Stormy Weather (1943)

User Rating:

7.3/10   

Director:

Andrew L. Stone

Writers:

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

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)
Zutty Singleton

Runtime:

USA:78 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

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:

Referenced in Be Kind Rewind (2008)

Soundtrack:

MOPPIN' AND BOPPIN'

Great music makes a great movie

Stormy Weather is a must see, if for no other reason than to view our past. The music is tops - the story line corny - the dancing is fantastic. Lena Horne's costumes are truly amazing - it would be nice if the movie has been in color to see this beautiful lady.