''The Duke Is Tops'' is a 1938 American musical film released by

Million Dollar Productions Million Dollar Productions was a movie studio in the United States active from 1937 until 1940. It was established to produce films with African American casts. It was a partnership between Harry M. Popkin, Leo C. Popkin and Ralph Cooper. Histo ...

and directed by

William Nolte William Lewis Nolte (1889–1965) was a screenwriter and film director in the United States. He directed the musical film ''The Duke Is Tops'' released by Million Dollar Productions. It was re-released in 1943 under the title The ''Bronze Venus''. ...

. The film was later released in 1943 under the title ''The Bronze Venus''. It features top-billed Lena Horne in her film debut. The film was one of the low-budget musical film " race movies" made in the 1930s and 1940s for the

African-American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ensl ...

market. The casts and production teams of these films were almost all black, and the music reflected current tastes in

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a m ...

and

rhythm and blues Rhythm and blues, frequently abbreviated as R&B or R'n'B, is a genre of popular music that originated in African-American communities in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predominantly ...

. The film was scripted, co-directed and featured

Ralph Cooper Ralph Cooper (January 16, 1908 – August 4, 1992), was an American actor, screenwriter, dancer and choreographer. Cooper is best known as the original master of ceremonies and founder of amateur night at the Apollo Theater in Harlem, New Yo ...

who also acted as the film's

production manager In the cinema of the United States, a unit production manager (UPM) is the Directors Guild of America–approved title for the top below-the-line staff position, responsible for the administration of a feature film or television production. Non- ...

Casting

Ralph Cooper planned to star alongside

Nina Mae McKinney Nina Mae McKinney (June 12, 1912 – May 3, 1967) was an American actress who worked internationally during the 1930s and in the postwar period in theatre, film and television, after beginning her career on Broadway and in Hollywood. Dubbed " ...

as the female lead but her delayed return from her appearances in Australia led to the role to be recast. ''The Duke Is Tops'' features the film debut of singer Lena Horne, then aged 20, who had yet to develop the style she would use in her later films for

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc., also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures and abbreviated as MGM, is an American film, television production, distribution and media company owned by Amazon through MGM Holdings, founded on April 17, 1924 ...

. She has a rare major acting role in this film, absent from her later career except for 1943's '' Cabin in the Sky'', '' Stormy Weather'' and a few others. The original top-billed star,

, was host of Amateur Night at the Apollo Theater for 50 years. He also served as the movie's production manager.

Plot

Duke Davis (Cooper) is a stage-show promoter in love with Ethel Andrews (Horne), a popular singer in his company dubbed "the Bronze Venus". Duke finds out that big-time promoters from

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

want to propel Ethel into the big leagues, but Ethel, out of loyalty and love for Duke, refuses to leave his small-time show. Duke, in a selfless act, orchestrates a deception to force Ethel to leave his show in order to better her career. However, the loss of the Bronze Venus causes Duke's own career to collapse and he soon finds himself working on a travelling

medicine show Medicine shows were touring acts (traveling by truck, horse, or wagon teams) that peddled "miracle cure" patent medicines and other products between various entertainments. They developed from European mountebank shows and were common in the Unit ...

where he goes from town to town, introducing a series of specialty musical acts and helping to sell Doc Dorando's all-purpose

elixir ELIXIR (the European life-sciences Infrastructure for biological Information) is an initiative that will allow life science laboratories across Europe to share and store their research data as part of an organised network. Its goal is to bring t ...

. But when he hears that Ethel's New York gig is a flop, Duke goes to New York, where he is reunited with her. Soon after, Duke combines his stage show, the medicine show and Ethel's singing into a top nightclub act.

Cast

– Duke Davis * Lena Horne – Ethel Andrews *

Laurence Criner Laurence Criner (19 July 1898 - 8 March 1965) born John Laurence Criner, occasionally credited as J. Lawrence Criner, was an actor in the United States. An African-American, he had numerous film roles including as the male lead and star. He was ...

– Doc Dorando (credited as Lawrence Criner) *

Monte Hawley Monte Hawley (? - November 30, 1950) was an American actor from Chicago, Illinois. Biography He began his entertainment career as one of the original Lafayette Players. He studied under Richard B. Harrison and, after moving to New York City, acte ...

– George Marshall *

Neva Peoples Neva Mary Peoples was a singer and dancer who appeared in several films in the United States. She performed as a singer, dancer, and chorus girl. Peoples was from San Francisco. A 1936 news clipping refers to her as the "colored blues singer and da ...

– Ella * Vernon McCalla – Mason (credited as Vernon McCallum) * Edward Thompson – Ferdie Fenton * Johnny Taylor – Dippy, 'Prince Alakazoo' * Ray Martin – Joe * Guernsey Morrow – Ed. Lake (credited as Guernsey Morrow) * Charles Hawkins – Sam, the Stage Manager (credited as Charlie Hawkins) Speciality acts appearing throughout the film:

Willie Covan William McKinley Covan (March 4, 1898 – May 7, 1989) was an American tap dancer, actor, vaudeville performer best known for being a member of the tap quartet The Four Covans and a choreographer for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Willie Covan was born o ...

, Basin Street Boys, Rubberneck Holmes,

Cats and the Fiddle The Cats and the Fiddle was an African American singing group formed in 1937 in Chicago and active until 1951, releasing more than 30 gramophone sides during the period. Their instrumentation included a bass (the "fiddle" of the title), tenor guit ...

, Marie Bryant, and Swing Band Harlemania Orchestra.

Music

The movie features singer Lena Horne and the

singing group. Horne as Ethel sings the Harvey Brooks & Ben Ellison composition "I Know You Remember","I Know You Remember"
sung by Lena Horne (video). with lyrics apropos of the film, "You & I have made a small beginning..." Horne also sings "Don't Let Our Love Song Turn Me Blue", with a lyric that foreshadows one of her future great roles: "True love will guide us through stormy weather"; and she reprises "I Know You Remember". The Cats & the Fiddle sing "Killin' Jive."

Distribution

''The Duke Is Tops'' has been released on DVD in North America. The film is in the

public domain The public domain (PD) consists of all the creative work to which no exclusive intellectual property rights apply. Those rights may have expired, been forfeited, expressly waived, or may be inapplicable. Because those rights have expired, ...

in America, and as such is available in multiple edition

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Duke Is Tops, The 1938 films American romantic musical films American black-and-white films Films set in New York City Race films Articles containing video clips 1930s romantic musical films Toddy Pictures Company films 1930s English-language films 1930s American films