Symphony In Black: A Rhapsody of Negro Life (1935)
*** (out of 4)
To think that Paramount would allow this short to be made and released says quite a bit considering the studio really didn't take a political slant in most of their films and there weren't many studios at all showing blacks in a positive light. Many have pointed out that Duke Ellington planned this as a true portrait of Negro life back in the day and this was to go against the "images" in Porgy and Bess, which had just been released. This short is broken down into four different parts with the first showing men doing labor with heavy bags. The second features Billie Holliday doing a song about her boyfriend going down the wrong path. The third sequence shows black men praying and the fourth shows people having a good time. I'd be lying if I said this was a great short because there are several minor problems but once again I was really shocked to see something like this being released in 1935. Ellington's score here is terrific and I really loved the dark and somber beats of the first story. The Holliday song was terrific and she did it great justice and the images of the story backing it were also top-notch. The fourth story doesn't have too much but then again it's not very long either. There's some nice style throughout all the visual images of the story being told so this here comes highly recommended.
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