St. Louis Blues (1929 film)
| St. Louis Blues | |
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Film poster
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| Directed by | Dudley Murphy |
| Produced by | W. C. Handy |
| Written by | Dudley Murphy |
| Starring | Bessie Smith |
| Cinematography | Walter Strenge |
| Edited by | Russell G. Shields |
| Distributed by | RKO Pictures |
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Release date
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Running time
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16 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
St. Louis Blues is a 1929 American two-reel short film starring Bessie Smith. The early sound film features Smith in an African-American speakeasy of the prohibition era singing the W. C. Handy standard, "St. Louis Blues". Directed by Dudley Murphy, it is the only known film of Bessie Smith, and the soundtrack is her only recording not controlled by Columbia Records.
Bessie Smith had a hit on the song in 1925 and Handy himself asked Bessie Smith to appear in the movie. Handy co-authored the film and was the musical director. The film was a dramatization of the song, a woman left alone by her roving man. It features a band that included James P. Johnson on piano, Thomas Morris and Joe Smith on cornet, as well as the Hall Johnson Choir with some thrilling harmonies at the end.
The film has an all African-American cast. Bessie Smith co-stars with the dancer and actor Jimmy Mordecai as the boyfriend and Isabel Washington Powell as the other woman.
It was filmed in June 1929 in Astoria, Queens. The film is about 16 minutes long.
In 2006, this version was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".
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