Best known as the founder and host of “amateur night” at Harlem’s Apollo Theater, Ralph Cooper was a prominent player in the world of race films. Known as “Dark Gable” (after Clark Gable), as well as the “Bronze Bogart” (after Humphrey Bogart), Cooper starred in several films, including BARGAIN WITH BULLETS and GANGSTERS ON THE LOOSE, as well as DARK MANHATTAN and THE DUKE IS TOPS, both of which he also wrote and directed. Cooper was closely associated with the gangster movies he helped produce with brothers Harry and Leo Popkin’s Million Dollar Productions. The Popkins (who were white) and Million Dollar Productions made a series of low budget race movies, all shot in a week or less, including THE DUKE IS TOPS, the first major starring role for Lena Horne.
To learn more about filmmakers and actors like Ralph Cooper, check out my new book Black Film: A History of Black Representation and Participation in the Movies will be released by Ten Speed Press on March 24, 2026. You can pre-order the book here.
