Sunday Sinners

2511. SUNDAY SINNERS (1940-USA). With EDNA MAE HARRIS, MAMIE SMITH, THE SUNKISSED BROWN SKIN CHORUS. In this rare and intriguing all-black cast melodrama with comic scenes, a council of stodgy churchgoers in a black community raises Cain against “cafes of sin.” They are angry with Gene and Corrine Aiken because they keep open their popular “Club Harlem” on Sundays. Liberal spiritual leader Reverend Hampton also is upset because he cannot fill the pews for his Sunday sermon if the youthful and dance- happy members of his congregation are cutting a rug at the club. Gene is willing to close the club on the holy day, but his money-hungry wife Corrine (played by talented Edna Mae Harris) insists on gathering the Sunday profits. Corrine is a shrew who cheats on her husband. She and her chauffeur know all the right moves-even when the car is parked! When a gang of criminals from a big city “Protection Association” catch on that the night-club is a big money-maker, two thugs try to sell Gene an “insurance policy.” He refuses and becomes a target in an underworld scheme. Grab your comfortable shoes and join the jitter- bugging cafe sociely in this exciting and often hilarious story. 65 minutes. “All Black” Drama