Watch St. Louis Blues For Free

Purely Joyful Movie!

Blistering performances.

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.

This short subject made right at the beginning of the talkie era is the only film featuring the legendary blues singer Bessie Smith. The skimpy plot of this film has Bessie's no good gambling man being caught by Bessie in the arms of Isabel Washington. As this slick crapshooting man leaves Bessie she breaks into her lament, the St. Louis Blues.After which there's a large production number where the Hall Johnson Choir is used in a large production number which while not done with the kind of values that Busby Berkeley had still was quite good. I'm sure the black cinema people who made this film at RKO didn't have a tenth of what Berkeley spent in 42nd Street.Thank God this treasure was preserved.

Not a great film in the artistic sense, but it is all we will ever see of Bessie Smith in action, and the music is wonderful. All the more reason to criticize the NAACP's attempt to have all copes destroyed. The found the crapshoot scene demeaning. Fortunately, this attempt at censorship failed.Years ago, Isabel Washington, who was the first Mrs. Adam Clayton Powell, told me how she came to play opposite Bessie in this 1929 two-reeler. "They wanted my sister, Fredi, who was already in pictures, but she had the flu and recommended me. When I auditioned, they said I was too light, so I told them that I could be dipped. They agreed and I got the part."Fredi Washington is perhaps best known for her role in the 1934 Universal Pictures film, "Imitation of Life." Having served well to get Adam Clayton Powell elected, Isabel was divorced from him, and he married pianist Hazel Scott.

Bessie Smith is a legendary Black entertainer from the Harlem Renaissance. However, sadly, this is the ONLY known film in which she appeared. So, for historical reasons, this short if like gold. Now I am sure some might not agree--as the film shows Black people gambling and carousing and doing a lot of stereotypical behaviors. However, this was THE predominate view given in both Black and White-produced films of the time and you can't expect a lot of enlightenment back in 1929. It is a portrait of who we were as a nation at the time and who we wanted us to be--and I say just accept it as a little window into the times and way people thought. Plus, remember, this is still the only way to watch Smith perform...so deal with it! "St. Louis Blues" gets its name from the famous W.C. Handy song of the same title. It consists of Smith arguing with her gambling and carousing boyfriend as well as Smith smacking the crap out of one of Jimmy's floozies! He slaps her around and mistreats her...yet she begs him not to leave. I KNOW this is very negative--a terrible message for women then and now. BUT, as I said, it is what it is. What follows is Smith singing her very famous tune "My Man"--and she sings it with a lot of soul and style. It also is an interesting short because it plays much less like a typical music video of the age but like a mini-movie. Smith was some talent and it's a great window into the times--warts and all.

St. Louis Blues (1929)*** 1/2 (out of 4) This early race Musical is without question one of the strongest I've seen for a number of reasons. The plot is fairly simple as legend Bessie Smith walks into a gambling hall and catches her husband with a younger, prettier woman. She begs for him to come back with her but the husband knocks her to the ground and walks out, which causes Bessie to pour herself a drink and sing the title song. This film works on a number of levels but as a race movie I think it's perhaps the best I've seen from the 20s or 30s. We've seen a black gambling house in house white films made by white folks so it was very interesting seeing the difference here and I'm going to go out on a limb and say this here is a lot more authentic than what the major studios were showing. The film is also interesting because it shows how women were looked at during this era because we see Bessie get knocked down and kicked yet she begs for the man to keep her. Even before this happens Bessie storms into the room and beats the fire out of the other woman, which is certainly something that didn't show up in those MGM shorts. Finally, I've read that this is the only known video footage of Bessie Smith and man what a voice she had. Her singing the blues would make anyone a fan of the genre and she certainly gives it her all and delivers a strong vocal performance. Her acting ability wasn't the greatest but I thought she did OK with it. The film is extremely raw and authentic and part of this is probably due to the obvious low-budget. This film works on just about every level and is highly recommended.