The Blues
by karljhickey14 | created - 19 Jul 2014 | updated - 17 Feb 2019 | Public- Instant Watch Options
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1. Leadbelly (1976)
PG | 126 min | Biography, Drama, Music
Biography of the legendary folksinger, Huddie Ledbetter, master of the 12-string guitar and long-time convict on Texas and Louisiana chain gangs.
Director: Gordon Parks | Stars: Roger E. Mosley, Paul Benjamin, Madge Sinclair, James Brodhead
Votes: 903
Biography of the great folk blues singer
2. Honeydripper (2007)
PG-13 | 124 min | Crime, Drama, History
1950. Rural Alabama. Cotton harvest. It's a make-or-break weekend for the Honeydripper Lounge and its owner, piano player Tyrone "Pine Top" Purvis. Deep in debt to the liquor man, the ... See full summary »
Director: John Sayles | Stars: Danny Glover, LisaGay Hamilton, Yaya DaCosta, Charles S. Dutton
Votes: 2,194 | Gross: $0.27M
A Juke joint in the south gets its first taste of electric blues . With Mable John and Keb' Mo
3. Cadillac Records (2008)
R | 109 min | Biography, Drama, Music
Chronicles the rise of Chess Records and its recording artists.
Director: Darnell Martin | Stars: Adrien Brody, Jeffrey Wright, Beyoncé, Columbus Short
Votes: 23,138 | Gross: $8.20M
Fictionalized version of Chess records , with Muddy Waters , Etta James et al
4. The Walking Hills (1949)
Passed | 78 min | Adventure, Thriller, Western
A group of treasure hunters search for a wagon load of gold, buried years before in Death Valley.
Director: John Sturges | Stars: Randolph Scott, Ella Raines, William Bishop, Edgar Buchanan
Votes: 1,117
Josh White stars , and sings in this noirish modern day western .
5. Black Snake Moan (2006)
R | 116 min | Drama, Music
A God-fearing bluesman takes to a wild young woman who, as a victim of childhood sexual abuse, looks everywhere for love, never quite finding it.
Director: Craig Brewer | Stars: Christina Ricci, Samuel L. Jackson, Justin Timberlake, S. Epatha Merkerson
Votes: 66,556 | Gross: $9.40M
Blues player chains a white girl up to drive the devil out of her
6. St. Louis Blues (1929)
Not Rated | 16 min | Short, Drama, Music
In her only known film appearance, legendary blues singer Bessie Smith witnesses her lover's betrayal, then sings a powerful rendition of the title song.
Director: Dudley Murphy | Stars: Bessie Smith, Jimmy Mordecai, Isabel Washington, Hall Johnson Choir
Votes: 471
Bessie Smith sings in this early sound short
7. Crossroads (1986)
R | 99 min | Drama, Music, Mystery
A wannabe blues-guitar virtuoso finds an old blues player and hopes he can teach him a long-lost song by legendary musician Robert Johnson.
Director: Walter Hill | Stars: Ralph Macchio, Joe Seneca, Jami Gertz, Joe Morton
Votes: 17,665 | Gross: $5.84M
White blues researcher travels to the legendary crossroads to meet the devil , a la Robert Johnson . Music by Ry Cooder and Sonny Terry
8. Who Do You Love (2008)
91 min | Biography, Drama
The life story of legendary record producer Leonard Chess, founder of Chess Records, the label that helped popularize Blues music during the 1950s and '60s.
Director: Jerry Zaks | Stars: Alessandro Nivola, David Oyelowo, Chi McBride, Jon Abrahams
Votes: 175
Another account of Chess records and Leonard Chess .
9. The Blues Brothers (1980)
R | 133 min | Action, Adventure, Comedy
Jake Blues rejoins with his brother Elwood after being released from prison, but the duo has just days to reunite their old R&B band and save the Catholic home where the two were raised, outrunning the police as they tear through Chicago.
