Killer Diller

I for one REALLY liked this movie. Oh, sure, these Hollywood musicals from the 1940s never had much of a plot--and this movie is no exception. Nevertheless, I enjoyed the singing and dancing in "the show" within the show even if the plot is razor thin!The action begins in a theater on the day of an important show. The theater manager, Mr. Dumdom (George Wiltshire), gives a beautiful string of pearls to his fiancée, Lola (Nellie Hill). When Lola goes missing after Dusty Fletcher's magic trick goes bad, Dumdom calls in the police. The police play the equivalent of a black Keystone Cops group who are about as clueless as anyone could ever get. They follow Dusty Fletcher the magician all over the theater without much success at catching him and solving the puzzle of the whereabouts of Lola and the missing pearls.Will the cops ever retrieve the missing pearls and Lola? Will magician Dusty Fletcher go to jail? What about the Mr. Dumdom's secretary, Butterfly (Butterfly McQueen), who is wooed by Dusty the magician? Will they marry? How does Jackie "Moms" Mabley manage to control the house when things go really wrong? No spoilers here--you'll just have to watch the movie to find out the answers!Although there is a plot, it is razor thin as I mentioned before. The real value of Killer Diller rests in the show that Mr. Dumdom puts on for the crowd at the theater that evening. You get great entertainment that impressed me greatly! There's a rather young Nat "King" Cole playing piano and singing as part of the King Cole Trio; Moms Mabley does her standup comedy act; Beverly White belts out songs about being independent and free of marriage and The Clark Brothers do an awesome impersonation of The Ink Spots and they tap dance, too! The Andy Kirk Orchestra plays some great jazz and the show concludes with the beautiful Varietiettes young ladies dancing all over the stage. There's even more entertainment; but I'll leave the other parts out so you will get some very pleasant and entertaining surprises!Overall, this movie gives us a rare look at how hard African Americans worked early on in the history of cinema. The acting may not always be the best; but the show stopping numbers rank a perfect score of 10 in my book! The image quality is not the best; apparently they did the best they could with film that had not been carefully preserved.I highly recommend Killer Diller for persons who want to learn about the fine contributions African Americans made early on in motion pictures; and people who enjoy musicals with singing and dancing will enjoy this movie, too.Great job, everyone!!!

This is an interesting look at Black entertainment in the late 40s. Here, Dusty Fletcher (of Open the Door Richard fame) cuts loose and runs from the cops in a black theater. Along the way, Moms Mabley does some of her classic storyteling, Nat King Cole and his Trio provide some really good music, Butterfly MqQueen does a nice bit as a secretary, as well as a number of other acts who are largely forgotten today. However, the acting gets stiff at times and the Black Keystone cops try a bit too hard with the slapstick. But other than that, its good Sunday afternoon entertainment.

This 1948 musical doesn't have much of a plot, but it was one of the first film appearances for The Nat "King" Cole Trio. It also features the tap-dancing Clark Brothers, comedian-tap dancer Dusty Fletcher, Jackie "Moms" Mabley, a Lindy Hop group called The Four Congaroos, Butterfly McQueen (Prissy of  Gone with the Wind (Two-Disc 70th Anniversary Edition)  fame), Patterson and Jackson, Andy Kirk And His Orchestra, and a not-very-good chorus line consisting of the Varietettes Dancing Girls from Katherine Durham's School of Dancing.Picture and sound quality are above average for a low-budget film.Not the best musical in the world, but it is entertaining.

I appreciate having this movie that had never seen before. A perfect disk, but the story line was very peer, and was also poorly scripted. Not fun to watch, but that is probably due to poor writer, low budget and little acceptance in those times. Thanks anyway for allowing me to see a few favorites. Some of the Cole family members were friends of mine while living.

Considering how old these events and taping are, for the price, shouldn't complain for a piece of cultural history.

Great movie with some wonderful music. Not one to miss, and you won't find it on any of the devices (Amazon Prime, Netflix, Hulu or Apple). Gotta buy this one, but well worth it!

Very hard to find . but great classic

Interesting reading, I would recommend it.