St. Louis Blues (1929)

In this all-black cast short, legendary blues singer Bessie Smith finds her gambler lover Jimmy messin' with a pretty, younger woman; he leaves and she sings the blues, with chorus and ... See full summary »

Director:

Dudley Murphy

Writer:

Dudley Murphy

Stars:

Bessie Smith, Jimmy Mordecai, Isabel Washington

1 win.

Cast

Credited cast:
Bessie Smith	...	Bessie - Battered Wife
Jimmy Mordecai	...	Jimmy the Pimp
Isabel Washington	...	Jimmy's Girlfriend
Hall Johnson Choir	...	Choir
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Edgar Connor	...	Craps game leader

Storyline

In this all-black cast short, legendary blues singer Bessie Smith finds her gambler lover Jimmy messin' with a pretty, younger woman; he leaves and she sings the blues, with chorus and dancers.

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Plot Keywords:

national film registry | singer | gambler | all black cast | abuse | 

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Taglines:

QUEEN OF THE BLUES (original poster-all caps)

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Genres:

Short | Drama | Music

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

8 September 1929 (USA)

Also Known As:

The St. Louis Blues

Filming Locations:

RCA Photophone, Gramercy Park, Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

RKO Radio Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

16 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Photophone System)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.20 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

This short film starring Bessie Smith was built around the blues singer's song of the same title. It is the only footage of her in existence.

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Connections

Featured in That's Black Entertainment (1990)

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Soundtracks

Rhapsody in Blue
(uncredited)
Written by George Gershwin (1924)
Excerpts played as part of the score

User Reviews

Must-See Race Film

St. Louis Blues (1929)

*** 1/2 (out of 4)

This early race Musical is without question one of the strongest I've seen for a number of reasons. The plot is fairly simple as legend Bessie Smith walks into a gambling hall and catches her husband with a younger, prettier woman. She begs for him to come back with her but the husband knocks her to the ground and walks out, which causes Bessie to pour herself a drink and sing the title song. This film works on a number of levels but as a race movie I think it's perhaps the best I've seen from the 20s or 30s. We've seen a black gambling house in house white films made by white folks so it was very interesting seeing the difference here and I'm going to go out on a limb and say this here is a lot more authentic than what the major studios were showing. The film is also interesting because it shows how women were looked at during this era because we see Bessie get knocked down and kicked yet she begs for the man to keep her. Even before this happens Bessie storms into the room and beats the fire out of the other woman, which is certainly something that didn't show up in those MGM shorts. Finally, I've read that this is the only known video footage of Bessie Smith and man what a voice she had. Her singing the blues would make anyone a fan of the genre and she certainly gives it her all and delivers a strong vocal performance. Her acting ability wasn't the greatest but I thought she did OK with it. The film is extremely raw and authentic and part of this is probably due to the obvious low-budget. This film works on just about every level and is highly recommended.