Written and Directed by Oscar Micheaux
Starring Grace Smith, Carl Mahon, Eunice Brooks, Starr Calloway and Edwin Cary
USA, 1932
Now let’s dip into the sound movies of Oscar Micheaux, generally believed to be a dip in quality from his silent films. The transition from silent film to sound was difficult for everyone, but was probably even more difficult outside the Hollywood system without the new equipment and knowledgeable crewmembers big budgets could buy.
THE GIRL FROM CHICAGO is basically a spy movie, with Carl Mahon as a federal agent who falls for a southern girl while on a case, and takes her back to Harlem with him when the case is solved. There, thanks to a rather convoluted sequence of events, they become embroiled in solving the murder of a crooked club owner.
As our hero chases the titular girl from Chicago onto a cruise ship and goes undercover to romance her right into jail, you can see what kind of movie this would have been with any kind of budget. Unfortunately it’s pretty bare bones as it is, padded out by night club singing and dancing performances which are historically significant in their own way, with movies like this one being the only place you can find any record of them.
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