African-American Soundies: Noble Sissle, Don Redman, Fats Waller (1932-41)

[Old School]

Periscope Video Description: This compilation reel of two early 1930s Vitaphone “Melody Master” musical featurettes and two 1941 “soundies” features an array of underrepresented black talent in short subjects that offer glimpses of performing talents Noble Sissle, Don Redman, Fats Waller and others (TRT: 27:34).

1. Vitaphone Presents Noble Sissle & Band in That’s The Spirit, with Cora La Reed, the Washboard Serenaders, Miller & Moreland, Directed by Roy Mack, Photography by E.B. DuPar, 1932.

Comedic actors Flournoy Miller and Mantan Moreland appear as night watchmen for a pawnshop, with Miller in blackface, an offensive tradition of theatrical makeup used primarily (but not exclusively) by non-black performers to caricature black people (0:28). Miller was known for scripting the Broadway hit “Shuffle Along” which featured the music of Noble Sissle and Eubie Blake. Moreland got his start as Miller’s vaudeville understudy and is remembered for his appearances in low budget “race movies,” plus Dick Tracy and Three Stooges shorts. The duo enters the pawnshop to find it haunted by a talking clock, a possessed rocking chair, and a miniature of Sissle’s orchestra. A medley of “St. Louis Blues, Nobody Knows the Trouble I’ve Seen, I’ve Been Working on the Railroad” (2:26). Sissle dances (4:12). A haunted washboard levitates, triggering a rhythm novelty with the Washboard Serenaders. “In a Little Shanty Town” gets a percussive treatment with piano, guitar, kazoo, scat vocals (4:38). A talking fur coat flies off a coat rack. Cora La Reed sings and tap dances to “Jig Time” (5:48). A clarinet solo introduces “Tiger Rag” (7:54). A saxophone solo, a trumpet solo with a mute, a clarinet solo with guitar backup (9:28). The jump chorus sends the night watchmen running, Moreland leaves his shoes (10:38). “The End” (11:08). (0:11-11:11).


2. Vitaphone Presents Don Redman & His Orchestra with Red & Struggie, Directed by Joseph Henabery, Photographed by E.B. DuPar, 1934.

A newspaper headline: “Orchestra Leader Sweepstake Winner, Don Redman Opens New Cabaret” (11:42). An illuminated, spiraled “roulette wheel” decorates a cabaret nightclub set that sees Don Redman’s jazz orchestra surrounded by diners, a dancefloor between them. Don Redman was a West Virginia native who got his start with the Fletcher Henderson orchestra, then formed his own band in 1931, which got a residency at Manhattan jazz club Connie’s Inn. He provided music for a Betty Boop cartoon and later wrote arrangements for Jimmy Dorsey, Count Basie, and Harry James (11:52). This film features Manzie Johnson on drums, Benny Morton on trombone, Ed Inge on Clarinet, Sidney DeParis on trumpet, Bob Carroll on tenor, and Rupert Cole on alto. Don Redman introduces the band (12:17). Redman meets with the audience (13:35). Crossfade to a montage of folks who didn’t win the sweepstakes. Harlan Lattimore sings Harold Arlen’s “Ill Wind” (14:12). Red and Shuggie appear and sing the comic scat novelty, “Nagasaki” (17:19). The duo dances (18:47). Don Redman shows off a diamond ring then delivers a self-deprecating monologue about his diminutive stature in “Tall Man” (19:44). “The End” (21:27). (11:17-21:35).


3. Fats Waller in Your Feet’s Too Big, 1941, distributed by Official Films.

Soundies were 3-minute shorts shot on 35mm film and originally distributed for the Panoram, a 16mm looping “movie jukebox.” Soundies are also remembered for preserving historic performances by African-American artists who were denied greater opportunities in feature films, as is the case here with the great stride piano legend Thomas Wright “Fats” Waller. He appears in a bowler hat, taking notice of the large shoes of a comic dancer in a zoot suit and oversized hat (21:47). Closeups of Waller as he mugs and plays directly to the camera (22:34). Dancers step on one another’s feet (23:05). A chorus of women dancers appears (23:58). (21:36-24:32).


4. Fats Waller in Honeysuckle Rose, 1941, directed by Warren Murray, distributed by Official Films.

In a similarly structured soundie, Waller is surrounded by women performers wearing large bows and a floral backdrop (24:45). Waller sings in closeup (25:23). Guitar, sax solos. A chorus of dancers surround Fats (26:04). (24:33-27:24).


This film is part of the Periscope Film LLC archive, one of the largest historic military, transportation, and aviation stock footage collections in the USA.