It's not exactly bad, if you don't count the Black porter character ("Lucille") whose role is very well-played (by Willie Best) but still an unpalatable symptom of the times.
On the positive side:
The one-song performance by Louis Armstrong and Dorothy Dandridge is wonderful to see & hear.
The plot is a run-of-the-mill mix of mild deception, mistaken identity and social mores that are probably - I hope - overplayed, but it works if you don't think about it too hard.
Of course, Lupino is great, as are Greenstreet and Donnelly, though Lupino's character does seem too prone to crying for this 21st century viewer.
Johnny Mitchell, the actor playing the oil well operator, is good, given the limited role.
But William Prince, the romantic lead, leaves me cold. His character isn't an awful person, as so many male romantic leads of the era were, but he's no great catch, either.
On the positive side:
The one-song performance by Louis Armstrong and Dorothy Dandridge is wonderful to see & hear.
The plot is a run-of-the-mill mix of mild deception, mistaken identity and social mores that are probably - I hope - overplayed, but it works if you don't think about it too hard.
Of course, Lupino is great, as are Greenstreet and Donnelly, though Lupino's character does seem too prone to crying for this 21st century viewer.
Johnny Mitchell, the actor playing the oil well operator, is good, given the limited role.
But William Prince, the romantic lead, leaves me cold. His character isn't an awful person, as so many male romantic leads of the era were, but he's no great catch, either.