Leadbelly

If all you knew of Roger E. Mosley was as Tom Selleck's chopper pilot sidekick, T. C., on '80s TV's "Magnum, P. I.," then it may come as a surprise how good he is playing the title role in this fictionalized story of the legendary bluesman Huddie Ledbetter, a.k.a. Leadbelly, directed by Gordon Parks. Covering a span of more than 20 years, from his 20s to 40s, the master songwriter and guitarist hones his craft while serving prison sentences slaving away on Southern chain gangs. He's even pardoned by an outgoing Governor, largely because of his popular musicianship, but as he tries to make his way back to his ancestral home, he is still not able to be completely free of the painful chains that have bound him. Some fine acting by several of the leads, and Mosley adds much of his own vocals (with the only slightly less legendary Brownie McGhee, who had played with Leadbelly in the 1940s, adding guitar), but it's equally worth noting that most Southern whites are depicted as racist, one-dimensional morons (not that that's unfair, necessarily; it's not *their* story, and therefore they are only notable for their incessant and relentless cruelty). I couldn't decide between 7 or 8 stars out of 10, and the lower number reflects the failings of the studio more than the film. (Hollywood still could barely conceive of a serious dramatic movie cast populated predominantly with people of color, but equally appealing to mostly a Caucasian moviegoing audience, despite it having witnessed the success of "Sounder" just 2-3 years earlier.) Oh well; at least, in a post Marvel's "Black Panther" world, that thinking no longer predominates.

This dramatization of the life of Leadbelly is greatly helped by having a SECOND great dalesman in the story, as his road buddy for a time, the historic recording artist BLIND LEMON JEFFERSON, played here by a sighted actor-musician, ART EVANS, in his first major role. Art has gone on to appear in a total of 85 roles in TV and the movies, according to his listing on IMDb (q.v.). Art, why don't you give IMDb a photo? Blind Lemon was a star in his day, recording "Please See That My Grave Is Kept Clean" and "Matchbox Blues" among others in the late Nineteen Twenties, but died, homeless, in Chicago, one winter in the early Thirties. This movie is televised occasionally -- watch for it -- HINT: try Black History Month, February!

As a music video this film works well with generous amounts of the title character's songs and a guitar picking contest that is the equal of "Deliverance", in my humble. However as a serious biopic of a musician of genius it falls considerably short mostly due to Ernest Kinoy's rather superficial script, which is long on knife fighting and tomcatting around in bordellos and "Cool Hand Luke" wannabe chain gang stuff but alarmingly thin on why Leadbelly became a blues singer instead of, say, a farmer or a pimp or why many of his most famous songs, like 'Goodnight Irene" and "Midnight Special", seem to have as much folk influence as blues. So enjoy the concert but if you want to know more about this important figure in American culture you'll have to do some reading. C plus.

Just watched this musical biography directed by Gordon Parks on Netflix Streaming. Having read the bio on Huddie "Lead Belly" Ledbetter on Wikipedia, I knew some characters and events were made up or exaggerated for dramatic proposes but knowing that, I highly enjoyed this movie and Roger E. Mosley's performance as the title character even though someone else did the singing. Great period atmosphere throughout. Oh, and I also recognized some songs like "Rock Island Line" and "Cotton Fields at Home" as those taught to me when I was in elementary school. Also wanted to cite fine supporting turns by Madge Sinclair as the brothel madam Miss Eula and Art Evans as fellow musician Blind Lemon Jefferson. So on that note, I highly recommend Leadbelly.

It's a biopic of the blues and folk musician Lead Belly. It alternates between Texas and Louisiana and covers Lead Belly's life from about 1910 to 1933.

The film opens with Lead Belly (Roger E. Mosley) in prison in 1933, where John (James Brodhead) and Alan Lomax visit him. They are recording African American folk music, including early blues, for the Library of Congress. The film then flashes back to Lead Belly's early 20s when he still lived at home with his father, Wes (Paul Benjamin), and mother, Sally (Lynn Hamilton), and his wife, Lethe (Rhetta Greene).

Lead Belly then moves to the redlight district of Shreveport, Louisiana, where he plays at whorehouses and encounters Miss Eula (Madge Sinclair) and singer Blind Lemon (Art Evans). "Leadbelly" follows his life, including two murders--one of a friend in the early 1910s and a later one around 1925, soon after his release from a Texas prison. There is much time given to his prison experiences. The movie concludes with his 1933 encounter with Thomas Lomax.

The movie is straightforward, but Lead Belly's music, dubbed by Hi Tide Harris, holds it together. Harris does an excellent job. The "Leadbelly" dialogue is blunt, reflecting the racial understandings of the day. The cinematography struck me as only OK, and some of the acting, particularly by secondary characters, seemed stiff.