When a cowboy is wrongfully accused of murder, he assumes the identity of a Harlem gangster; to whom he bears a striking resemblance.
Description
2015.167.21.1ab: 16mm black and white films.
Framed for his boss' murder by the victim's unfaithful wife, Bob Blake (A.K.A. 'The Singing Cowboy') escapes to New York. In Harlem he meets his look-alike, a gangster named Deacon. When Deacon is killed by a rival gang, Bob, disguised as the dead gangster, returns to his home town to clear his name.
Source:
WorldCat. Accessed on August 12, 2016 (https://www.worldcat.org/title/two-gun-man-from-harlem/oclc/32249820&referer=brief_results)
A group of cowboys search for their friend, who has recently gone missing. During their search, they uncover a bitter land dispute between their missing friend and his neighbor.
Description
2015.167.4.1ab: 16mm Black and White film.
This film is a roaring round-up of song-studded thrills in this 1938 western featuring an all black cast in a Richard C. Kahn production.
The film is about five cowboys led by Bob Blake that ride from Texas to help their friend, Joe Jackson, who has moved to Arizona for his health. At the Jackson ranch, his sly assistant, Slim Perkins, throws his voice, using ventriloquism to convince foolish "Dusty" that the mule "Gabriel" talks. Bob learns from Joe's sister Betty that Joe disappeared three weeks before and is reminded that her father had vanished in a similar manner and later had turned up dead. The cowboys drift into town to learn what they can. Dusty and a companion enter a saloon, where brutish cowhand Pete shoots his partner in a card game and then forces Dusty to smoke four cigars at once. Bob enters to interrupt the bully and the two have a fistfight. Dusty, who has purchased Gabriel for twelve dollars, is angry that the mule does not talk for him, but finds Slim's book on ventriloquism. Later, Dusty tells Slim that he is teaching Gabriel to recite poetry, then loses his clothes in a crooked poker game with Slim. Bob visits Buck Thorn, a neighbor of the Jacksons' who has offered to buy their ranch, and employs Pete and some other tough cowhands. While riding together, Bob and Betty encounter Uncle, a codger who informs them that he mailed a letter from Joe to Bob a few weeks earlier, a letter he found unstamped and lying on the ground underneath a window of the saloon. Bob enters the saloon, pretending to be drunk. Upstairs, Buck, Pete and their henchmen try to force Joe to sign a deed to his land over to them because it contains a mine worth one million dollars in gold. Bob finds them and pulls a gun but is knocked over the head by the bartender. A shootout breaks out downstairs when his friends come to his rescue. Returning to the ranch, they discover that Betty is gone. She has left to follow Pete, who carries a message that Joe is hurt, and is captured. Buck has Joe branded with a hot iron, and Betty is threatened with the same treatment. Meanwhile, Betty's horse returns to the ranch and Bob and his friends follow the animal's tracks. They are caught by Pete, but escape when Slim throws his voice to make them think others have arrived. During a gunfight among the rocks, the sheriff and his men are led to the scene by Dusty riding Gabriel, and Dusty shoots Pete. Dusty then wins back his clothes and twelve dollars from Slim by using ventriloquism to impersonate Gabriel reciting a satirical poem, while Bob and Betty ride off together.
Sources:
AFI Catalog of Feature Films. Accessed on August 9, 2016 (http://www.afi.com/members/catalog/DetailView.aspx?s=&Movie=2235)
Worldcat. Accessed on August 9, 2016 (http://www.worldcat.org/title/bronze-buckaroo/oclc/30820246&referer=brief_results)
A small time hood becomes the protégé of the biggest mob boss in town. After taking over the criminal operation, trouble ensues as thugs and crooks all fight for control of the Harlem numbers racket.
Description
2015.167.5.1ab: 16mm black and white film.
2015.167.5.1c: Original cardboard film shipping box. No legible inscriptions.
In "Dark Manhattan", a lad who takes control of the policy racket in Harlem, meets a sweet and clean nightclub singer and falls in love with her. Before they can get married, a rival gang tries to muscle into the numbers racket and, at the end, the lad gets shot-gunned and dies in the arms of his girl.
When Larry B. "L. B." Lee, the top numbers banker in Harlem, visits the poolroom of one of his accounts, Jack Jackson, he witnesses James A. "Curly" Thorpe break up a knife fight and, impressed with his performance, asks Curly to join his organization, which he emphasizes does not use underhanded methods. Curly quickly distinguishes himself as tough on district operators, whose business is declining, and grows ambitious in his desire to be the most talked about man in Harlem. He also wants to steal the affections of L. B.'s girl friend, Flo Gray, a radio singer who appears at the Club Congo. After L. B., who has been warned by his doctor to take a rest, has a heart attack while dining with Flo, Curly runs the operation while L. B. recuperates. Curly institutes gangster methods to force smaller operations to pay for protection, and doubles the bank's income, which causes ten days of gang warfare and police raids, culminating in a district attorney's effort to smash the numbers racket. Although Curly and Flo keep newspaper reports away from L. B., the heads of the other numbers banks reveal the situation to him, after which he promises to redistribute the money his bank made. Curly, however, refuses to part with the money made since he took over and prevails upon L. B. to take a trip for his health. After Curly tells the bankers' association that he wants twenty percent from every banker for protection, Butch Williams, a rival who operates at the Club Congo, offers protection for five percent. During a shoot out at the club, Curly is mortally wounded, and he dies in the arms of Flo, who has grown to love him.
Sources:
AFI Catalog of Feature Films. Accessed August 12, 2016 (http://www.afi.com/members/catalog/DetailView.aspx?s=&Movie=2228)
WorldCat. Accessed August 12, 2016 (http://www.worldcat.org/title/dark-manhattan/oclc/57689321&referer=brief_results)
Consists of: 16mm Flim (a), 16mm Flim (b), and Original Film Shipping Box (c).
