Ernie Smith, American, ca. 1925 - 2004 Search this
Medium:
acetate film
Dimensions:
Duration (digital file): 00:09:39
Physical extent (film): 400 ft
Type:
sound films
black-and-white films (visual works)
short subjects
16mm (photographic film size)
Place made:
United States, North and Central America
Date:
1946
Description:
A motion picture film with the title Dixieland Jamboree. It consists of a single reel of positive, black-and-white, 16mm acetate film with bilateral variable-area optical sound. It opens with footage of people working in a field and a narrator saying, "Always, music has been an intimate part of a people's existence and in America, the negro has given to music a newer, greater significance…" Short clips of different musical performances accompany his commentary, sometimes including scenes from the film Jammin' the Blues. At 00:00:53, singer/actress Eunice Wilson and vaudeville entertainers Five Racketeers can be seen performing on stage. In the next scene, The Three Whippets, dressed as chefs, are seen performing acrobatics on a stage. In the subsequent scene, Adelaide Hall sings on a stage while a pianist plays behind her. The penultimate act features the Nicholas Brothers tap dancing, while the final scene showcases Cab Calloway and His Orchestra performing onstage.
Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Anonymous Gift in memory of Ernest (Ernie) R. Smith, Jazz Historian