Director: John Landis | Stars: John Belushi, Dan Aykroyd, Cab Calloway, John Candy
Votes: 214,591 | Gross: $57.23M
10. Blues Brothers 2000 (1998)
PG-13 | 123 min | Action, Comedy, Crime
Elwood must reunite the old band, with a few new members, and go on another "Mission from God."
Director: John Landis | Stars: Dan Aykroyd, John Goodman, Walter Levine, Tom Davis
Votes: 34,782 | Gross: $13.98M
11. The Jerk (1979)
R | 94 min | Comedy
A simpleminded, sheltered country boy suddenly decides to leave his family home to experience life in the big city, where his naivete is both his best friend and his worst enemy.
Director: Carl Reiner | Stars: Steve Martin, Bernadette Peters, Catlin Adams, Mabel King
Votes: 64,241 | Gross: $73.69M
Starts and ends with Sonny Terry and Brownie Mcghee playing
12. Thief (1981)
R | 123 min | Action, Crime, Drama
An ace safe cracker wants to do one last big heist for the mob before going straight.
Director: Michael Mann | Stars: James Caan, Tuesday Weld, Willie Nelson, Jim Belushi
Votes: 39,060 | Gross: $11.49M
Chicago set thriller , long scene with Mighty Joe Young playing in a bar .
13. The Last Waltz (1978)
PG | 117 min | Documentary, Biography, Music
A film account and presentation of the final concert of The Band.
Director: Martin Scorsese | Stars: Robbie Robertson, Muddy Waters, Neil Young, Van Morrison
Votes: 20,181 | Gross: $0.32M
Muddy Waters appears
14. Mystery Train (1989)
R | 110 min | Comedy, Crime, Drama
Three stories are connected by a Memphis hotel and the spirit of Elvis Presley.
Director: Jim Jarmusch | Stars: Masatoshi Nagase, Yûki Kudô, Screamin' Jay Hawkins, Cinqué Lee
Votes: 30,841 | Gross: $0.37M
Great Memphis set film , with Screamin' Jay Hawkins , Rufus Thomas
15. Drunken Angel (1948)
Not Rated | 102 min | Crime, Drama, Romance
A drunken doctor with a hot temper and a violence-prone gangster with tuberculosis form a quicksilver bond.
Director: Akira Kurosawa | Stars: Takashi Shimura, Toshirô Mifune, Reizaburô Yamamoto, Michiyo Kogure
Votes: 13,366
Japanese Noir , features Japanese guitarist's idea of blues
16. The Young One (1960)
96 min | Drama
A jazz musician seeks refuge from a lynch mob on a remote island, where he meets a hostile game warden and the young object of his attentions.
Director: Luis Buñuel | Stars: Zachary Scott, Bernie Hamilton, Key Meersman, Crahan Denton
Votes: 3,065
Bunuel directed film of a black jazz musician hiding on an island in the south with a white man and girl . Blues song runs throughout the film
17. Lady Sings the Blues (1972)
R | 144 min | Biography, Drama, Music
The story of the troubled life and career of the legendary Jazz singer, Billie Holiday.
Director: Sidney J. Furie | Stars: Diana Ross, Billy Dee Williams, Richard Pryor, James T. Callahan
Votes: 4,848 | Gross: $6.03M
Biopic of Billie Holiday
18. Banjo on My Knee (1936)
Passed | 95 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
Believing he has killed a guest, a groom flees on his wedding night.
Director: John Cromwell | Stars: Barbara Stanwyck, Joel McCrea, Walter Brennan, Buddy Ebsen
Votes: 674
Walter Brennan spends most of the film trying to play St Louis Blues , singer Theresa Harris and the Hall Johnson Choir do it as a big number
19. Remember My Name (1978)
R | 94 min | Drama, Thriller
Just released from prison, a young woman arrives in town to "start a new life", but soon begins stalking a married construction worker for no apparent reason, turning his life inside out and eventually terrorizing him and his wife.
