Stormy Weather (1943)

Director:

Andrew L. Stone

Writers:

Jerry Horwin (story)
Frederick J. Jackson (screenplay)
(more)

Release Date:

17 November 1943 (Sweden)

Genre:

Musical

Plot:

The relationship between an aspiring dancer and a popular songstress provides a retrospective of the great African American entertainers of the early 1900s.

Plot Keywords:

African American | Dancer | Singer | Beautiful Woman

Awards:

1 win

Cast

Lena Horne	...	Selina Rogers
Bill Robinson	...	Bill Williamson
Cab Calloway	...	Himself
Katherine Dunham	...	Herself
Fats Waller	...	Himself
Fayard Nicholas	...	Himself (as Nicholas Brothers)
Harold Nicholas	...	Himself (as Nicholas Brothers)
Ada Brown	...	Herself
Dooley Wilson	...	Gabe Tucker
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Eddie 'Rochester' Anderson	...	(scenes deleted)
Matthew 'Stymie' Beard	...	Stage Hand (uncredited)
Talley Beatty	...	Dancer (uncredited)
Benny Carter	...	Musician: trumpet (uncredited)
Janet Collins	...	Dancer (uncredited)
Vivian Dandridge	...	Dancer (uncredited)
Robert Felder	...	Cab Calloway Jr. (uncredited)
Louise Franklin	...	Dancer (uncredited)
Suzette Harbin	...	Dancer / Nightclub Patron (uncredited)
Avanelle Harris	...	Dancer (uncredited)
Charles Hawkins	...	Dancer (uncredited)
Coleman Hawkins	...	Saxophonist (uncredited)
Cleo Herndon	...	Dancer (uncredited)
Johnny Horace	...	The other Shadrack (uncredited)
Illinois Jacquet	...	Band member (uncredited)
Mae E. Johnson	...	May E. Johnson (uncredited)
Jo Jones	...	Drummer (uncredited)
Eartha Kitt	...	Dancer (unconfirmed) (uncredited)
Johnny Lee	...	Lyles (uncredited)
Jeni Le Gon	...	Dancer (uncredited)
F.E. Miller	...	Himself (uncredited)
Taps Miller	...	Trumpet player (uncredited)
Tommie Moore	...	Dancer / Nightclub Patron (uncredited)
Florence O'Brien	...	Gabe Tucker's Gold-Digging Girlfriend (uncredited)
Henry Phace Roberts	...	Dancer (uncredited)
Zutty Singleton	...	Band member (uncredited)
Ned Stanfield	...	One of the Shadracks (uncredited)
Nick Stewart	...	Cousin Jake (uncredited)
Johnny Thomas	...	Dancer (uncredited)
Emmett 'Babe' Wallace	...	Chick Bailey (uncredited)
Ernest Whitman	...	Jim Europe (uncredited)
Artie Young	...	Dancer (uncredited)

Directed by
Andrew L. Stone		(as Andrew Stone)

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Jerry Horwin		story
Frederick J. Jackson		screenplay (as Frederick Jackson)
Ted Koehler		screenplay
H.S. Kraft		adaptation
Seymour B. Robinson		story

Produced by
William LeBaron	....	producer

Original Music by
Cyril J. Mockridge		(uncredited)

Cinematography by
Leon Shamroy

Film Editing by
James B. Clark

Art Direction by
James Basevi
Joseph C. Wright

Set Decoration by
Thomas Little
Fred J. Rode

Costume Design by
Helen Rose

Makeup Department
Guy Pearce	....	makeup artist

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Abe Steinberg	....	assistant director (uncredited)

Sound Department
Alfred Bruzlin	....	sound
Roger Heman Sr.	....	sound (as Roger Heman)

Special Effects by
Fred Sersen	....	special effects

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Sam Benson	....	wardrobe supervisor (uncredited)

Music Department
Fanchon	....	supervisor of musical sequences
Emil Newman	....	musical director
Arthur Morton	....	orchestrator (uncredited)
Gene Rose	....	orchestrator (uncredited)

Other crew
Nick Castle	....	dance director
Irving Mills	....	assistant to producer
Clarence Robinson	....	choreographer

Production Companies

• Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation

Distributors

• Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation

Other Companies

• Cab Calloway's Band  group cast members
• The Tramp Band  group cast members

Runtime:

USA:78 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Colour:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Certification:

UK:U | Finland:S | Sweden:Btl | USA:Approved (certificate #9101)

Company:

Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation

Trivia:

Two musical numbers were deleted from the release print: "Good-for-Nothin' Joe" (music by Rube Bloom, lyrics by Ted Koehler), sung by Lena Horne, who already was identified with this torch song via her 1941 Victor recording as the vocalist with Charlie Barnet and His Orchestra; and "Alfred the Moocher," a parody by Cab Calloway of his trademark "Minnie the Moocher" (music and lyrics by Cab Calloway, Irving Mills and Clarence Gaskill). The Alfred being spoofed likely is renowned film composer and music director Alfred Newman. Only a voice track of the send-up remains. On a V-Disc of selections from the film made by Miss Horne with the Calloway band, "Good-for-Nothin' Joe" was included.

Goofs:

Audio/visual unsynchronized: The first time Selena says "Bill Williamson" (in the first scene, before her character has met him) her mouth quite clearly says "Bill Robinson. Bill Robinson played Bill Williamson.

Movie Connections:

Featured in AFI's 100 Years... 100 Songs: America's Greatest Music in the Movies (2004) (TV)

Soundtrack:

Walkin' the Dog

Lena and Bojangles shine in Stormy Weather

Well, here's another review of a Lena Horne picture after I just commented on Cabin in the Sky. She's quite luminous throughout the movie especially during the "Digga Digga Doo" number. The man she's falling for, however, is a bit old for her. He's Bill 'Bogangles' Robinson, basically playing himself as the famous tap-dancer who made it to the movies. Despite that, they looked good dancing together. Dooley Wilson, who was just gaining fame as Sam in Casablanca, has some funny scenes as Bill's old Army buddy, Gabe. Also appearing are Cab Calloway, Fats Waller (in his last film appearance before his untimely death), singer Ada Brown, dancer Katherine Dunham, and The Nicholas Brothers who are way awesome jumping on those steps. In fact, they're all good. I didn't like that comedy team that had to black up their faces but other than that, Stormy Weather was musically excellent from beginning to end. P.S. It wasn't until I looked at the cast list here that I found out Matthew 'Stymie' Beard had a part as a stage hand. Thanks for one of the commentators for identifying him as the one who says "Half-hour" to distract the chorus girls. And that the guy who played Chick Bailey was Emmett 'Babe' Wallace who I last saw with Nina Mae McKinney in The Black Network (which also had The Nicholas Brothers when they were much younger).