Sunday, June 23, 2013

Chloe, Love Is Calling You (1934)

Director: Marshall Neilan

Starring: Olive Borden, Reed Howes, Molly O'Day, Philip Ober, Georgette Harvey, Francis Joyner, Augustus Smith, Jess Cavin, Richard Huey, Shreveport Home Wreckers Blues Band

More info: IMDb

Tagline: Strange secrets never before revealed!

Plot: A young woman of mixed races, Chloe (Borden), lives in a Louisiana bayou, raised by a black voodoo priestess, Mandy (Harvey), who looks to avenge the death of her husband, lynched by an angry white mob.  As the tension rises due to the evil plans of the priestess, Chloe finds herself torn between two cultures.  Hoping to break free from the control of the woman who raised her, Chloe finds she must confront Mandy in order to save her own life as well as those Mandy intends to harm.


My rating: 5/10

Will I watch it again? No.

May I present to you Mandy, Chloe and Jim...



"Look.  Real black folks looking for acting jobs.  Are there any servant roles available?"

...who are black!  Are you kidding me?  The film makers couldn't be bothered with finding actual black actors to fill the roles of Chloe & Jim?  At least they weren't in black face.  The Southern accents across the board are horrible.  I was drawn to this because of the 'horror' genre listed on IMDb and that it's got Voodoo.  It's more of a romance drama with a hint of horror when you consider the Voodoo element.  Chloe being of mixed race longs to discover that she's white and her black suitor, Jim who loves her dearly, urges her to be with him and to stop worrying and accept that Mandy is her mother so she's black.  Oh, the drama.  But wait!  Jim fights an alligator!!!



HELL, YEAH!  Back to the so-so drama where Chloe wants to be with Wade, a wealthy white man who's got mixed-jungle fever and who also desperately wants Chloe to be white.  You can do a lot worse with 54 minutes of your life than watch this.  See it for the curiosity factor alone.  There are quite a few unintentional laughs to be found in this 80 year old picture that reeks of a Hollywood long gone.  Watch it with a few friends and gawk at how far we've come.

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