Boogie-Woogie Dream
| Boogie-Woogie Dream | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Hanus Burger |
| Produced by |
Mark Marvin Leslie Winik |
| Written by | Karl Farkas |
| Starring |
Lena Horne Teddy Wilson Albert Ammons Pete Johnson Russel Morrison Virginia Pine |
| Distributed by | Official Films |
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Release date
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Running time
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13 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
Boogie-Woogie Dream (1944) is an independently made short film musical, directed by Hanus Burger, starring Lena Horne, Albert Ammons, Pete Johnson and Teddy Wilson and his orchestra. It is a significant film in the history of jazz for its early glimpse of Lena Horne (in her second film) and as the only film of boogie-woogie piano masters Albert Ammons and Pete Johnson.
In a nightclub, Teddy Wilson and his orchestra are laying down their last groove for the night. In the audience, Mr. Weathercoop (Russel Morrison) and his date (Virginia Pine) briefly discuss Wilson's band. Back in the kitchen, where Albert Ammons is hanging paper and Pete Johnson tunes a piano, a kitchen maid (Lena Horne) begins to sing about how she would like to perform in a new gown, rather than to wash dishes. Pete Johnson provides an impromptu accompaniment, and then Ammons joins in on a duet; a cutaway informs us that the Weathercoops are paying attention.
The Weathercoops fall asleep, and this leads to a dream where the kitchen maid has gotten her evening gown; she introduces Ammons and Johnson, who play Boogie Woogie Dream. Teddy Wilson then conjures up his band and backs up the maid, with some help from Johnson, on the song Unlucky Woman. This is followed by a jam with Wilson's band, illustrated by a montage. Ammons, Johnson and the kitchen maid are then seen sleeping, propped up at the piano; the phone rings and wakes them up. Mr. Weathercoop ends up with the call, and afterward gives the others the offer that they have been dreaming about.
Hanus (or Hannes) Burger (1909–1990) was a Czech documentary filmmaker who had fled to the United States in the wake of the Anschluss; footage he had taken when the Germans invaded Prague was incorporated into the acclaimed documentary film Crisis (1939 film), which Burger co-directed with Herbert Kline and Alexander Hammid.Crisis was widely acclaimed in the United States, and its success of helped propel Burger through a long string of left-wing documentaries, U.S. War Department films and other kinds of official documentary work throughout the 1940s. Boogie Woogie Dream was a side project, inspired by the musicians at Café Society in New York, a popular nightspot and frequent location for live radio remotes; it served as the flash point for the Boogie Woogie craze in New York City.
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