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Minstrel Man

50 %|Jan 2, 1944|Music

Unusually elaborate for a PRC film, Minstrel Man is a lively musical drama built around the talents of veteran vaudevillian Benny Fields. The star is cast as Dixie Boy Johnson, who rises from the ranks of minstrel shows to become a top Broadway attraction. On the opening night of his greatest stage triumph, Dixie Boy's wife dies in childbirth. Profoundly shaken, he walks out of the show, leaving the baby to be raised by his showbiz pals Mae and Lasses White (Gladys George, Roscoe Karns). The kid grows up to be an attractive young woman named Caroline (Judy Clark), who follows in her dad's footsteps by billing herself as-that's right-Dixie Girl Johnson. This leads to a tearful reunion between Caroline and the father she'd long assumed to be dead. If Minstrel Man seems at times to be a dress rehearsal for Columbia's The Jolson Story (1946), it shouldn't surprising: the PRC film was directed by Joseph H. Lewis, who went on to helm Jolson Story's musical highlights.

Featured Crew

Raymond L. Schrock
Story
Irwin Franklyn
Writer
Pierre Gendron
Writer
Martin Mooney
Story
Joseph H. Lewis
Director
Edgar G. Ulmer
Production Design
Edgar G. Ulmer
Second Unit Director
Edgar G. Ulmer
Director

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Cast

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Benny Fields
Dixie Boy Johnson
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Gladys George
Mae White
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Roscoe Karns
Lasses White
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Jerome Cowan
Bill Evans
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Judy Clark
Caroline Jr.-16 years old
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Molly Lamont
Caroline Johnson