{"id":44640,"date":"2024-07-26T20:04:50","date_gmt":"2024-07-27T00:04:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/?p=44640"},"modified":"2024-07-26T20:04:50","modified_gmt":"2024-07-27T00:04:50","slug":"the-bootleg-files-look-out-sister","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/2024\/07\/26\/the-bootleg-files-look-out-sister\/","title":{"rendered":"The Bootleg Files: Look-Out Sister"},"content":{"rendered":"

BOOTLEG FILES 873:<\/strong> \u201cLook-Out Sister\u201d (1947 musical starring Louis Jordan). <\/p>\n

LAST SEEN:<\/strong> On YouTube. <\/p>\n

AMERICAN HOME VIDEO:<\/strong> On public domain labels.<\/p>\n

REASON FOR BOOTLEG STATUS:<\/strong> A lapsed copyright.<\/p>\n

CHANCES OF SEEING A COMMERCIAL DVD RELEASE: <\/strong>Nope, it is doomed to public domain hell.<\/p>\n

During the 1940s, singer\/songwriter and bandleader Louis Jordan was among the most popular entertainers of the decade. Jordan\u2019s invigorating mix of big band, boogie-woogie and jazz music coupled with his often-amusing lyrics and ebullient performing style resulted in rollicking fun.
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While Hollywood was always on the lookout for performers who were equally comfortable with comedy and music, the African-American Jordan was mostly passed over due to the racial restrictions of the era. As a result, Jordan and his band, the Tympany Five, were relegated to brief (albeit memorable) appearances in a few Hollywood revues such as \u201cFollow the Boys\u201d and \u201cSwing Parade of 1946.\u201d Jordan and the band enjoyed more visibility in the independently produced \u201crace films\u201d of the late 1940s that featured all-Black casts and were marketed exclusively to theaters that catered to predominantly Black audiences. In this genre, Jordan starred in the well-received 1945 short \u201cCaldonia,\u201d which was followed by the feature-length films \u201cBeware!\u201d (1946), \u201cReet, Petite and Gone\u201d (1947) and \u201cLook-Out Sister\u201d (1949).<\/p>\n

\u201cLook-Out Sister\u201d may have been the most interesting of Jordan\u2019s features due its setting \u2013 much of the film takes place at a dude ranch, which enables Jordan and the all-Black cast to wear Western-style clothing. In the 1940s, Black actors were mostly absent from Westerns, with only a handful showing up in brief roles as comic relief domestic servants. There is also a lengthy sequence at the dude ranch\u2019s swimming pool that provides a generous showcase of lovely Black starlets in swimsuits \u2013 a rarity in any film from that period, either out of the Hollywood studios or the indie race film orbit.<\/p>\n

The plot of \u201cLook-Out Sister\u201d is starvation-level thin \u2013 Jordan plays himself, but his on-screen persona has been so overextended with his work that he checks into a sanitorium for an extended rest. During his recovery, he meets a young boy who dreams of becoming a cowboy. Jordan then falls asleep and dreams he is \u201cTwo Gun Jordan,\u201d a wild Western figure who plays with his band \u201cJivin\u2019 Cowhands\u201d at the H&H Ranch. This establishment is threatened by an evil banker conspiring to foreclose the mortgage on the ranch \u2013 but, of course, being a 1940s Western, we already know from the first reel that the bad guy will be trounced before the closing credits.<\/p>\n

The energy from \u201cLook-Out Sister\u201d comes from an extraordinary line-up of 11 songs by Jordan and the Tympany Five \u2013 and it is extraordinary because the film runs a scant 62 minutes. With tunes including \u201cJack You\u2019re Dead,\u201d \u201cCaldonia,\u201d \u201cDon\u2019t Burn the Candle at Both Ends\u201d and \u201cBoogie in the Barnyard,\u201d the film presents Jordan at his performing peak. By contemporary standards, there is one number that will probably appall some viewers \u2013 for the song \u201cYou\u2019re Much Too Fat,\u201d Jordan offers indelicate observations about the excess poundage carried by a zaftig lady who joins the swimming pool crowd. Today, that type of humor would be condemned as body shaming and bullying, but in the film the plus-size (unidentified) woman is in on the joke and responds with intentionally unsubtle responds to Jordan\u2019s teasing.<\/p>\n

\u201cLook-Out Sister\u201d carries many of the vices of the race films genre \u2013 cheapjack production, uneven acting and direction that could be charitable described as point-and-shoot. The Canadian-born Bud Pollard is credited as the director \u2013 he helmed several other race films along with some forgettable B-level horror films. To his credit, he captured Jordan in his prime. <\/p>\n

Indeed, the film succeeds solely due to Jordan\u2019s happy energy. The jollity that Jordan brings to the screen is so overpowering that it is a shame he was not able to headline in a more polished work. Equally sad is that film producers never tapped him for additional projects \u2013 this was his last appearance on the big screen. He made a few television appearances in the 1950s, but his career was eclipsed by the rise of rock \u2018n\u2019 roll; he continued touring and recording in the 1960s and passed away in 1975 at the age of 66.<\/p>\n

\u201cLook-Out Sister\u201d was theatrically released by Astor Pictures, a scrappy little distributor whose output ranged from race films to Grade-Z horror and sci-fi to Grade-A art films. The film\u2019s copyright lapsed into the public domain and today \u201cLook-Out Sister\u201d is available in crummy copies that are two or more generations removed from the original prints. Jordan\u2019s music is not in the public domain, but to date the rights owners to the music have made no attempt to serve cease-and-desist notices against those making the mediocre copies of this film.<\/p>\n

For those looking to pass a happy hour with vintage fun, \u201cLook-Out Sister\u201d will not disappoint.<\/p>\n