Neva Mary Peoples was a singer and dancer who appeared in several films in the United States. She performed as a singer, dancer, and chorus girl. [1]
Peoples was from San Francisco. [2] A 1936 news clipping refers to her as the "colored blues singer and dancer from Frank Sebastian's Cotton Club in Hollywood." [3] Her film debut was in the 1938 melodrama Gang Smashers singing "That's What You Get in Harlem". [2] [4] She played Ella in The Duke is Tops (1938). [5] She was in a cabaret scene in the 1939 movie, One Dark Night . [6] A 1942 photograph captured her and fellow performers in zoot suit costumes for the Republic Studio film, Hit Parade of 1943 . [7] [8]
She married Phil Moore in 1937 and had a son, George Phillip Moore III, in 1939. [9] [10] [11] Moore's orchestra backed one of her performances. [12]
Nina Mae McKinney was an American actress who worked internationally during the 1930s and in the postwar period in theatre, film and television, after beginning her career on Broadway and in Hollywood. Dubbed "The Black Garbo" in Europe because of her striking beauty, McKinney was both one of the first African-American film stars in the United States and one of the first African-Americans to appear on British television.
Mantan Moreland was an American actor and comedian most popular in the 1930s and 1940s. He starred in numerous films. His daughter Marcella Moreland appeared as a child actress in several films.
Vivian Alferetta Dandridge was an American singer, actress and dancer. Dandridge is best known for being the older sister of actress and singer Dorothy Dandridge and the daughter of actress Ruby Dandridge. Dandridge was a member of the Dandridge Sisters musical group, along with Etta Jones and Dorothy Dandridge from 1934 until the group disbanded in 1940. Dandridge went on to appear in minor roles on films and television from 1940 through the early 1960s. She never really achieved the same notable success as her younger sister, and Vivian Dandridge disappeared from the public eye by 1970. Dandridge died after suffering a stroke on October 26, 1991, at age 70.
Rhythm in a Riff is a 1947 medium length musical film produced by William D. Alexander and directed by Leonard Anderson. The film stars Billy Eckstine and his band performing as well as Ann Baker, Hortense Allen Jordan, Sarah Harris, and Emmett "Babe" Wallace. The film is extant. The film was.made in New York City. It was released by Astor Pictures. The film was targeted to am African American audience, features and African American cast, and was produced and directed by African Americans. The film is also known as Flicker Up.
Phil Moore was an American jazz pianist, arranger, and bandleader.
Pie, Pie Blackbird is a 1932 Vitaphone pre-Code short comedy film released by Warner Bros. on June 4, 1932, starring African American performers Nina Mae McKinney, the Nicholas Brothers, Eubie Blake, and Noble Sissle.
Four Shall Die is a 1940 American supernatural crime film directed by William Beaudine. It features Dorothy Dandridge in her first credited film role.
Stephen Bourne is a British writer, film and social historian specialising in Black heritage and gay culture.
Leo C. Popkin (1914–2011) was a film director and producer in the United States. His brother Harry M. Popkin was the executive producer of Million Dollar Productions, a partnership that included Ralph Cooper.
Million Dollar Productions was a movie studio in the United States active from 1937 until 1940. It was established to produce films with African American casts. It was a partnership between Harry M. Popkin, Leo C. Popkin and Ralph Cooper.
Straight to Heaven is an American film released in 1939. It was produced by Million Dollar Productions. It was advertised as having an all colored cast. Arthur A. Leonard directed. Sack Amusement Enterprises was the distributor.
While Thousands Cheer is a lost American film released in 1940. Leo C. Popkin directed. It was the only football-themed film with an African American lead character for decades. It starred Kenny Washington, a football star from UCLA who went on to become the first African American in the NFL after initially being refused an opportunity to play in the league due to segregation.
Edward Thompson (1898–1960) was an actor in the United States. He appeared in several films with African American casts. He worked on films with his wife Evelyn Preer, Spencer Williams, and other prominent African American actors including in Al Christie productions. He played in various theater productions as an actor, including in a musical dancing role in Darktown Follies.
Gang Smashers, also released as Gun Moll, is an American film released in 1938. It features an African American cast. Leo C. Popkin directed the Million Dollar Productions film from a screenplay by Ralph Cooper. The University of South Carolina libraries have an 8-page pressbook for the film. Nina Mae McKinney stars in the film a thriller about the Harlem underworld and racketeering.
Reginald Hartley Fenderson was an American actor in theatrical productions and films in the United States. He appeared in various films with African American casts in the 1930s and 1940s.
Adorjan Dorian Otvos was a writer and composer in Hollywood. He was born in Hungary. He worked on several Broadway productions as well as Vitaphone short films, often as a co-writer.
Mantan Messes Up is a 1946 film produced in the United States. It stars Mantan Moreland. The film was directed by Sam Newfield. The film was produced by Lucky Star Production Company. It was advertised as having an "All Colored Cast". The Museum of the Moving Image has a still from the film.
Phil Dunham was an American actor and screenwriter.
The Black Network is an American short musical film released in 1936 that was directed by Roy Mack and released through Vitaphone. It is extant.
The Big Reel was an American magazine dedicated to collectors of film and television material—particularly prints and tapes, but also props, stills, and other memorabilia. The magazine was published by Donald R. "Don" Key of Madison, North Carolina, who founded it in 1974. The magazine initially delivered monthly, later bi-monthly.