''Moon Over Harlem'' is a 1939 American

race film The race film or race movie was a genre of film produced in the United States between about 1915 and the early 1950s, consisting of films produced for black audiences, and featuring black casts. Approximately five hundred race films were produce ...

directed by

Edgar G. Ulmer Edgar Georg Ulmer (; September 17, 1904 – September 30, 1972) was a Jewish- Moravian, Austrian-American film director who mainly worked on Hollywood B movies and other low-budget productions, eventually earning the epithet 'The King of PRC', ...

Plot summary

A gangster, Dollar Bill Richards, seduces a wealthy widow, Minnie, to get his hands on her money.

Cast

Bud Harris In botany, a bud is an undeveloped or embryonic shoot and normally occurs in the axil of a leaf or at the tip of a stem. Once formed, a bud may remain for some time in a dormant condition, or it may form a shoot immediately. Buds may be spec ...

as Dollar Bill *

Cora Green Cora Green (December 10, 1895 – died after 1949) was an American actress, singer, and dancer, billed as "The Famous Creole Singer". Early life Cora Chambers was born in Baltimore, Maryland, in 1895, the daughter of Alexander Chambers and El ...

as Minnie * Izinetta Wilcox as Sue * Earl Gough as Bob * Zerita Steptean as Jackie *

Petrina Moore Petrina may refer to: * Petrina, Arcadia, a village in Arcadia, Greece * Petrina, Laconia, a village in the Sminos municipal unit, Laconia, Greece * Petrina, Kostel, a village near Kostel * Petrina (surname) *Petrina (given name) Petrina is a femi ...

as Alice *

Daphne Fray Daphne (; ; el, Δάφνη, , ), a minor figure in Greek mythology, is a naiad, a variety of female nymph associated with fountains, wells, springs, streams, brooks and other bodies of freshwater. There are several versions of the myth in wh ...

as Pat * Mercedes Gilbert as Jackie's mother * Frances Harrod as Maud *

Alec Lovejoy Alec or Aleck is a Scottish form of the given name Alex. It may be a diminutive of the name Alexander or a given name in its own right. Notable people with the name include: People *Alec Aalto (1942–2018), Finnish diplomat *Alec Acton (1938–1 ...

as Fats *Walter Richardson as Brother Hornsby *

Slim Thompson Slim or SLIM may refer to: Arts and entertainment Fictional characters * Slim Goodbody, a fictional character who teaches about anatomy * Slim, one of the alien antagonists of the 1988 film ''Killer Klowns from Outer Space'' * Slim, the Pixl fro ...

as Long-Boy *Freddie Robinson as Half-Pint *John Bunn as Wallstreet * Marieluise Bechet as Nina Mae Brown * Archie Cross as A Boy from Newark * William Woodward as A Boy from Newark *

John Fortune John Fortune (born John C. Wood; 30 June 1939 – 31 December 2013) was an English satirist, comedian, writer, and actor, best known for his work with John Bird and Rory Bremner on the TV series '' Bremner, Bird and Fortune''. Early life Fort ...

as Jamaica *

Audrey Talbird Audrey () is an English feminine given name. It is the Anglo-Norman form of the Anglo-Saxon name ''Æðelþryð'', composed of the elements ''æðel'' "noble" and ''þryð'' "strength". The Anglo-Norman form of the name was applied to Saint Audre ...

as Connie * Marie Young as Jean *

Christopher Columbus and His Swing Crew Christopher is the English version of a Europe-wide name derived from the Greek name Χριστόφορος (''Christophoros'' or '' Christoforos''). The constituent parts are Χριστός (''Christós''), "Christ" or "Anointed", and φέρει ...

as Themselves *

Sidney Bechet Sidney Bechet (May 14, 1897 – May 14, 1959) was an American jazz saxophonist, clarinetist, and composer. He was one of the first important Solo (music), soloists in jazz, and first recorded several months before trumpeter Louis Armstrong. His ...

as Himself - Clarinetist

Soundtrack

*"My Hope Chest of Dreams" (1939) (Music and lyrics by Donald Heywood) *Zerita Steptean - "St. Louis Blues" (1914) (Music and lyrics by

W.C. Handy William Christopher Handy (November 16, 1873 – March 28, 1958) was an American composer and musician who referred to himself as the Father of the Blues. Handy was one of the most influential songwriters in the United States. One of many musici ...

) *Christopher Columbus and His Swing Crew and sung by Izinetta Wilcox and chorus - "Teach Me How to Sing Again" (1939) (Music and lyrics by Donald Heywood) *Christopher Columbus and His Swing Crew - "Save Some of Those Roses for Me" (published title) as "Save Me Some of Those Kisses" (1939) (Music and lyrics by Donald Heywood) *Mourners at the funeral - "One More River to Cross" (1939) (Music and lyrics by Donald Heywood) *"Moon Over Harlem" (1939) (Music and lyrics by Donald Heywood) *"Stand Together Children" (1939) (Music and lyrics by Donald Heywood) *"Lullaby" (1939) (Music and lyrics by Donald Heywood)

External links

* * *
Moon Over Harlem (1939)
at The Department of Afro American Research, Arts, and Culture's Archive (DAARAC) 1939 films American crime films American romantic musical films 1939 crime films American black-and-white films Race films Films directed by Edgar G. Ulmer 1930s romantic musical films 1930s English-language films 1930s American films {{romantic-musical-film-stub