Symphony in Black: A Rhapsody of Negro Life

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Symphony in Black: A Rhapsody of Negro Life (1935)

Duke Ellington plays his symphonic jazz piece ('A Rhapsody of Negro Life') with his orchestra against slice-of-life background scenes. The four movements: 1) The Laborers, 2) A Triangle: Dan... Read allDuke Ellington plays his symphonic jazz piece ('A Rhapsody of Negro Life') with his orchestra against slice-of-life background scenes. The four movements: 1) The Laborers, 2) A Triangle: Dance, Jealousy, Blues, 3) A Hymn of Sorrow, 4) Harlem Rhythm.Duke Ellington plays his symphonic jazz piece ('A Rhapsody of Negro Life') with his orchestra against slice-of-life background scenes. The four movements: 1) The Laborers, 2) A Triangle: Dance, Jealousy, Blues, 3) A Hymn of Sorrow, 4) Harlem Rhythm.

Director
- Fred Waller
Stars

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

7.3/10

288

YOUR RATING

Director
- Fred Waller
Stars

See production info at IMDbPro

Photos

Top cast6

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Duke Ellington

Self

Duke Ellington Orchestra

Themselves

Barney Bigard

Self - Clarinet
(uncredited)

Billie Holiday

Self - Blues Singer
(uncredited)

Joe 'Tricky Sam' Nanton

Self - Trombone
(uncredited)

Earl 'Snake Hips' Tucker

Jilting lover
(uncredited)
…

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Storyline

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Did you know

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Trivia
Scatman Crothers is widely incorrectly reported as playing the jilting lover, actually played by Earl 'Snake Hips' Tucker, who also appears later in the short as a specialty dancer.

Connections
Edited into Billie Holiday: The Ultimate Collection (2005)

Soundtracks
Symphony in Black: A Rhapsody of Negro Life
Written by Duke Ellington
Played throughout the movie by Duke Ellington Orchestra (as Duke Ellington and His Orchestra)
The four sections (with additional performers noted) are titled:
The Laborers
Triangle: Dance, Jealousy, Blues
Hymn of Sorrow
Harlem Rhythm - danced by Earl 'Snake Hips' Tucker

User reviews7

Review

Featured review

10/10

Superb.

If you want to see this film, it's available in a compilation disc entitled "Hollywood Rhythm: Volume One" and is a set of musical shorts featuring Black artists of the 30s and 40s. The films were made by Paramount and is a rare case of a major studio featuring Black music to wider audiences of the day. This particular short is a highly condensed version of Ellington's much longer "Symphony in Black". It's divided into four parts and you see little vignettes acted out as the music plays. Some of the time, you don't see Ellington's orchestra--just Ellington himself sitting casually at the piano. A big debut here is Billie Holiday--a brilliant singer with a very tragic life. Overall, the piece is very polished--very classy and refined--much like Gershwin's "Porgy and Bess". Very watchable and enjoyable--it's just too bad it's not all of Ellington's piece--now THAT would be a great little slice of history.

By the way, on the disc, this and another Ellington short are among the very best stuff. What an artist!