Director: Alan Rudolph | Stars: Geraldine Chaplin, Anthony Perkins, Moses Gunn, Berry Berenson
Votes: 1,673
Alberta Hunter sings on the soundtrack , including title song
20. Radio Parade of 1935 (1934)
96 min | Comedy, Musical
The Director General of the NBG is struggling with his staff as the complaints pile up on his programming.The staff put on a show that could turn the tide, if the DG can thwart a villainous agent and deal with his troublesome daughter.
Director: Arthur B. Woods | Stars: Will Hay, Helen Chandler, Clifford Mollison, Davy Burnaby
Votes: 158
Alberta Hunter sings Black Shadows
21. The Great White Hope (1970)
PG-13 | 103 min | Drama, Romance, Sport
A Black champion boxer and his white female companion struggle to survive while the white boxing establishment looks for ways to knock him down.
Director: Martin Ritt | Stars: James Earl Jones, Jane Alexander, Lou Gilbert, Joel Fluellen
Votes: 2,806 | Gross: $2.70M
features Jesse Fuller singing "Let Me Hold You In My Arms Tonight" on the soundtrack.
22. The Hot Spot (1990)
R | 130 min | Crime, Drama, Romance
Upon arriving to a small town, a drifter quickly gets into trouble with the local authorities - and the local women - after he robs a bank.
Director: Dennis Hopper | Stars: Don Johnson, Virginia Madsen, Jennifer Connelly, Charles Martin Smith
Votes: 13,520 | Gross: $1.29M
soundtrack by John Lee Hooker , with Miles Davis
23. The Cabin in the Cotton (1932)
TV-G | 78 min | Drama
A tenant farmer's son is caught in the middle of owner-tenant disputes when he falls for the plantation owner's seductive daughter.
Director: Michael Curtiz | Stars: Richard Barthelmess, Bette Davis, Dorothy Jordan, Hardie Albright
Votes: 1,880
Clarence Muse plays a blind blues singer , there'a also a Memphis jazz band - and Bette Davis singing "Willie The Weeper"
24. The Delinquents (1957)
Not Rated | 72 min | Drama
A frustrated young man, separated from his younger girlfriend, gets involved in a juvenile gang.
Director: Robert Altman | Stars: Tom Laughlin, Peter Miller, Richard Bakalyan, Rosemary Howard
Votes: 669 | Gross: $1.00M
Features Julia Lee in the opening sequences .
25. St. Louis Blues (1939)
92 min | Comedy, Musical, Romance
A Broadway musical comedy star tires of the same old grind and flees the city. She runs into the skipper of a showboat who befriends her, and they make plans to put together a musical revue... See full summary »
Director: Raoul Walsh | Stars: Dorothy Lamour, Lloyd Nolan, Tito Guízar, Jerome Cowan
Votes: 81
jazz singer Maxine Sullivan sings -, wait for it , the St Louis Blues .
26. The Blues Accordin' to Lightnin' Hopkins (1970)
Not Rated | 31 min | Documentary, Short, Music
A portrait of the great Texas bluesman, 'Lightnin' Hopkins. The film includes interviews and a performance by Hopkins.
Directors: Les Blank, Skip Gerson | Stars: Lightnin Hopkins, Billy Bizor, Mance Lipscomb, Ruth Ames
Votes: 867
27. Hot Pepper (1973)
Not Rated | 54 min | Documentary, Music
Documentary about noted Zydeco artist Clifton Chenier. Based out of New Orleans, Chenier was the self-crowned "King" of Zydeco (a New Orleans musical hybrid containing elements of blues, ... See full summary »
Director: Les Blank | Stars: Clifton Chenier, Cleveland Chenier, Robert St. Julien, Felix James Benit
Votes: 299
28. Dry Wood (1973)
Not Rated | 37 min | Documentary, Short, Music
A portrait of black Creole life in the Louisiana Delta, accompanied by the hot sounds of Zydeco music.
