Bessie Smith and Friends: 1929-1942

• 1986

• Watchlist

See some of the greatest early blues and jazz singers do their stuff in this series of three short films: "St. Louis Blues (1929) records the only filmed appearance of Bessie Smith. "Bye Bye Blackbird" (1932) stars Nina Mae McKinney and the dancing Nicholas Brothers with Eubie Blake and His Orchestra. "Boogie Woogie Dream" (1941) presents a young Lena Horne, boogie woogie pianists Albert Ammons and Pete Johnson, and Teddy Wilson's Band.