Produced by
CBS Broadcasting, Inc., American, founded 1927
Subject of
Coles, Charles "Honi", American, 1911 - 1992
Atkins, Charles, American, 1913 - 2003
Stearns, Marshall PhD, American, 1908 - 1966
Macandrew, James, Scottish American, ca. 1907 - 1988
Owned by
Smith, Ernie, American, ca. 1925 - 2004
Date
1965
Medium
acetate film
Dimensions
Duration (digital file): 00:04:13
Physical extent (film): 150 ft
Description
A strip of 16 mm motion picture film with an excerpt from "Over the Top to Bebop," an episode of the Camera Three television program aired on WCBS-TV. It consists of a single reel of positive, black-and-white, 16 mm acetate film with bilateral variable-area optical sound. It opens with jazz scholar Marshall Stearns and host James Macandrew engaging in a conversation about tap dancing. Stearns goes on to describe Honi Coles and Cholly Atkins as class acts and their soft-shoe tap routine as a "classic." Subsequently, he invites Coles and Atkins to perform their soft-shoe tap dance "to an incredibly slow tempo." The camera then cuts to both men dancing slowly on a slightly raised platform, mirroring each other's movements, as instrumental music plays in the background. At the end of their performance, the dancers join Macandrew and Stearns. Macandrew comments that he recognizes the music they performed to from the Broadway musical Cabin in the Sky featuring Ethel Waters, to which Honi Coles responds that Ethel Waters frequently watched their rehearsals, just before the excerpt comes to an end.
Place filmed
New York City, New York County, New York, United States, North and Central America
Portfolio/Series
Camera Three
Classification
Time-based Media - Moving Images
Type
sound films
black-and-white films (visual works)
16mm (photographic film size)
film clips
Topic
Dance
Film
Jazz (Music)
Television
Credit Line
Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Anonymous Gift in memory of Ernest (Ernie) R. Smith, Jazz Historian
Object number
2015.275.16.1a
Restrictions & Rights
Restrictions likely apply. Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.
GUID
http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/fd5c5a5ede2-b4ee-4029-a2c2-217faa74cc57

Cataloging is an ongoing process and we may update this record as we conduct additional research and review. If you have more information about this object, please contact us at NMAAHCDigiTeam@si.edu

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