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Music Hath Harms
''Music Hath Harms'' is an American film released in 1929. A two-reel short it was produced by Al Christie. The film stars Spencer Williams and Roberta Hyson with musical performances by Curtis Mosby and the Blues Blowers. It was part of the '' Florian Slappey'' series. The story features a con man promising to wow an audience with a musical performance. The film remains in existence and is available online. The film series, based on Octavus Roy Cohen's ''Darktown Birmingham'' stories published in the ''Saturday Evening Post'' include racial caricatures and exaggerated dialect. The film is one of three that survive from the series produced by Al Christie and is among the early "talkie" (with sound) films featuring African American casts. The other surviving films from the series are ''Framing of the Shrew'' and '' Oft in the Silly Night''. Williams also served as the assistant director on the film although he received no credits. Cast *Spencer Williams as Roscoe Griggers *Roberta Hy ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Al Christie
Charles Herbert Christie (April 13, 1882 – October 1, 1955) and Alfred Ernest Christie (November 23, 1886 – April 14, 1951) were Canadian motion picture entrepreneurs. Early life Charles Herbert Christie was born between April 13, 1880 and April 13, 1882, and Alfred Ernest Christie was born between October 23, 1881 and November 23, 1886, both in London, Ontario. Their father managed the Opera House and their mother was its box-office manager and accountant. Charles graduated from school at age 14, and graduated from the four-year accountancy course in two years at age 16. Career Charles, at age 23, was offered a job as the stage manager for Liebler and Company and accepted it on the condition that his brother Al also be given a job. They worked for the organization for three years. Charles joined the film industry after being hired as an accountant for the Nestor Film Company. William Horsley stated that "I wonder if we would have survived as a viable industry had ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Spencer Williams
Spencer Williams (October 14, 1889 – July 14, 1965) was an American jazz and popular music composer, pianist, and singer. He is best known for his hit songs " Basin Street Blues", "I Ain't Got Nobody", "Royal Garden Blues", "I've Found a New Baby", "Everybody Loves My Baby", "Tishomingo Blues", and many others. Biography Spencer Williams was born in Vidalia, Louisiana, United States. He was educated at St. Charles University in New Orleans. Williams was performing in Chicago by 1907, and moved to New York City about 1916. After arriving in New York, he co-wrote several songs with Anton Lada of the Louisiana Five. Among those songs was " Basin Street Blues", which became one of his most popular songs and is still recorded by musicians to this day. Williams toured Europe with bands from 1925 to 1928; during this time he wrote for Josephine Baker at the Folies Bergère in Paris. Williams then returned to New York for a few years. At the end of the 1920s, Williams was tried b ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Roberta Hyson
Roberta Hyson (née Roberta Mae Dudley; 1905–1989) was an American 20th-century actress, dancer, and singer. She appeared in several all African American-cast early Sound film, talking films by Christie Film Company, and had a leading role in ''The Melancholy Dame'' (1929). Roberta Mae Dudley was born on March 27, 1905, in Dallas, Dallas County, Texas, Dallas County, Texas. She died on January 21, 1989, in Los Angeles, Los Angeles County, California, Los Angeles County, California. Filmography *''Brown Gravy'' (1929) *''Oft in the Silly Night'' (1929) as Mezanine Conner *''The Melancholy Dame (1929)'' as Sappho Dill *''Music Hath Harms'' (1929) as Zenia Sprowl *''The Framing of the Shrew'' (1929) as Mallissie Cheese *''The Lady Fare'' (1929) as Miss Eva Mapes *''Georgia Rose'' (1930) as Helen References External links * 20th-century American actresses 20th-century American dancers American female dancers African-American female dancers African-American actresses 20t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Curtis Mosby
