Black and Tan

Black And Tan Fantasy (1929)

** (out of 4)

This early Paramount talkie is best remembered today for being the film debut of Duke Ellington but it's also one of the strangest shorts I've seen from this period. Ellington and his partner is in his hotel room practicing for their big gig when a couple movers come into repossess the piano. Ellington's girlfriend Fredi Washington then enters the room of bribes the movers with a bottle of alcohol and then we go to the Cotton Club where Ellington and Washington perform their act. This isn't a good film but it's certainly worth viewing at least once for a few reasons. It's interesting to note that many of the supporting players, especially the movers, are negative stereotypes (dumb and drunk) but Ellington plays it straight. One wonders if he refused to act down for the material or if the studio was just smart enough to treat him with some respect. Another fascinating thing is some of the shots that happen throughout the picture. I liked some of the style like the first dance group who we get to see through their reflection on the floor. Another nice shot has Washington dancing on a glass floor and the camera is underneath and looking up to capture her. There's some more bizarre editing, which doesn't work as well but it's at least something different than we're use to seeing. I must admit that the ending somewhat took me by surprise and it's interesting to see it end the way it did. I certainly won't ruin anything but where this all comes from is somewhat of a mystery.

Practically plotless excuse to feature the music of Ellington, accompanied by Harlem dancers. Only for the most died-in-the-wool Ellington fans. Essentially a very primitive early music video of mainly historical interest. Ellington's recordings from that era abound, so that the film's main value lies in its serving as a visual document.

The sound is abysmal, the plot corny, and the dancing nothing to dance about. Many of the images are so murky and dim as to be unintelligible. The entire film consists essentially of 3 tableau set pieces, ornamented with some rough camera tricks, too arty by far. The central plot, the dancer's death, is unconvincing and shrilly melodramatic.

Of note is the derogatory racial stereotyping of the two characters who begin the film by showing up to repossess the Duke's piano. They are ridiculed for their illiteracy and for how easily they are dissuaded from their duties with a bribe of a bottle of hooch.

Duke Ellington made his screen debut in this short subject which sad to say catered to black stereotyping and wasn't even that coherent a story line.

Which makes the appearance of those piano movers all the worse for it because it was not necessary. The film opens with Ellington and his trumpeter, Arthur Whetsol, going over some material. Two piano movers come in and they're most determined to do their repossessing thing. Fredi Washington happens on the scene and offers them a bottle of some of Prohibition's finest homemade gin. Then they leave and say they'll tell the boss nobody's home.

Interesting is that Ellington refused to stereotype even thought the piano movers, Edgar Connor and Alec Lovejoy, certainly did. Says something about the man back in the day.

The action shifts to the Cotton Club where Washington, probably feeling the ill effects of the bootleg hooch she just passed to the piano players collapses and dies during a number. Her death scene gives both Ellington and his orchestra and the Hall Johnson choir a chance to perform.

The piano movers were an obvious ripoff of radio's Amos and Andy. And in his next film project, Ellington and the Orchestra would appear in the Amos and Andy movie Check and Doublecheck.

I'd listen to the music for this one and mute it when everything else is going on.

Duke Ellington and his orchestra for a great use of emerging sound technology in Hollywood? Yes, please. To see him collaborate with trumpeter Arthur Whetsel was a treat, and he had great screen presence besides. Fredi Washington also lights up the screen in her dance number, and as UCLA film historian Ellen Scott points out, it's easy to see that she was a protégé of the great Josephine Baker. It was the debut film for both Ellington and Washington, and even if it isn't a terribly well-developed story in its 19 minutes runtime, seeing them here easily makes this film worthwhile. If you've only seen Washington in her better known role in Imitation of Life(1934) with Claudette Colbert and Louise Beavers, wow, you'll see a different side of her here.

Many have pointed out the stereotypical aspects of the two guys sent over to repossess the Duke's piano early on, as they can't read or tell time, and those are probably fair criticisms. I did like the line from one of them, who says "Move your anatomy off of that mahogany," when wanting Duke to get off the piano bench though. And more importantly, the film has several very positive aspects, starting with the two lead black characters being allowed to have a romantic relationship. It's also notable that when Fredi Washington's character has a health emergency and the Cotton Club owner wants the band to play on, Duke refuses, in a nice bit of labor (and importantly a black man) not being coerced under unreasonable circumstances to perform for management. There are a couple of nice visual moments shown from the perspective of Washington's character as well - a kaleidoscope effect when she's not feeling well prior to taking the stage, and later, a soft focus on her husband's face when she's ailing in bed.

As for the dancing, the quintet of male dancers who perform as if connected at the hip produced a very nice effect, and the shots of them in reflection on the dance floor was clever. The scantily clad women, Washington included, exude energy and sexuality in the relatively short time they're on the stage. It's kind of shame this wasn't a feature length film where the story and performances could have been expanded on. As it is though, it's a nice little hidden gem. I'm happy it was a part of the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures' Regeneration exhibit that I was lucky enough to see recently, and as always, am in love with TCM and host Jacqueline Stewart for having partnered with them.

Simuland has pretty much said it all concerning this short. It's of no great value beyond the historical interest of seeing a very young Ellington and some members of his band. It's also interesting to note how "modern" some aspects of this are, despite the painfully dated racial stereotyping. Ellington's girl friend, for example, is obviously of the "live in" variety and the dancing costumes are fairly brief - two good indications that this is a "pre-code" film. Had this been filmed after the infamous Production Code went into effect, it would have been much more sanitized.

Anyone interested in actually seeing this will find it on (of all things) a recently issued DVD of the second-string musicals "Second Chorus" and "Mr. Impreium", tucked away behind the Special Features menu, along with another oddball short, "Boogie Woogie Dream" (1944) with a 27-year-old Lena Horne along with boogie-woogie pianists Albert Ammons and Pete Johnson and bandleader Teddy Wilson.