Reform School (film)
{{Infobox film
| name = Reform School
| image =
| alt =
| caption =
| native_name =
| director = Leo C. Popkin
| writer = Joseph O'Donnell
Hazel Barnes Jamieson
| screenplay = Zella Young
| story =
| based_on =
| producer = Harry M. Popkin
| starring = Louise Beavers
Reginald Fenderson
Monte Hawley
| narrator =
| cinematography = William Hyer
| editing = Bart Rauw
| music = Lou Frohman
| studio =
| distributor = Million Dollar Productions, Inc.
| released = {{Film date|1939|04|27}}
| runtime = 82 mins
| country = United States
| language = English
| budget =
| gross =
}}
Reform School is a 1939 Million Dollar Productions American film produced by Harry M. Popkin, directed by Leo C. Popkin, written by Joseph O'Donnell and Hazel Jamieson and starring Louise Beavers.{{cite news |last1=Dodson |first1=Nell |title=Million Dollar Pictures Scores Dramatic Hit With "Reform School" |url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/531249052 |accessdate=27 October 2020 |work=Afro-American |date=6 May 1939 |page=11|id={{ProQuest|531249052}} }}{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KbpumI7K1hkC&q=reform+school+film+1939+beavers&pg=PA564|title=Film Genre Reader IV|first=Barry Keith|last=Grant|date=December 1, 2012|publisher=University of Texas Press|isbn=9780292745742|via=Google Books}}{{cite news |date=17 Apr 1939 |title="Reform School" Brings Out Great Beavers' Talent |page=2 |work=Atlanta Daily World |url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/490588296 |access-date=6 March 2021|id={{ProQuest|490588296}} }}
In 1944, the film was rereleased as Prison Bait.
Plot
Beavers plays Mother Barton, a probation officer{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=E_vRLcgEdGoC&q=reform+school+film+1939+beavers&pg=PA43|title=Harlem Renaissance Lives from the African American National Biography|first1=Henry Louis|last1=Gates (Jr.)|first2=Evelyn Brooks|last2=Higginbotham|date=November 25, 2009|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=9780195387957|via=Google Books}} of a large city who believes in a plan for an "honor system" at a reform school. When the previous superintendent of the school is ousted, she becomes superintendent and must address a brutal guard, the previous superintendent's henchmen and students at the school.{{cite news |title=Reform School at Apollo: Louise Beavers to Appear With Gripping "Dead End" Drama |url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/226146855 |access-date=6 March 2021 |work=New York Amsterdam News |date=17 June 1939 |page=17|id={{ProQuest|226146855}} }}
The film marked the debut of the Harlem Tuff Kids, a group that included Eugene Jackson, DeForrest Covan, Eddie Lynn and Bob Simmons.{{cite news |last1=Harry |first1=Levette |title=Louise Beavers "Tops" In "Reform School" Feature: Interpretation Is Best In Her Career |url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/490590358 |access-date=6 March 2021 |work=Atlanta Daily World |date=17 Apr 1939|page=2|id={{ProQuest|490590358}} }} The group also appeared in the 1942 film Take My Life.
In 2022, a print restored by the Academy Film Archive premiered on the Turner Classic Movies television channel.
Cast
- Louise Beavers as Mother Barton
- Reginald Fenderson as Freddie Gordon
- Monte Hawley as head guard Jackson
- Maceo Sheffield as Superintendent Stone
- Robert Webb
- Paul White (actor)
- Harlem Tuff Kids
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- {{IMDb title|0031843}}
- {{tcmdb title|id=87916}}
- {{AFI film|2276}}
Category:American black-and-white films
Category:1930s English-language films
Category:Films directed by Leo C. Popkin
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