Blind Husbands/The Great Gabbo [Deluxe Collector's Edition] [DVD]

Originally released as Check and Double Check, Amos 'N' Andy brought radio's highest-rated program (in 1930, at least) to the big screen. In case you need reminding, Amos 'N' Andy were two black characters played by two white men, Freeman Gosden and Charles Correll. Donning unconvincing blackface, Gosden and Correll are seen as well as heard as A&A, partners in the Harlem-based Fresh Air Taxicab Company. In true musical comedy tradition, our heroes spend most of their time helping the white romantic leads, played by Sue Carol and Charles Morton. In trying to locate a missing deed to some property owned by Morton's family, Amos 'N' Andy end up in a haunted house, where they run through a repetoire of demeaning, racist "fright" jokes that were probably as offensive back in 1930 as they are today. Another white actor, Russ Powell, shows up briefly as George "Kingfish" Stevens, who hadn't yet become a leading character. Virtually the only genuine African Americans in the film are the members of Duke Ellington's Cotton Club orchestra, whose appearance at a high society ball is the device that brings A&A into the plot. Though the film was a huge moneymaker during its first month of release, Amos 'N' Andy ended up in the red, discouraging future film vehicles for radio's biggest attraction. Seen today, the film is dull and embarrassing, not nearly as entertaining as an episode from the Amos 'N' Andy TV series of the 1950s, which cast black actors in the leads.