1h 11min | Documentary, Music | 1955 | b/w, fs
Director: Joseph Kohn
Stars: various, see Soundtracks
Watched on AmazonPrime, bad print; also owned on a megapack.
Although race films were done by 1950, this is produced by a company whose titles look similarly themed to this one, and they date from '52, '54 & '55.
I have missed black people in the '50s; I think they appear LESS frequently. Sure, we don't get the offensive subservient roles, but they have been ABSENT. I hope they were doing better on TV.
Staged as a show at an Apollo-like theatre, but they play to the camera. The mc has value because he clearly introduces each act. The comedy act, Flo & Freddy, inserted frequently, could have been omitted, as could the tobacco store sketch. Nipsey Russell (young) was good to see, as was Mantan Moreland (old).
Highlights: Bill Bailey's dance was a clear homage to Bill Robinson (he even says so); his taps were there, and his occasional percussive exhalation, but the body posture wasn't Bojangles. But it was good to watch anyway.
Songs performed:
- Jam Session, Performed by Lionel Hampton and his band
- Every Day, Performed by Faye Adams
- Waiting for the Sunrise, Danced by Bill Bailey
- In My Heart (There's a Song), Performed by Herb Jeffries
- Bad Bad Whiskey, Performed by Amos Milburn
- Waiting for the Sunrise, sung by The Larks
- another number by Lionel Hampton's band, with a dancer
- Perdido, Sung by Sarah Vaughan
- He Plays Bass In The Basie Band, Performed by Count Basie and His Orchestra (as Count Basie and his orchestra)
- Shake, Rattle and Roll, Performed by Big Joe Turner
- Dry Bones, Performed by Delta Rhythm Boys
- Goodbye Honey, Goodbye, Performed by Martha Davis and her husband
- tap dance by Little Buck in front of a band
- Calypso Blues, Performed by Nat 'King' Cole and an unidentified conga player
- Minnie The Moocher, Performed by Cab Calloway and his orchestra
- It's Raining Teardrops From My Eyes, Performed by Ruth Brown
- One O'Clock Jump, Performed by Count Basie and His Orchestra (as Count Basie and his orchestra)
Studio Films, dir. Kohn; 6
