That's Black Entertainment
That's Black Entertainment is a 1989 documentary film starring African-American performers and featuring clips from black films from 1929–1957, narrated and directed by William Greaves.[1] The clips are from the Black Cinema Collection of the Southwest Film/Video Archives at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas.[2] It is 60 minutes long and was distributed by Video Communications of Tulsa, Oklahoma.[2]
| That's Black Entertainment | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | William Greaves |
| Written by | G. William Jones |
| Produced by | Norm Revis, Jr. David Arpin |
| Distributed by | Video Communications |
Release date |
|
Running time | 60 minutes |
Film clips included
The film contains more than 29 clips,[1] including:
- Paul Robeson (in Song of Freedom)[3]
- Bessie Smith (in St. Louis Blues)[1]
- Eubie Blake, Nina Mae McKinney, and The Nicholas Brothers (in Pie, Pie Blackbird)
- Lena Horne (in The Duke Is Tops)
- Nat 'King' Cole and Moms Mabley (in Killer Diller)
- Sammy Davis, Jr. and Ethel Waters (in Rufus Jones for President)[1]
- Cab Calloway (in Cab Calloway's Jitterbug Party)
- Ethel Waters (in Carib Gold)
Not only musical clips were shown, but dramatic clips as well, like Murder in Harlem (1935),[3] Juke Joint (1947),[3] Four Shall Die (1940), and Souls of Sin (1949).[3] The film also includes clips from white films stereotyping blacks, including D.W. Griffith's The Birth of a Nation, and a blackfaced Bing Crosby in Crooner's Holiday (1932).[3]
Appearances
- Billie Allen
- Louis Armstrong
- Albert Ammons
- Eubie Blake
- Clarence Brooks
- Cab Calloway
- Nat 'King' Cole[2]
- Bing Crosby[3]
- Dorothy Dandridge
- Sammy Davis, Jr.[1]
- Duke Ellington
- Francine Everett
- Stepin Fetchit
- William Greaves
- Alfred Hawkins
- Billie Holiday
- Lena Horne
- Pete Johnson
- July Jones
- Moms Mabley
- Nina Mae McKinney
- Oscar Micheaux[3]
- Clarence Muse
- The Nicholas Brothers
- Jesse Owens
- Paul Robeson[2]
- Bill Robinson[2]
- Frank 'Sugar Chile' Robinson
- Bessie Smith[2]
- Fredi Washington
- Ethel Waters
- Spencer Williams[3]
References
- "Documentary offers look at early black films". The Jackson Sun. 1990-06-08. p. 37. Retrieved 2023-06-20 – via Newspapers.com.
- Nichols, Peter (1990-01-14). "Home Entertainment/video: Fast Forward; Another Disk Revolution In the Offing?". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2023-06-20.
- "Film bonanza adds a chapter to black history". The Atlanta Constitution. 1990-02-19. p. 15. Retrieved 2023-06-20 – via Newspapers.com.