Chloe: Love Is Calling You

2817. CHLOE: LOVE IS CALLING YOU (1934-usA). With OLIVE BORDEN, REED HOWES, PHILIP OBER. This unusual and controversial story of the Old South tells the emotional and romantic trials of the title character. She is quite a heroine for mid-1930’s cinema in that she is presented as a half-caste young woman whose mother is the buxom Mandy, a combination mammy/voodoo priestess! Chloe is loved by Jim Strong, a light-skinned black who desires to marry her. However, she resists him because of his race. “You think because you got white blood some white man’ll have you,” Jim tells Chloe. “He’ll have you all right, but he won’t marry you. Listen Chloe, as long as there’s a drop of black blood in your veins you won’t be allowed to forget it. I know.” A white man named Wade Carson also falls in love with Chloe. However, keep your eye on Mandy because she carries within her a deeply hidden secret that holds the key to Chloe’s future. This film is fascinating as a social history. Practically all of the African-American characters are much more than just offensive stereotypes. They are at best shameless liars and meek souls who literally scream in fear at the sight of a load. They are at worst, lust-filled rapists and maniacal voodoo worshippers! At the same time the film also is an atmospheric drama of romantic yearnings and racial tensions that is as hot as a lit firecracker about to explode. 54 minutes. Drama