
Soundies and the Changing Image of Black Americans on Screen
One Dime at a Time
- 418 pages
- English
- ePUB (mobile friendly)
- Available on iOS & Android
About this book
In the 1940s, folks at bars and restaurants would gather around a Panoram movie machine to watch three-minute films called Soundies, precursors to today's music videos. This history was all but forgotten until the digital era brought Soundies to phones and computer screensâincluding a YouTube clip starring a 102-year-old Harlem dancer watching her younger self perform in Soundies.
In Soundies and the Changing Image of Black Americans on Screen: One Dime at a Time, Susan Delson takes a deeper look at these fascinating films by focusing on the role of Black performers in this little-known genre. She highlights the women performers, like Dorothy Dandridge, who helped shape Soundies, while offering an intimate look at icons of the age, such as Duke Ellington and Nat King Cole. Using previously unknown archival materialsâincluding letters, corporate memos, and courtroom testimonyâto trace the precarious path of Soundies, Delson presents an incisive pop-culture snapshot of race relations during and just after World War II.
Perfect for readers interested in film, American history, the World War II era, and Black entertainment history, Soundies and the Changing Image of Black Americans on Screen and its companion video website (susandelson.com) bring the important contributions of these Black artists into the spotlight once again.
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Information
Table of contents
- Cover
- Title Page
- Copyright
- Dedication
- Contents
- Part I: Follow the Money
- Part II: Follow the Music
- Part III: Following Up
- Notes
- Bibliography
- Index
- About the Author