by Stepin Fetchit himself, and a lights-out musical number by Mabel.

Big Timers only runs some forty minutes, but it packs all kinds of entertainment into its short running time. The singing voices of Francine Everett and especially Gertrude Saunders are divine. Take away the performance of Stepin Fetchit, which many people consider "degrading," and what I see in Big Timers is a short but very good movie that will appeal to men and women of all races. I think this movie should be seen and enjoyed by people today, not consigned to the trash heap of history. Stepin Fetchit himself, no matter what you think of him, was a true pioneer in black entertainment history, and movies such as this provide insight into the black culture of mid-twentieth century America.