There's little to be said in favor of this Z-Grade Boots & Bullets flick that depends on degrading stereotypes for its buffoonish black characters and heroic results for its romantic white characters. If this film is an example of how far movies have come in presenting non-whites, then it is of historical value. With lines like "When you count up to six, start over and count to four, then you have ten", told to one black man, it's obvious the statement this is making. Mantan Moreland, one of the top black character actors of the 30's and 40's, is presented in a demeaning light while "Dick Tracy's" Ralph Byrd gets to be the superman who saves the day.
Moreland does get one moment (asking for a favor involving a dead solder) where he is allowed to speak clearly without his pop-eyed delivery that is quite touching. It's a rare case of eliminating stereotypes altogether, raising this up a notch. But miscast actors playing Arabs knock it back down again with their one dimensional villainy. Monogram films aren't always this bad; In fact, some of them are now classics. The romantic triangle between Byrd, George Lynn and Lorna Gray is never really developed, and the conflict they face in the desert seems forced. Sharp viewers will recognize Ann Codee who popped up in tons of films as French matrons or imperious authority figures. The dialog is mainly filler to help reach the movie's 60 minute running time.
Moreland does get one moment (asking for a favor involving a dead solder) where he is allowed to speak clearly without his pop-eyed delivery that is quite touching. It's a rare case of eliminating stereotypes altogether, raising this up a notch. But miscast actors playing Arabs knock it back down again with their one dimensional villainy. Monogram films aren't always this bad; In fact, some of them are now classics. The romantic triangle between Byrd, George Lynn and Lorna Gray is never really developed, and the conflict they face in the desert seems forced. Sharp viewers will recognize Ann Codee who popped up in tons of films as French matrons or imperious authority figures. The dialog is mainly filler to help reach the movie's 60 minute running time.