Boarding House Blues
Brief Synopsis
Cast & Crew
Josh Binney
Dusty Fletcher
Jackie Mabley
John Mason
John D. Lee Jr.
Marcellus Wilson
Film Details
Technical Specs
Synopsis
When Dusty, an irresponsible tenant at Moms's theatrical boardinghouse, tries to sneak Steggy, a man in an ape suit, into his room, Moms scolds him and reminds him to pay his overdue rent. Later, after singer Lila Foster arrives looking for a room, Boo Boo, an alcoholic tenant, enters Dusty's room to drink his gin, is startled by the apeman and runs off. When Moms is told that she has until midnight to pay the money she owes the landlord, her boarders, including Lila, who has taken over the room vacated by Boo Boo, band together and decide to pool their money. They soon realize that they do not have enough money, but the landlord sees the pretty Lila and offers to postpone Moms's debt if Lila consents to marry him. He then gives Lila twenty-four hours to make a decision. Moms and the boarders pin their hopes on Lila to save them, but she is in love with singer and fellow boarder Jerry Lewis. Lila and Jerry try to save Moms's boardinghouse by putting on a show with their fellow boarders, however, Lila's producer friend, Norman Norman, has been spooked out of show business by a fortune-teller's warning. Desperate to keep the show from being canceled, Jerry and Lila arrange a second fortune reading, with Moms impersonating a fortune-teller, and succeed in dispelling Norman's fears. The show is a great success, and when the landlord returns, Moms pays him with the money her boarders have earned. With the boardinghouse no longer threatened, Lila and Joe become engaged, and Moms resumes her harassment of Dusty.
Director
Josh Binney
Cast
Dusty Fletcher
Jackie Mabley
John Mason
John D. Lee Jr.
Marcellus Wilson
Marie Cooke
Emory Richardson
Harold Cromer
Sid Easton
Freddie Robinson
Augustus Smith
Edgar Martin
John Riano
Lucky Millinder
Una Mae Carlisle
Bull Moose Jackson
Berry Brothers
Lewis And White
Anistine Allen
Paul Breckenridge
Stump & Stumpy
Lee Norman Trio
"crip" Heard
Vivian Harris
Crew
Sam Corso
Roger Edens
Arthur Freed
Henry B. Glover
Henry B. Glover
E. M. Glucksman
Frank La Follette
Dr. Rudolph G. Liszt
Sally Nix
Salvatore Scappa Jr.
Hal Seeger
George Stoetzel
Harold Vivian
Sid Zucker
Film Details
Technical Specs
Quotes
Trivia
Notes
The viewed print of this film contained a 1948 copyright statement for All American News, Inc., but the film was not in the copyright registry. Although billed in the onscreen credits as "Mom," Jackie Mabley's character is referred to as "Moms" in the film, and she was known throughout her career as Jackie "Moms" Mabley. No information regarding the film's release date was found, but the picture was approved for exhibition in New York in 1948, and was subsequently reviewed in The Exhibitor on June 8, 1949. "Crip" Heard, who performs in the film, was a one-legged, one-armed dancer.
