Lincoln Theodore Monroe Andrew Perry, better known by the stage name Stepin Fetchit, was an American vaudevillian, comedian, and film actor of Jamaican and Bahamian descent, considered to be the first black actor to have a successful film career. His highest profile was during the 1930s in films and on stage, when his persona of Stepin Fetchit was billed as the "Laziest Man in the World".
A soundie is a three-minute American musical film displaying a performance. Soundies were produced between 1940 and 1946 and have been referred to as "precursors to music videos". Soundies exhibited a variety of musical genres in an effort to draw a broad audience. The shorts were originally viewed in public places on "Panorams": coin-operated, 16mm rear projection machines. Panorams were typically located in businesses like nightclubs, bars, and restaurants. Due to World War II, Soundies also featured patriotic messages and advertisements for war bonds. Hollywood films were censored but Soundies weren't, so the films occasionally had daring content like burlesque acts; these were produced to appeal to soldiers on leave.
Clean Pastures is a 1937 Warner Bros. Merrie Melodies cartoon directed by Friz Freleng. The short was released on May 22, 1937.
Show Boat is a 1929 American pre-Code sound part-talkie romantic drama film based on the 1926 novel Show Boat by Edna Ferber. The film initially did not use the 1927 stage musical of the same name as a source, but scenes were later added into the film incorporating two of the songs from the musical as well as other songs. Many of these songs from the stage show were featured in a special prologue that was added to the picture before it was released. This film was produced and released by Universal. Like the majority of films during the early sound era, a silent version was made for movie theatres that had not yet converted to sound.
Stand Up and Cheer! is a 1934 American Pre-Code musical film directed by Hamilton MacFadden. The screenplay by Lew Brown and Ralph Spence was based upon a story idea by Will Rogers and Philip Klein. The film is about efforts undertaken during the Great Depression to boost the morale of the country. It is essentially a vehicle for a string of vaudeville acts and a few musical numbers. The film is best known for providing the first big breakthrough role for legendary child actress Shirley Temple. A little known bit player before the film, by the end of the year, she appeared in 10 movies, including 4 starring roles in major feature-length films.
The Ghost Talks is a 1929 American comedy film directed by Lewis Seiler based on a Max Marcin and Edward Hammond's Broadway play. Actor Stepin Fetchit played a character named "Christopher Lee" in this early talkie. Because not all theaters had been converted to sound, it was also released as a silent film. Despite the title, there are no ghosts in the film.
Salute is a 1929 drama film directed by John Ford and starring George O'Brien, Helen Chandler, William Janney, Stepin Fetchit, Frank Albertson and Ward Bond. It is about the football rivalry of the Army–Navy Game, and two brothers, played by O'Brien and Janney, one of West Point, the other of Annapolis. John Wayne had an uncredited role in the film, as one of three midshipmen who perform a mild hazing.
Swing Wedding is a 1937 MGM Happy Harmonies cartoon directed by Hugh Harman.
Judge Priest is a 1934 American comedy film starring Will Rogers. The film was directed by John Ford, produced by Sol M. Wurtzel in association with Fox Film, and based on humorist Irvin S. Cobb's character Judge Priest. The picture is set in post-reconstruction Kentucky and the supporting cast features Henry B. Walthall, Hattie McDaniel and Stepin Fetchit. It was remade by Ford in 1953 as The Sun Shines Bright.
Dimples is a 1936 American musical drama film directed by William A. Seiter. The screenplay was written by Nat Perrin and Arthur Sheekman. The film was panned by the critics. Videocassette and DVD versions of the film were available in 2009.
A Tough Winter is a 1930 Our Gang short comedy film directed by Robert F. McGowan. It was the 99th Our Gang short to be released.
"The Lonesome Road" is a 1927 song with music by Nathaniel Shilkret and lyrics by Gene Austin, alternately titled "Lonesome Road", "Look Down that Lonesome Road" and "Lonesome Road Blues." It was written in the style of an African American folk song.
Fox Movietone Follies of 1929, also known as Movietone Follies of 1929 and The William Fox Movietone Follies of 1929, is an American black-and-white and color pre-Code musical film released by Fox Film Corporation.
Imaging Blackness is the complex concept of expressing, recognizing, or assigning specific sets of ideas or values used in the depiction of Black people. This depiction can be shown through various forms of media: film, television, literature. More specifically in film, the portrayal of Black people has been imaged and captured since the dawn of the medium.
Paul Sloane was an American screenwriter and film director.
David Harum is a 1934 American comedy film directed by James Cruze and written by Walter Woods. The film stars Will Rogers, Louise Dresser, Evelyn Venable, Kent Taylor, Stepin Fetchit, Noah Beery, Sr. and Roger Imhof. The film was released on March 3, 1934, by Fox Film Corporation.
John Larkin was an American stage and screen performer, as well as songwriter, whose acting career extended nearly four decades — from the late 1890s through his last acting roles in the five films released the year of his death. A scrapbook preserved at Atlanta's Emory University indicates that "he was billed as "The Rajah of Mirth" and "The Funniest Colored Comedian in the World".
Thru Different Eyes is a 1929 sound all-talking American pre-Code drama film directed by John G. Blystone and written by Tom Barry and Milton Herbert Gropper. The film stars Mary Duncan, Edmund Lowe, Warner Baxter, Natalie Moorhead, Earle Foxe and Donald Gallaher. The film was released on April 14, 1929, by Fox Film Corporation.
A. C. Harris Bilbrew was an American poet, musician, composer, playwright, clubwoman, and radio personality known as Madame A. C. Bilbrew. She lived in South Los Angeles. In 1923, she became the first black soloist to sing on a Los Angeles radio program. She also hosted the city's first African-American radio music program, The Gold Hour, in the early 1940s. The A. C. Bilbrew branch of the LA County Library in Willowbrook was named in her honor.
African American cinema is loosely classified as films made by, for, or about Black Americans. Historically, African American films have been made with African-American casts and marketed to African-American audiences. The production team and director were sometimes also African American. More recently, Black films featuring multicultural casts aimed at multicultural audiences have also included American Blackness as an essential aspect of the storyline.
