Minstrel Man
4.7
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.
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Cast
8 people
Benny Fields
Dixie Boy Johnson
Also in
The Man from Toronto
Gladys George
Mae White
Known for
The Maltese Falcon
The Roaring Twenties
Alan Dinehart
Lew Dunn
Also in
Supernatural
The Sin of Nora Moran
Roscoe Karns
Lasses White
Known for
It Happened One Night
His Girl Friday
Jerome Cowan
Bill Evans
Known for
The Maltese Falcon
Miracle on 34th Street
Judy Clark
Caroline Jr.-16 years old
Known for
The Strange Affair of Uncle Harry
Molly Lamont
Caroline Johnson
Known for
The Awful Truth
The Suspect
John Raitt
Singer
Known for
The Pajama Game
Edgar G. Ulmer Director · Joseph H. Lewis Director Pierre Gendron Writer
United States release January 2, 1944 · Produced in United States · Production Producers Releasing Corporation (PRC)
Production
PRC
Production
Producers Releasing Corporation (PRC)
Production
United States
Produced in
Languages
Original language
English
Spoken on screen
English
Release dates
United States · January 2, 1944
Theatrical
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Some details come from TheTVDB.