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 motion picture two-dimensional moving image Musical films. Race films. Short films. Fiction films. xxu monographic United States United States RKO Distributing Corp. Sack Amusement Enterprises. 1929 1929 192906-- eng

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1 video file (digital) (16 min.) : sd., b&w. viewing print 2 film reels of 2 on 1 (16 min., 1,415 ft.) : sd., b&w ; 35 mm. 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. presented by Radio Pictures ; director, story, Dudley Murphy ; produced under the supervision of Dick Currier. 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. DLC 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. n-us--- Blues (Music) Drama African American singers Drama Gamblers Drama Betrayal Drama FGF 1699 (viewing print) https://hdl.loc.gov/loc.mbrsmi/ntscrm.00063365 AVCMS (DLC) 63365 2023602002 aacr amim DLC 230320 20250607121046.2 23026153 Converted from MARCXML to MODS version 3.8 using MARC21slim2MODS3-8_XSLT1-0.xsl (Revision 1.172 20230208)