''The Melancholy Dame'' is a short American comedy film made with an African American cast and released in 1929. It was an

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, 1 ...

film based on the

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 ada ...

comedy series called "Darktown Birmingham" published in the ''

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 c ...

'' . Arvid Gillstrom directed and Florian Slappey was portrayed by

Charles Olden Charles Smith Olden (February 19, 1799April 7, 1876) was an American merchant, banker, and politician who served as the 19th governor of New Jersey from 1860 to 1863 during the first part of the American Civil War. As Governor, Olden supported P ...

. The film was produced and released by

Paramount Pictures Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film and television production company, production and Distribution (marketing), distribution company and the main namesake division of Paramount Global (formerly ViacomCBS). It is the fifth-oldes ...

, and includes racial caricatures. It has been described as the first African American talkie. It featured a vision of high society and comic dialogue set in a Birmingham restaurant with a piano and dance show. The ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the Un ...

'' summarized the plot as, "A cabaret owner’s wife demands that her husband fire the sexy star attraction (if he doesn’t, she warns, 'there’s going to be a quick call for an undertaker'). Little does she (or the singer’s husband) know that the singer and the club owner were once married." It is a 2-reel film. The film is extant and posted on YouTube along with other films from the series.

Cast

* James Edward Thompson as Permanent Williams *

Evelyn Preer Evelyn Preer (née Jarvis; July 26, 1896 – November 17, 1932), was a pioneering American stage and screen actress and jazz and blues singer of the 1910s through the early 1930s. Preer was known within the black community as "The First Lady of ...

as Jonquil Williams *

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 talking films by Christie Film Company, and had a leading role in '' The Melanch ...

as Sappho Dill *

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 pioneer ...

as Webster Dill *

as Florian Slappey

References

External links

* 1929 films American black-and-white films American silent feature films 1929 comedy-drama films Melodrama films 1920s American films Silent American comedy-drama films {{1920s-silent-comedy-film-stub