''That's the Spirit'' is an American short musical film released in 1933. It features an African American cast starring

Noble Sissle Noble Lee Sissle (July 10, 1889 – December 17, 1975) was an American jazz composer, lyricist, bandleader, singer, and playwright, best known for the Broadway musical ''Shuffle Along'' (1921), and its hit song "I'm Just Wild About Harry". Ea ...

and was directed by Roy Mack. The

Vitaphone Vitaphone was a sound film system used for feature films and nearly 1,000 short subjects made by Warner Bros. and its sister studio First National from 1926 to 1931. Vitaphone was the last major analog sound-on-disc system and the only one ...

film was distributed by

Warner Brothers Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California, and a subsidiary of Warner Bros. D ...

. The film survives. ''That's the Spirit'' includes Noble Sissle Orchestra performing "

Tiger Rag "Tiger Rag" is a jazz standard that was recorded and copyrighted by the Original Dixieland Jass Band in 1917. It is one of the most recorded jazz compositions. In 2003, the 1918 recording of "Tiger Rag" was entered into the U.S. Library of Cong ...

", Jack Carter singing "Saint Louis Blues", Cora LaRedd dancing and singing to "Jig Time" and the Washboard Stompers performing "Stomp". It has been described as "one of the greatest all-black jazz shorts ever made." The plot features

Mantan Moreland Mantan Moreland (September 3, 1902 – September 28, 1973) was an American actor and comedian most popular in the 1930s and 1940s. He starred in numerous films. His daughter Marcella Moreland appeared as a child actress in several films. E ...

and Flournoy Miller as two watchmen who hear singing from a haunted pawn shop. A miniature jazz band comes to life led by Noble Sissle and featuring clarinetist

Buster Bailey William C. "Buster" Bailey (July 19, 1902 – April 12, 1967) was an American jazz clarinetist. Career history Early career Buster Bailey was taught clarinet by classical teacher Franz Schoepp, who also taught Benny Goodman. Bailey gained his s ...

. Cora LaRedd sings and dances to "Jig Time". The film includes various special effect gags repeated to ghostly apparitions. It is believed to be Mantan Moreland's first film. ''That's the Spirit'' was included in a jazz program at Festival of the Arts at Wilmington College in 1968.

Cast

as band leader *

as Night Watchman *

F. E. Miller Flournoy Eakin Miller (14 April 1885 – 6 June 1971), sometimes credited as F. E. Miller, was an American entertainer, actor, lyricist, producer and playwright. Between about 1905 and 1932 he formed a popular comic duo, Miller and Lyles, with ...

as Night Watchman *

performing on clarinet *

Cora La Redd Cora LaRedd was an American singer and dancer during the 1920s and 1930s. She had a driven, hard-hitting, and athletic tap dance style that showcased her rhythmic abilities. Her performance in the short film '' That's the Spirit'' survives. Biogra ...

as singer and dancer * Washboard Serenaders

Reception

A ''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'' review was largely critical of the film. “Noble Sissle and his band of colored musicians are no appealing sights on the screen to general theatre audiences. Where the shadowy effects are used, okay. Therefore, no particularly keen screen fare is this short"."Film review: Talking Shorts - 'That's the Spirit'." ''Variety''. Vol. 111, Iss. 2, (June 20, 1933): 11. Via Proquest.

References

{{Reflist 1933 short films African-American films