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March 1998, Week 4

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Subject:
From:
Krin Gabbard <[log in to unmask]>
Reply To:
Film and TV Studies Discussion List <[log in to unmask]>
Date:
Thu, 26 Mar 1998 15:00:50 -0500
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Dear Meryem,
 
See my book _Jammin' at the Margins_ (U of Chicago P, 1996) for a short
essay on Murphy's _Black and Tan_ with Ellington.  The film was the kind of
selected short that regularly preceded mainstream movies in mainstream
theatres.  Rumor has it that it once preceded _King of Jazz_, a celebration
of Paul Whiteman and his Orchestra.  How's that for irony?  I would also
guess that a film like _Black and Tan_, with its straight linear narrative
and familiar views of black culture, was regarded as "normal" during its
time.  Even the "avant-garde" camera work in which we see multiple images
of the same action are strictly motivated as the point-of-view
hallucinations of a woman with a heart condition.
 
Best,
 
     Krin
 
 
 
 
 
 
"Meryem C. Ersoz" <[log in to unmask]> on 03/25/98 06:33:53 PM
 
Please respond to Film and TV Studies Discussion List
      <[log in to unmask]>
 
To:   [log in to unmask]
cc:    (bcc: Krin Gabbard/CAS)
Subject:  still chewin' that musical bone....
 
 
 
 
okay yawl...
in my quest for the perfect teaching musical, I've become obsessed with
BLACK AND TAN FANTASY, starring Duke Ellington and his Cotton Club
Orchestra. It's got this sort of amazing intersection of influences--part
Busby Berkeley, part German Expressionism....
The Kino collection, which recently released a 4-cassette collection of
these jazz shorts, does not offer much in the way of liner notes for these
films. (Or else, as is often the case, the liner notes have been
lost through the circulation of the cassettes to careless library
patrons--I'm not quite sure.) Dudley Murphy, who directed B
& T, also directed EMPEROR JONES and helped Leger with BALLET MECANIQUE.
That's about all I know so far...haven't had time to hep off to the
library for more. But I'm wondering if anyone on the list knows anything
about the intended audience of these Paramount shorts? Were they developed
for white audiences interested in jazz culture? For black audiences? Were
they "preview" films or main events? Were they considered avante-garde
experiments or mainstream narrative films?
Anyone?
 
Meryem Ersoz
University of Colorado-Denver
----
Online resources for film/TV studies may be found at ScreenSite
http://www.tcf.ua.edu/screensite
 
----
Online resources for film/TV studies may be found at ScreenSite
http://www.tcf.ua.edu/screensite

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