King for a Day

Bill Green (Bill "Bojangles" Robinson) is desperate to audition for "Brown's Black Orchids" but Mr. Brown refuses to even listen to the amateur. Mr. Brown has a weakness for dice and Bill wins against him in craps.

It's a fascinating early talkie short with an all-black cast. The story is rather simple. It's not anything to write home about but it is great to see all-black performances. Honestly, most old musicals are hard to sit through with the old music but this is very watchable. Other than one song, the music generally has a good beat and a bit of sass. The tap dancing is fun and Robinson has good charisma. There is general good performing in this short. Although, one must accept that blackface is a vaudevillian hold-over. The jokes are pretty cheesy but at least, it has an edge. It's a small window into black cinema of that era.

Admittedly to me the story was somewhat disposable and took too long to get going and the Minstrel Man song and routine are a little uninspired and one of the least memorable parts of King for a Day. King for a Day is shot in beautiful black and white however, the music puts you in a good mood due to its infectiousness- particularly Smiles and Old Folks at Home-, and the choreography is witty and elegant. Some of the rehearsal stuff is amusing and the performances are solid enough, but Bill "Bojangles" Robinson and his tap dancing are what make King for a Day. Robinson has a really charming presence which makes him a likable performer and his character easy to root for, even better than when he was partnered with Shirley Temple. And his tap dancing is incredible, always precise yet with a simple elegance and with not a flat or heavy foot move. It's not "athletic" as such nor did it really need to be. Overall, a very nice short film that is worth seeing primarily for Robinson and the tap dancing because while not everything is entirely smooth sailing they work tremendously. 8/10 Bethany Cox

We're truly missing out on the old talent of the Harlem Renaissance; thank goodness this is so available. It has a charm you won't find today. If you like this film, I implore you to seek out on YouTube "102 y/o sees herself on film for the first time." It will encourage you to look up everything you can get your hands on!

So glad this tap dance is preserved for all to see. Excellent!

Roy Mack was the great director of short black films, he wanted to show black entertainment, since he couldn't put it in movies, he put them in short films, which were great. These short films may not seem like much today, but back in the 30s and 40s, shorts were considered better then the feature film. Black film shorts always were great. It showed the latest dances, the latest singing styles, wonderful. Shows you how it was in that era. Wonderful black history. If you can find it, you'll love it. Some shorts are very hard to find, believe me I know, I started collecting black film shorts, but when you find it, you'll love it.