The Cotton Club is a 1984 American musical crime drama film co-written and directed by Francis Ford Coppola and based on James Haskins' 1977 book of the same name. The story centers on the Cotton Club, a Harlem jazz club in the 1930s. The film stars Richard Gere, Gregory Hines, Diane Lane and Lonette McKee, with Bob Hoskins, James Remar, Nicolas Cage, Allen Garfield, Gwen Verdon, Fred Gwynne and Laurence Fishburne in supporting roles.
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.
Hit the Ice is a 1943 film starring the comedy team of Abbott and Costello and their first film directed by Charles Lamont. Lamont later directed the team's last few films in the 1950s.
Clarence Muse was an American actor, screenwriter, director, singer, and composer. He was the first African American to appear in a starring role in a film, 1929's Hearts in Dixie. He acted for 50 years, and appeared in more than 150 films. He was inducted into the Black Filmmakers Hall of Fame in 1973.
Harlem on the Prairie (1937) is American race movie, billed as the first "all-colored" Western musical. The movie reminded audiences that there were black cowboys and corrected a popular Hollywood image of an all-white Old West.
Fred Myton was an American screenwriter. He wrote 168 films between 1916 and 1952, mostly low-budget "B" pictures for Poverty Row studios and independent producers. He wrote many films for Producers Releasing Corporation.
Allied Artists International, Inc. (AAI) is an American multinational mass media and entertainment corporation headquartered in Glendale, California, United States, producing and distributing motion pictures, recorded music, broadcast television, online streaming, video games, and other media products. The company is the successor to Allied Artists Pictures Corporation. In the year 2000, AAI divided its media products into three distinct wholly owned divisions, Allied Artists Film Group (AAFG), Allied Artists Music Group (AAMG) and Allied Artists Music & Video Distribution (AAMVD). Then, around 2020, AAI reorganized itself into four divisions: Allied Artists Music Group, Allied Artists Film Group, Allied Artists Films & Monogram Pictures, & Allied Artists Broadcasting & Allied Artists Music & Video Distribution. Allied Artists Pictures is known for having produced and released such historic motion pictures as Cabaret, starring Joel Grey and Liza Minnelli; Papillon, starring Dustin Hoffman and Steve McQueen; and The Betsy, starring Laurence Olivier, Tommy Lee Jones, Robert Duvall, and Katharine Ross.
The Billy the Kid series of 42 Western films was produced between 1940 and 1946, and released by Poverty Row studio Producers Releasing Corporation.
Harry C. Neumann of Chicago, Illinois, was a Hollywood cinematographer whose career spanned over forty years, including work on some 350 productions in a wide variety of genres, with much of his work being in Westerns, and gangster films.
John Merton was an American film actor. He appeared in more than 250 films between 1927 and 1959, mostly as a villain. He was the brother of filmmaker André de la Varre and William LaVarre, the grandfather of actress Diane Delano, and the great uncle of academic Hollis Robbins.
Jed Buell was an American film producer, director, and screenwriter who specialized in low-budget B pictures in a variety of subjects including singing cowboy films featuring midgets and black actors.
Fighting Bill Carson is a 1945 American Western film directed by Sam Newfield and written by Louise Rousseau. The film stars Buster Crabbe, Al St. John, Kay Hughes, I. Stanford Jolley, Kermit Maynard and John Cason. The film was released on October 31, 1945, by Producers Releasing Corporation.
Laurence Criner born John Laurence Criner, occasionally credited as J. Lawrence Criner, was an actor in the United States. An African-American, he had numerous film roles including as the male lead and star.
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.
Bargain with Bullets is a 1937 American film. The first film produced by Million Dollar Productions, it features an African American cast of actors and performers. The gangster film is about the Harlem underworld. It was described as the first Hollywood "all-Negro" film. The film features several musical performances.
Fight That Ghost is a 1946 feature horror comedy film. It is considered one of the earliest horror films with an all Black cast. It was directed by Sam Newfield. It was a Toddy Pictures Company release. Bill Dillard portrayed Jim Brown in the film. The film includes the songs "Take me" by Porter Grainger as well as "Hard Luck Blues" and "A Brown Skin Gal is the Best Gal After All" by John Murray.
Percy Verwayne, sometimes spelled Percy Verwayen, was an American stage and film actor. He featured in several films with African American casts including the 1921 REOL Productions film The Simp and Oscar Micheaux films. He played "Sporting Life" in Porgy, when it was first produced in 1927. He was also in the 1946 Toddy Pictures production Fight That Ghost.
Am I Guilty? is a 1940 American film directed by Samuel Neufeld for the Supreme Pictures Corporation. The film's producer A. W. Hackel, who had founded Supreme Pictures, planned a series of films featuring black casts, but Am I Guilty? was the only one to be released. The screenplay was cowritten by Earle Snell and George Wallace Sayre based on a story by Sherman Lowe.
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.
Frank Sanucci (1901–1991) was an Argentine-born American composer who scored numerous films. Born in Buenos Aires he emigrated to the United States as a child. He worked in Hollywood on generally low-budget productions, many of them for Monogram Pictures where he was employed for several years. He was also employed at Universal Pictures, Grand National Pictures and Astor Pictures.
