Stormy Weather (1943)

Released the same year as MGM's major black cast musical 'Cabin in the Sky', the 20th Century Fox production 'Stormy Weather' is a salute to a quarter century's worth of African-American musical entertainers, many of which appear in the film sometimes playing themselves. There is Lena Horne (who sings the films signature tune) and Bill "Bojangles" Robinson who helm the thing in a studio standard romance that spans the years 1918-1943. In support you have Cab Calloway, Katherine Dunham, Fats Waller, the Nicholas brothers, Ada Brown and Dooley Wilson. The film has an entirely black cast, and while there are a few unfortunate moments, principally the ministerial numbers, on the whole its pretty progressive for a major studio film of its era. Some great music and performances you don't get to see that often, in basic structure it's a very standard musical  its of era, but I found it more easily able to hold my interest then a lot of white helmed contemporaries. More then a curio, it's a legitimately good film, unexceptional in everything but talent. ***