Directors: Les Blank, Maureen Gosling | Stars: Alphonse Ardoin, Gustave Ardoin, Morris Ardoin, Lawrence Ardoin
Votes: 282
29. The Trail of the Lonesome Pine (1936)
Approved | 102 min | Adventure, Drama, Romance
A railroad man from the city befriends a mountain girl in a Kentucky family feud.
Director: Henry Hathaway | Stars: Sylvia Sidney, Henry Fonda, Fred MacMurray, Fred Stone
Votes: 1,366
Fuzzy Knight sings Stackolee
30. She Done Him Wrong (1933)
Passed | 66 min | Comedy, Drama, History
In the Gay Nineties, a seductive nightclub singer contends with several suitors, including a jealous escaped convict and a handsome temperance league member.
Director: Lowell Sherman | Stars: Mae West, Cary Grant, Owen Moore, Gilbert Roland
Votes: 7,043 | Gross: $4.80M
31. Belle of the Nineties (1934)
Passed | 73 min | Comedy, Drama, Musical
Ruby Carter, the American Beauty queen of the night club-sporting world, shifts her operations from St. Louis to New Orleans, mostly to get away from prizefighter Tiger Kid. Installed as ... See full summary »
Director: Leo McCarey | Stars: Mae West, Roger Pryor, Johnny Mack Brown, John Miljan
Votes: 917
Mae West ( anachronistically ) sings St Louis Blues , and Memphis Blues , accompanied by Duke Ellington , no less .
32. Mama Lou (1994)
6 min | Animation, Short
In between performances, a blues singer sits at her mirror and is visited by the spirit of her Grandmother who reminds her of stories from her youth as well as giving her the history of the blues singers.
Director: Maybelle Peters | Star: Isabelle Lucas
Votes: 10
33. The Fighting Parson (1930)
Passed | 20 min | Short, Comedy, Western
Harry is mistaken for "The Fighting Parson" in a tough western town.
Directors: Fred Guiol, Charley Rogers | Stars: Harry Langdon, Thelma Todd, Judith Barrett, Eddie Dunn
Votes: 70
Harry Langdon sings two blues on his banjo , including Frankie And Johnny
34. The Crimson Canary (1945)
Approved | 64 min | Crime, Film-Noir, Mystery
Members of a Jazz Band come under suspicion when a beautiful nightclub singer is murdered.
Director: John Hoffman | Stars: Noah Beery Jr., Lois Collier, John Litel, Steven Geray
Votes: 104
35. W.W. and the Dixie Dancekings (1975)
PG | 91 min | Comedy
W. Bright (Burt Reynolds) is a robber with a heart of gold who travels the South knocking off banks and gas stations owned by a corrupt businessman. When he hijacks a car, he meets an aspiring country band, the Dixie Dancekings, led by Dixie (Conny Van Dyke). The two sides eventually take a liking to one another, especially after the Dancekings realize the size of Bright's thefts. Trailed by ... See full summary »
Director: John G. Avildsen | Stars: Burt Reynolds, Art Carney, Conny Van Dyke, Jerry Reed
Votes: 1,066 | Gross: $17.44M
features Furry Lewis , who plays Shake Em On Down .
36. Boogie-Woogie Dream (1944)
13 min | Musical, Short
After hours at a nightclub, the hired help have a jam session, which proves to be just what a couple of belated customers wanted to hear.
Director: Hans Burger | Stars: Lena Horne, Albert Ammons, Pete Johnson, Teddy Wilson
Votes: 68
37. Murder on Lenox Avenue (1941)
Not Rated | 65 min | Drama
Dramatic events in a Harlem apartment house center around Pa Wilkins, chosen by the Better Business League to replace their ousted, crooked leader Marshall...who wants revenge.
Director: Arthur Dreifuss | Stars: Mamie Smith, Alec Lovejoy, Norman Astwood, Augustus Smith
Votes: 92
stars Mamie Smith
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