Beale Street Mama is a 1923 popular song by

J. Russell Robinson Joseph Russel Robinson (July 8, 1892 – September 30, 1963) was an American ragtime, dixieland, and blues pianist and composer who was a member of the Original Dixieland Jass Band. Career Robinson was born in Indianapolis, Indiana. In his teen ...

and

Roy Turk Roy is a masculine given name and a family surname with varied origin. In Anglo-Norman England, the name derived from the Norman ''roy'', meaning "king", while its Old French cognate, ''rey'' or ''roy'' (modern ''roi''), likewise gave rise to ...

and a 1946 film with an African-American cast named for the song. An early jazz standard, the song was recorded by

Bessie Smith Bessie Smith (April 15, 1894 – September 26, 1937) was an American blues singer widely renowned during the Jazz Age. Nicknamed the " Empress of the Blues", she was the most popular female blues singer of the 1930s. Inducted into the Rock a ...

, Ted Lewis, Fletcher Henderson, Cab Calloway, and many others. The 1946 film ''Beale Street Mama'' was named after the song. A race film, it was directed by and stars

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 ...

. It was distributed by Sack Amusement Enterprises. The film is set in

Memphis, Tennessee Memphis is a city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the seat of Shelby County in the southwest part of the state; it is situated along the Mississippi River. With a population of 633,104 at the 2020 U.S. census, Memphis is the second-mos ...

, and focuses on a street sweeper who comes upon a large parcel of money. He uses the newly acquired wealth to go on a spending spree, with the hope of getting back at an old girlfriend who dumped him for another man. However, complications arise when it is discovered the money is counterfeit.“Within Our Gates” by Alan Gevinson, Google Books
/ref>"Beale Street Mama," Turner Classic Movies
/ref> No copyright was filed for ''Beale Street Mama'', which makes the production a

public domain The public domain (PD) consists of all the creative work to which no exclusive intellectual property rights apply. Those rights may have expired, been forfeited, expressly waived, or may be inapplicable. Because those rights have expired, ...

film.

Cast

The cast includes: *

July Jones July Jones was an actor who had leading roles in several American films with African American casts. Filmography *'' Beale Street Mama'' (1946) *''Dirty Gertie from Harlem U.S.A.'' (1946) *''Juke Joint (film) ''Juke Joint'' is a 1947 race fil ...

* Rosalie Larrimore

References

External links

* 1946 films 1946 musical comedy films 1940s English-language films American black-and-white films African-American musical comedy films Films directed by Spencer Williams Race films 1940s American films {{musical-comedy-film-stub

Cast

See also

References

External links