Curtis J. Mosby (July 7, 1895 (or 1892) in Kansas City, Missouri – June 25, 1957 in San Francisco) was an American jazz drummer, bandleader, and businessman. Bio Mosby toured with the Tennessee Ten in the 1910s, and also led his own ensemble in Chicago. He then moved to California early in the 1920s, where he opened a record store and then toured with Mamie Smith. He also led a band called the Blue Blowers in California and appeared with them in the 1929 film ''Music Hath Harms''. He took an extended residency in 1924 at Solomon's Dance Pavilion in Los Angeles; this ensemble recorded privately, and some of these cuts have survived. The band recorded for Columbia Records in 1927, and included Jake Porter, Les Hite, and Henry Starr as sidemen. In 1927 they played at the Bronx Palm Gardens and in 1928 at the Lincoln Theater. Mosby opened his own nightclub, the Apex, in 1928, and his band appeared in the films ''Thunderbolt'' and King Vidor's ''Hallelujah'' the next year. Lat ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Florian Slappey
Octavus Roy Cohen (1891–1959) was an early 20th century American writer specializing in ethnic comedies. His dialect comedy stories about African Americans gained popularity after being published in the ''Saturday Evening Post'' and were adapted into a series of short films by Al Christie featuring actors Charles Olden, Spencer Williams Jr., Evelyn Preer, and Edward Thompson. Biography Early life Cohen was born on June 26, 1891 in Charleston, South Carolina, to Octavus and Rebecca Cohen (née Ottolengui). He pronounced his first name ''oc-tav'us, a'' as in ''have''. He received his secondary education at the Porter Military Academy, now the Porter-Gaud School, and graduated in 1908. He went on to Clemson College (later renamed Clemson University) and graduated in 1911 with a degree in engineering. Career Between 1910 and 1912, he worked in the editorial departments of the '' Birmingham Ledger'', the ''Charleston News and Courier'', the ''Bayonne Times'', and the '' Newar ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Octavus Roy Cohen
Octavus Roy Cohen (1891–1959) was an early 20th century American writer specializing in ethnic comedies. His dialect comedy stories about African Americans gained popularity after being published in the ''Saturday Evening Post'' and were adapted into a series of short films by Al Christie featuring actors Charles Olden, Spencer Williams Jr., Evelyn Preer, and Edward Thompson. Biography Early life Cohen was born on June 26, 1891 in Charleston, South Carolina, to Octavus and Rebecca Cohen (née Ottolengui). He pronounced his first name ''oc-tav'us, a'' as in ''have''. He received his secondary education at the Porter Military Academy, now the Porter-Gaud School, and graduated in 1908. He went on to Clemson College (later renamed Clemson University) and graduated in 1911 with a degree in engineering. Career Between 1910 and 1912, he worked in the editorial departments of the '' Birmingham Ledger'', the ''Charleston News and Courier'', the ''Bayonne Times'', and the '' Newark ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Darktown Birmingham
Darktown was an African-American neighborhood in Atlanta, Georgia. It stretched from Peachtree Street and Collins Street (now Courtland Street), past Butler Ave. (now Jesse Hill Jr. Ave.) to Jackson Street. It referred to the blocks above Auburn Avenue in what is now Downtown Atlanta and the Sweet Auburn neighborhood. Darktown was characterized in the 1930s as a "hell-hole of squalor, degradation, sickness, crime and misery". It is the setting for Thomas Mullen's 2016 novel ''Darktown Darktown was an African-American neighborhood in Atlanta, Georgia. It stretched from Peachtree Street and Collins Street (now Courtland Street), past Butler Ave. (now Jesse Hill Jr. Ave.) to Jackson Street. It referred to the blocks above Auburn Av ...''. The term "darktown" was also used generically in Atlanta and the rest of the South to refer to African-American districts. Currier and Ives produced a series of popular racist-caricature lithographs under the title Darktown Comics, ostensibly set ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Saturday Evening Post
''The Saturday Evening Post'' is an American magazine, currently published six times a year. It was issued weekly under this title from 1897 until 1963, then every two weeks until 1969. From the 1920s to the 1960s, it was one of the most widely circulated and influential magazines within the American middle class, with fiction, non-fiction, cartoons and features that reached two million homes every week. The magazine declined in readership through the 1960s, and in 1969 ''The Saturday Evening Post'' folded for two years before being revived as a quarterly publication with an emphasis on medical articles in 1971. As of the late 2000s, ''The Saturday Evening Post'' is published six times a year by the Saturday Evening Post Society, which purchased the magazine in 1982. The magazine was redesigned in 2013. History Rise ''The Saturday Evening Post'' was first published in 1821 in the same printing shop at 53 Market Street in Philadelphia where the Benjamin Franklin-founded ''Pennsyl ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Framing Of The Shrew
