Saint Louis Blues (movie)
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A number of short and feature films have been entitled St. Louis Blues.
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1929 film
Saint Louis Blues is a 1929 two-reel short movie starring Bessie Smith. The early sound film features Smith in an African-American speakeasy of the prohibition era singing the W. C. Handy standard, "Saint Louis Blues". It is the only known film of Bessie Smith, and the soundtrack is her only recording not controlled by Columbia Records.
Bessie Smith had a hit on the song in 1925 and Handy himself asked Bessie Smith to appear in the movie. Handy co-authored the film and was the musical director. The film was a dramatization of the song, a woman left alone by her roving man. It features a band that including James P. Johnson on piano, Thomas Morris and Joe Smith on cornet, as well as the Hall Johnson Choir with some thrilling harmonies at the end.
The film has an all African-American cast. Bessie Smith co-stars with the dancer and actor Jimmy Mordecai as the boyfriend and Isabel Washington Powell as the other woman.
It was filmed in June of 1929 on Astoria, Long Island. The film is 16 minutes long. It is available on videotape.
1939 film
In 1939, Raoul Walsh directed "St. Louis Blues," a musical, set on a Mississippi River showboat. Although the plot was not related to the song, the St. Louis Blues was sung as one of the numbers. Artists included jazz singer Maxine Sullivan and composer/singer/actor Hoagy Carmichael.
1941 short
In 1941, Alvino Rey and his orchestra, featuring the King Sisters, presented a three-minute interpretation of the St. Louis Blues.
1958 feature film
In 1958, St. Louis Blues was the title of a film which was broadly based on Handy's life. It starred jazz and blues greats Nat "King" Cole, Pearl Bailey, Cab Calloway, Ella Fitzgerald and Barney Bigard. The film's soundtrack used over ten of Handy's songs including the title song.
External link
- Saint Louis Blues 1929 movie (http://www.redhotjazz.com/stlouisblues.html)