St. Louis Blues

St. Louis Blues (1929)

Queen of the Blues

In this all-black cast short, legendary blues singer Bessie Smith finds her gambler lover Jimmy messin' with a pretty, younger woman; he leaves and she sings the blues, with chorus and dancers.

Date of release
1929-09-08
TMDB
5.4 / 10 (24)
Runtime
16m
Genres
Music, Drama
Director
Dudley Murphy

Casting

Interesting facts

St. Louis Blues is a 1929 American two-reel short film starring Bessie Smith. Directed by Dudley Murphy, it is the only known film featuring Bessie Smith, and the soundtrack is her only recording not controlled by Columbia Records. An early sound film, it features an entirely black cast, with Smith in the role of a woman left alone by her roving lover; in a speakeasy during the Prohibition era, the woman sings the W. C. Handy standard "St. Louis Blues".

Production and Historical Context

St. Louis Blues, an early sound film or talkie was shot in June 1929 at the Astoria Studios in Queens, New York. W. C. Handy created the film expressly as a dramatic representation of his renowned 1914 piece. The production featured an impressive lineup of African American musical talent, including the Hall Johnson Choir and a band led by pianist James P. Johnson.

Read on Wikipedia · Text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. Data from Wikidata.

Recommended