Product Details

• Actors: Count Basie, Cab Calloway, Nat 'King' Cole, Dorothy Dandridge, Duke Ellington
• Directors: Marino Amoruso
• Producers: Dennis Hedlund
• Format: Black & White, Color, DVD, NTSC
• Language: English
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Studio: Kultur Video
• DVD Release Date: July 27, 2004
• Run Time: 75 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B000294SIY
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #24,530 in Movies & TV (See Bestsellers in Movies & TV)

  Popular in these categories: (What's this?)

  #3 in	Movies & TV > Music Video & Concerts > Artists > Basie, Count
  #4 in	Movies & TV > Music Video & Concerts > Artists > Ellington, Duke
  #35 in	Movies & TV > Music Video & Concerts > Artists > King, B.B.

• For more information about "Harlem Renaissance / Fats Waller, Duke Ellington, Count Basie, Nat King Cole" visit the Internet Movie Database (IMDb)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

A fabulous look at Harlem and its greatest musicians of the 20s, 30s and 40s: with extraordinary archival, full song performances by Fats Waller (This Joint Is Jumpin', Ain't Misbehaving, Your Feets Too Big), Bill "Bojangles" Robinson (Let's Scuffle), Dorothy Dandridge (Easy Street), Cab Calloway (We The Cats Will Hep You), Mills Brothers (Caravan, Cielito Lindo), Tiny Grimes (Romance Without Finance), Duke Ellington (Cottontail, Satin Doll) , Count Basie (The Start of Something Big, Take Me Back Baby)), Dizzy Gillespie (Salt Peanuts), Sidney Bechet (Nobody Knows The Trouble I've Seen), Nat King Cole (Frim Fram Sauce, I'm A Shy Guy, That's My Girl, Calypso Blues), Louis Armstrong (Swingin' On Nothin') and others. Featuring commentary by distinguished historians and the performers themselves, this program traces the roots of the music of the Harlem Renaissance, its social impact on society and its eventual acceptance in mainstream culture. 2004 Production.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

28 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An essential for anyone who wants to learn about/enjoy this period of time., August 14, 2005

By	Steve Nathan "necroscope" (New York, NY) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I have seen so many films about the Harlem Renaissance, I was beginning to think that there was no film that both captured and explained the history of the period and also made learning fun for students. As a teacher, I use this DVD with my 12 and 13 year old students. The full versions of songs on the bonus part of the DVD shows the power that visual and audio images can have and had way before MTV. For the price and quality, this is a must have for educators, and a joy for historians and music lovers in general.

21 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great collection, September 23, 2005

By	jfarles "jf" (Scotland) - See all my reviews

It is certainly hard to find films in jazz from this time period, so this collection is a very valuable one. The quality of the recordings are incredible considering their age, and the representations of the music/musicians sometimes surprising, even for those who study jazz culture.
Although the commentary may not give you much information beyond an introductory level, being able to see jazz performance is something which simply reading about the period can't compare to. One thing to mention--though this DVD is entitled Harlem Renaissance, it seems like several of these films were produced after renaissance was considered to be over.

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Good footage, poor documentary, October 24, 2006

By	MB "Teacher" (Darien, IL) - See all my reviews

I bought this DVD for a course I teach on African-American Literature. This is a great DVD if you are interested in showing/discussing the music or performances of the period. However, the "documentary" components of this film are sorely lacking; the commentary provides only the most basic information about the Harlem Renaissance, and there is only about five minutes of commentary throughout the whole documentary. As such, this is mainly just a collection of performance clips, so you will need to do a lot more backgrounding for your students if you wish to explore this aspect of the Harlem Renaissance in depth. Also, don't be fooled by the running time -- the actual "documentary" portion of the film is only about 45 minutes long, and there is an extra 30 minutes of "bonus features" with an additional 11 performances.