''Harlem Rides the Range'' is a 1939 American

Western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

race film directed by Richard C. Kahn. It followed the groundbreaking 1937 Western musical film '' Harlem on the Prairie''.

Plot

Bob Blake (

Herb Jeffries Herb Jeffries (born Umberto Alexander Valentino; September 24, 1913 – May 25, 2014) was an American actor of film and television and popular music and jazz singer-songwriter, known for his baritone voice. He starred in several low-budget "ra ...

) and his sidekick Dusty ( Lucius Brooks) are two cowboys riding across the countryside in search of adventure. They come across a ranch where it appears a murder has taken place but they find the victim of the crime, Jim Dennison (Leonard Christmas), still alive. Dennison is hiding in fear of his life after what had taken place at the ranch. Bob sees a picture of the rancher's daughter Margaret (Artie Young) and falls in

love at first sight Love at first sight is a personal experience as well as a common trope in literature: a person or character feels an instant, extreme, and ultimately long-lasting romantic attraction for a stranger upon first seeing that stranger. Described by p ...

; he cannot stop talking about how beautiful the girl in the picture is. Bob drops a glove when he leaves the ranch, which causes problems later. The villain, Bradley (Clarence Brooks), wants to seize the ranch after terrorizing Dennison. Bob sets out to save Margaret and narrowly escapes a plot to frame him for the murder of one of the ranch foremen, Jim Connors (Tom Southern). Bradley uses Bob's dropped glove as part of the frameup. Bob is sent to jail, but is able to escape and tries to find Margaret. After a fight, Bob saves Margaret and they enjoy the romantic moment Bob had imagined when he first saw her picture. The ranch is saved; the story ends with Bob and Margaret together at last, and Bradley put in his place.

Cast

Set

Sets for all-black movies (especially

Westerns The Western is a genre set in the American frontier and commonly associated with folk tales of the Western United States, particularly the Southwestern United States, as well as Northern Mexico and Western Canada. It is commonly referred ...

) were difficult to come by; ''Harlem Rides the Range'' (and other Herb Jeffries films) were shot at the Murray's Dude Ranch in

Apple Valley, California Apple Valley is an incorporated town in the Victor Valley of San Bernardino County, in the U.S. state of California. It was incorporated on November 14, 1988, and is one of the 22 incorporated municipalities in California that use "town" in thei ...

. Originally established to give urban youth and their families the western experience, the ranch fell on hard times during the Great Depression and had become an interracial dude ranch which catered to film stars as well as ordinary families. The ranch's renewed popularity again enabled the Murrays to return to their original mission of helping

inner city The term ''inner city'' has been used, especially in the United States, as a euphemism for majority-minority lower-income residential districts that often refer to rundown neighborhoods, in a downtown or city centre area. Sociologists some ...

youth.''Harlem Rides the Range'' review
Retrieved 2011-09-29.

Soundtrack

*Herb Jeffries and The Four Tones - "I'm a Happy Cowboy" *Herb Jeffries and The Four Tones - "Prairie Flower"

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Harlem Rides The Range 1939 films American black-and-white films 1939 Western (genre) films American Western (genre) films Race films Films directed by Richard C. Kahn 1930s English-language films 1930s American films