Classic Black Cinema Series: Dirty Gertie from Harlem U.S.A.

(1946) The provocatively titled Dirty Gertie from Harlem U.S.A. finds actor Spencer Williams indulging his roles as an entertainer and message-maker in this melodrama of "bad girl" Harlem performer Gertie LaRue (Francine Everett). LaRue arrives on the fictional Caribbean island of "Rinidad" to play fast-and-loose with the affections of a long procession of (in some cases, visibly) salivating men. Before long, Dirty Gertie’s wild ways catch up with her and soon finds her salacious stage act the target of two crusading "Back to Africa" missionaries and, eventually, herself the target of a discarded former lover hellbent on violent revenge.

Specifically designed as a vehicle to expose the community to the vast artistic value black film has had throughout the years, the goal of the film series is to appeal to as diverse a population as possible and further the appreciation of Black cinema.

Curator and host, Felix Curtis, came to Charlotte from the Oakland/San Francisco Bay area where he curated The San Francisco Black Film Festival and Black Filmworks, the annual film festival component of the Black Filmmakers Hall of Fame, where he later served as Executive Director.