''The Framing of the Shrew'' is a 1929 American comedy film. It features an African American cast. It was produced by Al Christie and the story was by Octavus Roy Cohen. It was directed by Arvid E. Gillstrom. The plot depicts a husband who gets the upper hand on his wife using various tactics. ''Framing of the Shrew'' was one in a series of films made from Cohen's stories featuring the same characters portrayed by established African American actors and vaudeville performers. Synopsis Privacy Robson decides that he must be free of his wife, Clarry, as she has been pushing for him to find a job. His friend Florian Slappey advises him to go on a hunger strike to get even with her. Privacy takes this advice, however he is unable to resist sneaking some of his wife's cooking even after declining to eat supper. In the end Privacy wins out and is able to continue his daily routine. Cast *Evelyn Preer as Clarry Robson * Edward Thompson as Privacy Robson *Charles Olden as Florian Sl ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Oft In The Silly Night
''Oft in the Silly Night'' is an American short comedy film released in 1929. It was produced by Al Christie from a story by Octavus Roy Cohen, part of a series published in the ''Saturday Evening Post'' and adapted to film in Christie productions. Among the early "talkie" films featuring an African American cast, the film survives and is available online. The plot has a chauffeur sneaking out with his employer's car and daughter. The film and the series feature exaggerated "Negro" dialect and stereotypes. The film was re-released on the DVD ''Birmingham Black Bottom'' in 2003. Cast * Edward Thompson as Temus Robinson * Roberta Hyson as Mezanine Conner * Arthur Ray as Julip Conner * Spencer Williams as Eli Rubb * Laurence Criner as L. J. Criner See also *" Oft in the Stilly Night", a poem by Thomas Moore Thomas Moore (28 May 1779 – 25 February 1852) was an Irish writer, poet, and lyricist celebrated for his ''Irish Melodies''. Their setting of English-language verse to o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Spencer Williams (actor)
Spencer Williams (July 14, 1893 – December 13, 1969) was an American actor and filmmaker. He portrayed Andy on TV's '' The Amos 'n' Andy Show'' and directed films including the 1941 race film ''The Blood of Jesus''. Williams was a pioneering African-American film producer and director. Early career Williams (who was sometimes billed as Spencer Williams Jr.) was born in Vidalia, Louisiana, where the family lived on Magnolia Street. As a youngster, he attended Wards Academy in Natchez, Mississippi. He moved to New York City when he was a teenager and secured work as call boy for the theatrical impresario Oscar Hammerstein. During this period, he received mentoring as a comedian from the African American vaudeville star Bert Williams. Williams studied at the University of Minnesota and served in the U.S. Army during and after World War I, rising to the rank of sergeant major. During his military service, Williams traveled the world, serving as General Pershing's bugler wh ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Harry Tracy (actor)
Harry Tracy (23 October 1875 – 6 August 1902) was an outlaw in the American Old West. Biography His real name was Harry Severns. Tracy is said to have run with Butch Cassidy and the Hole in the Wall Gang, but there is no evidence to this claim. By the time he had reached adulthood, he was actively taking part in acts of robbery and theft. On March 1, 1898, Tracy and three accomplices engaged in a gunfight at Brown's Park, Colorado, in which Valentine S. Hoy, a member of the posse, was killed. Tracy and accomplice David Lant from the Brown's Park gunfight were captured but escaped the Routt County Jail in Hahns Peak Village. They were recaptured and in June 1898 were sent to the Aspen jail. After a couple months both Tracy and Lant escaped again. Lant disappears from history, but Tracy made his way to Washington and Oregon. In late 1901, Tracy was captured, convicted, and incarcerated at the Oregon State Penitentiary. With fellow convict David Merrill he escaped on June ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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