Ten Minutes to Live (1932)

One of my all time favorites.

While it doesn't offer any answers, it both thrills and makes you think.

Great example of an old-fashioned, pure-at-heart escapist event movie that doesn't pretend to be anything that it's not and has boat loads of fun being its own ludicrous self.

Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

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.

Laura Bowman had an extremely distinguished career. She was hailed as "the Negro Ethel Barrymore", performed at Buckingham Palace before Edward VII and appeared in theaters all over Europe. In 1916 she joined New York's first black dramatic company, the Lafayette Players in Harlem and appeared in over 500 productions. Although she didn't make many films, she always made an impression - whether as a conjure woman in "Drums O'Voodoo" (1934) or as a mad doctor in "Son of Ingagi" (1939).She was definitely the most prestigious member in the cast of "Ten Minutes to Live", hence her prominent billing. She played the elderly woman in the very first scene, who tells the lecherous film maker where to find Ida. There are two Idas - I'm not sure which is which but they are both singers in the Libya Club.

This merely gives us a glimpse into Harlem Club scene of the 20's and 30's. We get a chance to see some dancing, some comedy, and other acts that would have otherwise been lost. As far as any plot or any continuity in a film, it is missing in this effort. There is very little here. The movie is mostly people sitting in the club, talking. Movie producers putting the moves on the young dancers and lying to them about their futures. There is an ongoing threat, some storytelling, but mostly, it's a dull connection among a group of numbers being performed at the club. Merely a period piece and a piece of black history.

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.