- Directed by
- Murphy, Dudley, American, 1897 - 1968
- Produced by
- Handy, W. C., American, 1873 - 1958
- Subject of
- Smith, Bessie, American, 1894 - 1937
- Hall Johnson Choir, American, founded 1925
- Lee, Johnny Jr., American, 1898 - 1965
- Distributed by
- Sack Amusement Enterprises, American, 1920 - 1979
- Owned by
- Smith, Ernie, American, ca. 1925 - 2004
- Date
- 1929
- Medium
- acetate film
- Dimensions
- Duration (digital file): 00:04:48
- Physical extent (film): 220 ft
- Description
- A film clip with Bessie Smith singing in St. Louis Blues. It consists of a single reel of positive, black-and-white, 16mm acetate film with variable-area optical sound. The clip opens with Bessie Smith sitting on the floor with a bottle of alcohol beside her. She then begins to sing "My man's got a heart like a rock cast in the sea…" The footage then cuts to Smith singing the same song in a bar, as she stands by the counter. She is joined in chorus by other patrons in the bar while a band place a tune. At the end of that performance, the band plays another tune with a faster tempo.
- Place filmed
- Astoria, New York City, Queens County, New York, United States, North and Central America
- Classification
- Media Arts-Film and Video
- Topic
- Film
- Jazz (Music)
- Race films
- Singers (Musicians)
- 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
- 2015.275.34.1a
- Restrictions & Rights
- Unknown - Restrictions Possible
- Rights assessment and proper usage is the responsibility of the user.