Louis Armstrong: Rhapsody in Black and Blue (1932) | Early Music Video Starring Satchmo

Rhapsody in Black and Blue is a short ten-minute film that was created and released in 1932, starring Sidney Easton and Fanny Belle DeKnight. It is an early example of a "music video", showcasing the tunes I’ll Be Glad When You Are Dead You Rascal You and Shine, sung and played by well-known jazz artist Louis Armstrong. The film was directed by Aubrey Scotto and the screenplay written by Phil Cohan.
The racism in this film was appalling and offensive to Black America but as stated by Krin Gabbard,
“Joe Glaser [Armstrong’s trusted manager] seized any opportunity to find work for Armstrong, and if Glaser made no effort to ask if the movies were good for the Negro people, neither did Armstrong”.
In the book Jammin’ at the Margins, Krin Gabbard quotes Miles Davis saying in his autobiography,
"...some of the images of black people that I would fight against all through my career. I loved Satchmo, but I couldn’t stand all that grinning he did”.
Phil Cohan tried to portray Armstrong's role in the film as degrading, but instead Louis decided to embrace his role, and he played his trumpet and sang just as he would any other night with power and authority owning every word he sang. - wikipedia

Shared for historical purposes. I do not own the rights.

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