I just watched this the other night and it really could be one of my most favorite movies ever. It was totally random--I wasn't looking for it, hadn't heard of it and then happened upon it at the library--and I am so so glad I did.
It's based loosely on the life of Bill "Bojangles" Robinson (played by Bill Robinson himself) and tells the story using some of the most prominent black acts of that time. The story is so-so--there's a vague romance between him and Lena Horne (this movie made her a star, by the way) but really that's neither here nor there. What completely takes your breath away are these dance numbers the likes of which I have never seen. There's a tap dance routine performed by the Nicholas Brothers that will stop your heart. These guys are Olympic athletes and look like they're simply exhaling. And Cab Calloway--who plays himself--is so brilliant it's psychedelic. He's one of my all-time favorites, anyway, but watching him in his zoot suits (so good) and the dance moves--I just don't have the adjectives. It's just incredible.
Especially knowing that a Hollywood movie studio (20th Century Fox) backed an all-black movie in 1943, and knowing Ms. Horne's struggle with the studios for most of her career, and probably the rest of them--and knowing that it had nothing to do with any lack of talent, for Gods' sake--and the impact these performers have had on everyone coming up behind them...makes it even more incredible.
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