Bessie Smith - St. Louis Blues, Sack Amusement Movie, 1929

Bessie Smith makes her only film appearance as the star in this musical short directed by Dudley Murphy (Emperor Jones 1933). Smith, who never played in a "white" club, was earning $800 a week, in addition to $1,000 a recording in the 1920s. This seventeen-minute short film shot in Astoria, Queens, in New York City, is "the Empress of the Blues'" only screen role. She plays a wronged wife. Co-produced by W.C. Handy, author of the title song, the film also features Isabel Washington (sister of actress Fredi Washington) who plays the "other woman." The music was provided by James P. Johnson and The Hall Johnson Choir. The overwhelming pathos and emotional interpretations of Smith's singing makes this a true film classic. The Depression forced Columbia Records to cancel her contract effectively ending her career. In 1937, a car accident in Mississippi claimed her life, silencing one of the the all-time greatest stars of the gramophone record. Of particular note is her cover of the title track, "The St. Louis Blues," which Smith recorded with the great Louis Armstrong. Although RKO produced the film, Sack Amusement Enterprises, known for their connections to a network of black cinemas, took over the film's distribution. There is no known RKO paper for this film.