Ten Minutes to Live

Oscar Micheaux turned out four movies in 1932, and Ten Minutes To Live is one of them. It is comprised of two stories stuck together, and even so it doesn't come out to a full hour. In the first half a night club dancer is solicited for a movie role, and for more than that; the second half concerns the aftermath; it's shot wild, with sound effects and occasional voices added.

Parts of it are interesting. There's a fairly long sequence near the beginning set in a night club in which a couple of songs are sung, a couple of comics do a routine that reeks of minstrel shows, and a line of dancers perform. According to the IMDb trivia for this movie, they are the dancers for the Cotton Club, and when they're moving to "Sweet Georgia Brown" and "Digga Digga Do" I can believe it.

The silent segments are actually better than the ones with sound! Even though there are telegrams and letters to substitute for silent titles, at least one is spared the poor line readings of Micheaux's dialogue. Still, I would expect the average movie goer, unversed in silent film techniques, to find it tough going.

Like an episode of 'Police Squad' this film immediately establishes the level of incoherence it intends to maintain throughout by announcing in its main title that it's drawn "from three short stories" before just moments later posting a Producers Note listing the two "short stories of Negro night life in Harlem" from which it says its been adapted.

Having made some reasonably competent silent films, poor Oscar Micheaux is plainly finding sound a serious millstone around his neck, since the dialogue is often almost inaudible and he goes to impressive lengths to get round this obstacle with extensive use of captions and notes; even making one of the characters a deaf mute so he can write down his dialogue rather than speak it.

No matter. It's only 58 minutes long, is full of wonderful period detail and the frequent shot mismatches, captions like "WITHIN THE HOUR" to propel the narrative and the incongruous use of Beethoven's 5th on the soundtrack give it a certain 'nouvelle vague' vitality.

This movie is excellent, also gives a great glimpse into Harlem Nightclubs and their Entertainers and Black Life in the 1930s. I'm sure Oscar Micheaux wanted us to understand something. But with his films, you have to watch them 3 or 4 times before you actually get it. But its a watchable film. I thank God for these Black cast productions showcasing Black talent that would of never been seen if it wasn't for these films. They were too good for Hollywood and was too talented for Whites to understand. Sometimes I think what ever happen to these people. I want them to know I enjoyed their work. Its sad Hollywood didn't take into consideration these Black talents and want to make them stars. Some of these women and men were just as beautiful and talented as the White stars.

Willor Lee Guilford is a brown beauty, voluptuous and sweet and a fine actress. She has a lot of appeal. She's a combination of sex appeal and girl next door type. You can't help but feel her emotions through the movie. She seems to be a real actress, not someone Micheaux picked off the street like most in his movies. Willor is a natural. You forget color and look at the talent and person and that's what Black Cinema is all about. Mabel Garrett is so cute, she has much spunk, and is quite wonderful and sexy. Carl Mahon, one of the best actors of Black Cinema isn't his best in this movie but his presence is always welcoming. This movie isn't bad at all. I think you will enjoy it. I like this movie because its not a racial story but a movie about people from all walks of life.

Ten Minutes to Live (1932)

** (out of 4)

This Oscar Micheaux film clocks in at just 58-minutes and it pretty much has a little bit of everything in it. There's really no "plot" but it does have a few different story lines going on. One includes a movie producer trying to pick up a woman by offering her a role in his new film. Another subplot has a woman receiving a note saying that she will be dead in ten minutes. We also get a couple comedy acts as well as some musical numbers.

Micheaux was producer and releasing quite a few pictures during this portion of his career and TEN MINUTES TO LIVE isn't nearly the worst but it's also not very good. The film is certainly very uneven but it remains mildly entertaining because the director manages to present a couple interesting acts and it's at least a very good time capsule to black entertainment from this period.

The acts are interesting but I'd argue that none of them are overly good. The comedy bits are pretty weak and there's nothing ground-breaking about the musical numbers but it was just Micheaux's attempt to show black audiences some black talent. The two dramatic story lines aren't the most entertaining that you're going to see but they work well enough for what they are. They're basically two different short subjects mixed together with other shorts dealing with the music.

TEN MINUTES TO LIVE features a couple decent performances scattered around and I'd argue that fans of race movies will at least get some mild entertainment out of it.

First, this all-black 1930's production is admittedly unique. Extended dance sequences, vintage music, vaudeville and some unusual location camera work provide an invaluable look at a time in black history that you probably haven't seen much coverage of before. On the downside, the acting is junior high caliber and the plot is equally half-baked and thin. Certainly forward thinking in treating some blacks in the movie as thoughtful and sensitive beings at a time when some in America weren't on board with the concept.

Unfortunately, it's just not very entertaining and has the look and feel of a silent movie that they dubbed with sound and dialogue sequences later to take advantage of the "talkie craze." If you're a student of black history, probably of minor interest. If you were led to believe this is a noirish black drama (as I was), you're probably better off going with DEVIL WITH A BLUE DRESS, HUSTLE AND FLOW or a Spike Lee joint.