1923-1939 Jazz, Blues, Spirituals and Black music and dance performances in films
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- DirectorJ. Searle DawleyLee De ForestStarsNoble SissleEubie BlakeIn a rare filmed record, the famed songwriters and vaudevillians perform. One of De Forest's earliest experimental sound films.parts of 2 songs
- StarsEubie BlakeBlake plays the neoclassical piece on the piano. The highest notes failed to record in this seminal experiment with synchronized sound.
- DirectorLee De ForestStarsThe Jubilee FourAfrican-American gospel group The Jubilee Four perform in a short film produced in the DeForest Phonofilm sound-on-film process.
- DirectorF.W. MurnauStarsGeorge O'BrienJanet GaynorMargaret LivingstonA sophisticated city woman seduces a farmer and convinces him to murder his wife and join her in the city, but he ends up rekindling his romance with his wife when he changes his mind at the last moment.Fletcher Henderson: part of 1 song
- DirectorDudley MurphyStarsDuke EllingtonDuke Ellington OrchestraFredi WashingtonDuke Ellington in a jazz musical short with a tragic plotline.Duke Ellington: all or part of 5 songs
- DirectorDudley MurphyStarsBessie SmithJimmy MordecaiIsabel WashingtonIn her only known film appearance, legendary blues singer Bessie Smith witnesses her lover's betrayal, then sings a powerful rendition of the title song.Bessie Smith
- DirectorHarry A. PollardArch HeathStarsLaura La PlanteJoseph SchildkrautEmily FitzroyA mostly silent version of Edna Ferber's original novel, with some songs from the musical as a last-minute additionJules Bledsoe: 2 songs; Dixie Jubilee Singers: all or part of 4 songs
- DirectorBasil SmithStarsMamie SmithJ. Homer TuttPeter GraingerMamie Smith: all or part of 2 songs
- DirectorKing VidorStarsDaniel L. HaynesNina Mae McKinneyWilliam FountaineA sharecropper decides to become a preacher after falling for a vamp from the city.Nina Mae McKinney: 3 songs
- DirectorBasil SmithStarsJules BledsoeJules Bledsoe: 2 songs
- DirectorSammy LeeStarsRaymond HackettMary DoranBrox SistersNina Mae McKinney: 1 song
- DirectorAlan CroslandStarsArthur LakeBetty CompsonJoe E. BrownA musical advertised as the first 100% natural color, all-singing production. The plot concerns a wide-eyed former hatcheck girl who takes the place of a rebellious star.Ethel Waters: 2 songs
- DirectorWalter GrahamStarsSpencer WilliamsRoberta HysonHarry TracyIn Harlem, Bud Peagler's "Barbecue Lunch and Poolroom" (the home of Brunswick Stew), also serves as the meeting place and hangout for many citizens and organizations such as 'The Sons and Daughters of The I Will Arise Society," and also Mosby's Blues Blowers. It is also where Roscoe Driggers hangs out. Roscoe claims to be the world's champion cornet player, although he can't play a note, even a sour one. But when the chance to earn $500 for playing his cornet at the big concert held by the "Over the River Burying Society" arises, Roscoe signs up. Roscoe needs $500 in order to buy a beauty shop for his manicurist-fiancée, Zenia Sprowl. Roscoe makes plans for his buddy Sam Ginn, who can play a cornet, to hide under the stage and play while Roscoe fakes it on the stage. But Sam gets taken out by some dudes who have a bone to pick with Roscoe. No sweat, though, as another of Roscoe's musician friends, Willie Trout, sees this and takes Sam's place under the stage....with his saxophone.
- DirectorMurray RothStarsThe Norman Thomas QuintetteStanley BrownAlphonse KennedyOpens with a man singing. He is followed by a couple of tap dancers and a comic drummer who is also unique. The person playing the keyboards may not ever be outperformed.Norman Thomas Quintette: all or part of 3 songs
- DirectorCarl HarbaughStarsFord Washington LeeJohn W. BubblesSpencer WilliamsIn this two-reel short, adapted and adjusted from Hugh Wiley's "Wildcat", the comedy team of Buck (Ford Washington Lee) and Bubbles (John W. Bubbles), simple in their methods and refreshing in their style, sing, dance and laugh their way to the end.
- DirectorS. Jay KaufmanStarsJames BartonElaine ArdenMattie PurnellChick Webb
- DirectorBasil SmithStarsJules BledsoeIke PaulIsmay BlakelyJules Bledsoe: all or part of 3 songs
- DirectorMurray RothStarsThe Washboard SerenadersMary BarnesBillie GriffinWashboard Serenaders
- DirectorMurray RothStarsCora Green
- DirectorMurray RothStarsRed NicholsEddie CondonThe Five PenniesMusical performance from the Roaring Twenties by this hot jazz combo, featuring Dixieland jazz, a singer and trumpet trio.all or part of 5 songs
- DirectorWilliam WatsonStarsSam McDanielGeorgia Jubilee SingersEvelyn PreerGeorgia Jubilee Singers
- DirectorBryan FoyStarsBen PollackRay BauducAl BellerJack Teagarden (with Ben Pollack): part of 4 songs
- DirectorMelville W. BrownStarsFreeman F. GosdenCharles J. CorrellSue CarolTypical Amos 'n Andy storyline has the boys trying to make a go of their "open-air" taxi business while they get caught up in a society hassle, involving driving musicians to a fancy party. All the regular characters are here (or mentioned), including the famous Mystic Knights of the Sea. The only film appearance of radio's long-running characters.Duke Ellington: all or part of 3 songs
- DirectorHanns SchwarzStarsRalph Arthur RobertsLilian HarveyWilly FritschThe young wife of a rich old husband is prevented of a fling by a gentleman-burglar, who falls in love to her.Sidney Bechet
- DirectorJoseph SantleyStarsHelen TwelvetreesFred ScottDorothy BurgessTo avoid hostilities, Maryan, the ward of Doc May, a medicine show owner, induces Pop Garner, a circus owner, to join forces with her guardian. Doc May and Daphne, his wife, work as clowns; and Garry, a singing soldier of fortune, sings along with Maryan's act. Ruth, Maryan's partner, quits to get married; and Joe, who is jealous of Garry, replaces her with Trixie, his former assistant. When Garry announces his engagement to Maryan, Trixie persuades him to join a strip poker game in a drunken state and "compromises" him in the presence of his fiancée. Grief-stricken, Maryan falls during her act, and Garry, robbed of circus funds, is arrested. In spite of her injuries, Maryan, learning of Trixie's treachery, performs the act with her and forces a confession by threatening to drop her; Garry is released and is welcomed back to the show.Clarence Muse: 1 song