Minstrel Man

Story

Synopsis

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.

Directors

Edgar G. Ulmer, Joseph H. Lewis

Writers

Pierre Gendron, Irwin Franklyn, Raymond L. Schrock

Language

English

Country

United States of America

Release date

2 January 1944

Ensemble

Cast

• 

  Benny Fields

  Dixie Boy Johnson

• 

  Gladys George

  Mae White

• 

  Alan Dinehart

  Lew Dunn

• 

  Roscoe Karns

  Lasses White

• 

  Jerome Cowan

  Bill Evans

• 

  Judy Clark

  Caroline Jr.-16 years old

• 

  Molly Lamont

  Caroline Johnson

• 

  John Raitt

  Singer