
With a series of long takes and frontal camera set-ups, Michaeux provides a record of several cabaret acts, using intertitles to separate the individual numbers. This quietly outrageous film begins with the high-toned Heywood Choir singing "Watermelon time" and concludes with Amon David playing a preacher using heavy blackface. Amon Davus was known as "the Back Biting Comedian, Par Excellence", and his sermon is one of Michaeux's many notable send-ups of the clergy.
Directed by Oscar Micheaux, The Darktown Revue leans on a strong ensemble — Amon Davis, Celeste Cole, Donald Heywood — to carry a story that balances spectacle with character.
The film landed with audiences for its craft and performances, and remains one of the most talked-about comedy titles of 1931.
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