Murphy, Dudley, 1897-1968, film director, screenwriter. Currier, Richard, 1892-1984, film producer. Smith, Bessie, 1894-1937, actor, performer. Mordecai, Jimmy, actor. Powell, Isabel Washington, 1908-2007, actor. Johnson, James P. (James Price), 1894-1955, performer. Morris, Thomas, 1898- performer. Smith, Joe, 1902-1937, performer. Handy, W. C. (William Christopher), 1873-1958, composer, arranger. Johnson, J. Rosamond (John Rosamond), 1873-1954, arranger. Strenge, Walter, cinematographer. Sheilds, Russell, film editor. Oschmann, George, 1889-1948, recordist. Hall Johnson Choir, performer. Radio Pictures, production company. RKO Distributing Corp., film distributor. RKO Productions, copyright claimant. Sack Amusement Enterprises, film distributor. moving image Musical films. lcgft Race films. lcgft Short films. lcgft Fiction films. lcgft United States : RKO Distributing Corp., United States : Sack Amusement Enterprises. 1929 ; eng Bessie arrives at her rooming house where the participants of a hallway craps game tell her that her man, Jimmy, has just gone to her room with a beautiful young woman. When she confronts the couple, Jimmy knocks her to the ground, and leaves with the other woman. Bessie begins to sing the blues. Later, in a nightclub, Bessie mournfully continues her song, accompanied by the band and the patrons. When she finishes, the band plays an upbeat tune and people begin to dance. Jimmy enters, laughing, glad-handing, and dancing up a storm. Everyone is delighted to see him. When the song ends, Jimmy calls out to Bessie, who turns and smiles, happy to have him back. They begin to dance. After a few minutes, Jimmie reaches down, steals Bessie's bankroll, and shoves her back to the bar. Holding up her money, he exits laughing, as Bessie returns to singing her sad song. Copyright: RKO Productions, Inc.; 8Sep29; LP1051. Parts of summary from the National Film Registry essay by Mark Cantor. LC also holds a videocassette viewing copy in the Valburn/Ellington Collection. Sources used: Eagan, D. America's film legacy, 2010, p. 161-162; Meeker, Jazz in the movies; Sampson, Blacks in black and white, p. 66-67; Variety, September 4, 1929, p. 12 (ad) viewed March 20, 2023; Copyright catalog, motion pictures, 1912-1939, p. 737; Library of Congress WWW site viewed March 20, 2023, National Film Preservation Board pages (St. Louis Blues essay by Mark Cantor). Choral arrangements by W.C. Handy and Rosamund Johnson ; cinematographer, Walter Strenge ; edited by Russell Sheilds ; recordist, George Oschmann. Bessie Smith, Jimmy Mordecai, Isabel Washington. Performers: James P. Johnson (piano), Thomas Morris (cornet), Joe Smith (cornet), Hall Johnson Choir. Produced at the Gramercy Studio of RCA Photophone, Inc., in Astoria, Long Island, N.Y. in June, 1929. This film was selected for the National Film Registry. Blues (Music)--Drama. African American singers--Drama. Gamblers--Drama. Betrayal--Drama. AFI Theatre Collection (Library of Congress) St. Louis blues https://hdl.loc.gov/loc.mbrsmi/ntscrm.00063365