Release Date: 3/29/1940
Genre: Crime
Rating: NR
B&W
Director: Leo C. Popkin
Studio(s): Million Dollar Productions, Sack Amusement Enterprises, Toddy Pictures Co.,
Alpha Video Distributors, Image Entertainment
Running Time: 62 mins.
Cast: Ralph Cooper (Bob “Killer” Meade), Gladys Snyder (Mazie “Sugar” Walford), Reggie Fenderson (Danny), Lawrence Criner (Lew Baron), Monte Hawley (Bill), Jesse C. Brooks (Lt. Holmes), Johnny Thomas (Phil), Maceo Sheffield (Bull Brown), Charles Hawkins (Pip), Robert Johnson (Waxy), Henry Roberts (Slim), Harold Garrison (Slicum).
Story: Bob “Killer” Meade is a rising lawbreaker in Harlem. A member of Bull Brown’s gang, Bob soon takes over and orders Bull to be “given some air.” Bob is indicted for his crimes, but witnesses are afraid to talk and he is found not guilty. At the courthouse, he meets Mazie “Sugar” Walford and although Sugar is engaged to a member of a prominent local family, Bob begins to court her, promising to lay Harlem at her feet. Bob decides to cut in on the juke box action of rival crime boss, Lew Baron, who sends several killers after him. In the ensuing gangland war, Bob and his men defeat Lew and take over his machines. Eventually Bob kills Lew. But while Bob has risen to the top of the seamy underworld by ruthlessly exterminating his competition, the one person closest to him puts the police on his trail. In an attempt to escape, Bob makes a mad dash over neighborhood rooftops as the police pursue and finally shoot him, his corpse falling at Sugar’s feet. Sources: tcm.com, daaracarchive.org.
Movie:
Black Cinema Connection 