BOARDING HOUSE BLUES - DVD
Born Loretta Mary Aiken in 1894, Jackie Mabley,
better known as "Moms," made a career of spinning hardship into
comic gold. With her pioneering comedic forays into race relations, feminist
and lesbian issues, "Moms" Mabley is best remembered for nine classic
comedy albums recorded for Chess Records and her appearance in the 1974 feature
film Amazing Grace. In this original 1948 film, Moms Mabley oversees a boarding
house of down-'n-out vaudevillians who put on a show to raise the money for
the rent. "Moms" and little tramp Dusty Fletcher play host to the
boarding house's parade of zany tenants.
Almost exclusively performed by an all-black cast, Boarding House Blues
was made for an African-American audience and as a result, possesses a tone
and spirit radically different than most films of the '40s. Still fresh
and unapologetically unrefined, Boarding House Blues is an unusual musical
comedy revue featuring show-stopping performances from alluring singer pianist
Una Mae Carlisle, rapscallions Stump & Stumpy and the legendary "Crip"
Heard, a dancer with only one leg and one arm! Also included are feature
performances by Lucky Millinder & His Band, The Berry Brothers, Bull
Moose Jackson, Lewis & White, Anistine Allen, Paul Breckenridge, Stump
& Stumpy, and The Lee Norman Trio.
(1948 - B&W - 87 Minutes) This DVD is in Mint!
