Mr. Washington Goes to Town

In the 1920s-50s, movie theaters in many parts of the United States were segregated. As a result, many black-only theaters were created...and soon some enterprising folks thought that as long as the audiences were black, the stories they see should also star black casts. Unfortunately, the studios that made the films weren't exactly top-notch...in fact they were generally cheapo outfits who tried as best they could with very little money.

"Mr. Washington Goes to Town" is definitely the strangest of these so-called 'race films' that I've ever seen. In some ways, it plays like some mainstream cinema...sort of like the pacing of "Hellzapoppin" combined with the silliness and cheesiness of The Three Stooges or The Bowery Boys.

Schenectady (Mantan Moreland) inherits a heavily mortgaged hotel from his uncle. His friend (F. E. Miller) insists on helping Schenectady...and ends up with cushy job while his friend does all the hard work. Into this hotel arrive a ton of strange and impossible to believe characters, ranging from an invisible man, a guy with a detached head, a parrot with a larger vocabulary than most teenagers, a gorilla and much more. None of it makes a lot of sense and only when the story is over did all this madness explain itself.

Overall, this is a likable dopey film. It certainly is NOT sophisticated, well written or done all that well....but it also has a lot of energy and an infectious silliness you might enjoy.

The film, by the way, was shot over six days....and this might explain a lot!