Author Archive: Retro

Unsuccessful gambler ‘Dollar Bill’ Burton lives in a crummy New York basement room with old friend Bob and a new roommate, friendly blues singer ‘Alabama’ Lee. But, tired of being broke, Dollar Bill gets more steady employment…doing illegal errands for gangster Bad Boy George. The now prosperous Bill ignores pretty, adoring Etta and takes up with sultry singer Regina. Will Bill’s way of life catch up with him? Will his upright friends be more successful in the end? All-black cast.

Cab Calloway plays himself in a plot about jealousy, night clubs, and gangsters. Ends with a series of musical numbers. All-black cast. Must see for this genre. Lots of jazz numbers highlight this story of a bandleader who is caught between his resourceful lady manager and his jealous girlfriend who’s put out a gangland hit on him. Songs include: “Minnie’s a Hepcat Now”, “Hey Now!”, “Bop Bop”, “At Dawn Time”, “Don’t Falter at the Altar” & more. Dir. Josh Binney

Oscar Micheaux’s all colored cast including Bee Freeman, Sol Johnson, Oscar Polk, “Slick” Chester

Gangster finds his business failing after an enthusiastic preacher comes to town. He takes compromising pictures of the preacher with some girls, with tragic results. Written by Spencer Williams, from a poem by James Weldon Johnson. Dir. Spencer Williams

Zou Zou tries to help her childhood friend prove his innocence after he’s accused of murder.

Old-time musical star Schyler Jarvis, now wealthy, is dying. His last act is a visionary plan for the future happiness of his son, swing bandleader Louis Jarvis, and Honey Carter, daughter of his long-lost love. But crooked lawyer Talbot has a nefarious scheme to get his hands on the Jarvis money. Plenty of swing from Louis Jordan’s Tympany Five.

Big city fellow travels to the wild West to clear himself of a murder charge.

An intimate look at life in the ghetto: Johnny Williams is a house painter who moonlights as a poet, struggling to financially and emotionally support his cancer-ridden wife Mattie. But times are tough and the poverty-troubled streets are even tougher, and it takes every ounce of Johnny’s love and courage for the couple to make it through their strife, finding redemption in the River Niger.

Louis Jordan and his Tympani Five play a gig at his alma mater, and ends up having to save the school from bankruptcy.