Juke Joint


1h 8m 1947

Brief Synopsis

The gang at a small club stages a jitterbug contest.

Film Details

Genre
Drama
Comedy
Musical
Release Date
Jan 1947
Premiere Information
not available
Production Company
Sack Amusement Enterprises
Distribution Company
Sack Amusement Enterprises
Country
United States

Technical Specs

Duration
1h 8m
Sound
Mono
Color
Black and White
Film Length
6,090ft

Synopsis

Having fled Memphis, Tennessee, to start a new life, smalltime fugitive Bad News Johnson and his slow-witted companion, July Jones, arrive in Dallas with no place to stay and only twenty-five cents to their name. Johnson explains to July that they are taking the advice of the great thinker Horace Greeley, who said, "Go west young man, and do your best; then come east and spend your grease." When Johnson realizes that July does not understand the quote, he tells July that he is so dumb that he probably thinks that "Veronica Lake is some kinda' summer resort." Using his charm and graciousness, mixed in with a touch of pure deception, Johnson procures a room for himself and July at the home of the Holiday family. Mrs. Louella "Mama Lou" Holiday is at first reluctant take in two strangers as boarders, but when Johnson, who has introduced himself as Mr. Whitney Vanderbilt, impresses her as a great "thespian," she, in the hope that he will tutor her daughter Honey Dew in poise, decides to give them a room. Johnson and July, who is now known as Mr. Green, gladly accept the offer. Meanwhile, Mama Lou's lazy husband, Papa Sam, who was sent by his wife on an errand to the market, is instead at Johnny's Juke Joint playing poker with his pals. Papa Sam's daughter Florida, also at the juke joint, is being pursued by Johnny, the owner of the establishment, who wants to take her to Chicago. When Papa Sam returns home without the food he was sent to get, Mama Lou scolds him until Honey Dew breaks up the fight. Back at the juke joint, while Florida considers Johnny's offer, he calls his wife and tells her that he will be home late. After Johnson and July enjoy their first dinner at the Holidays, Johnson gives Honey Dew lessons on how to carry herself at the beauty contest she has entered, while Florida is told to do the dishes. Johnson's lessons are proven valuable when Honey Dew wins first prize in the contest. Backstage at the contest, Papa Sam's buddy, "High Life" Harris, suggests that Honey Dew be taken to the juke joint to celebrate her success, and Papa Sam agrees. When Mama Lou returns home to find that her husband and Florida, who was given the responsibility of preparing the house for a party, are missing, she marches over to Johnny's with an umbrella in hand and takes swings at Harris, Johnny and Florida. Mama Lou then discovers Papa Sam kissing a waitress outside the juke joint and pounces on him. At home, Mama Lou gives Florida one last beating to punish her for her actions as Johnson and July watch through a keyhole.

Film Details

Genre
Drama
Comedy
Musical
Release Date
Jan 1947
Premiere Information
not available
Production Company
Sack Amusement Enterprises
Distribution Company
Sack Amusement Enterprises
Country
United States

Technical Specs

Duration
1h 8m
Sound
Mono
Color
Black and White
Film Length
6,090ft

Articles

Juke Joint


Juke Joint, a 1947 combination of musical numbers and low comedy, was one of the last films produced specifically for African-American audiences during the race film movement that had started in response to D.W. Griffith's Birth of a Nation (1915). It marked the final directing credit for the pioneering Spencer Williams, combining the elements that had made his pictures distinct contributions to the development of black cinema with the problems that would eventually lead to the end of the race film.

On the plus side, the film captured the spirit of African-American ethnic drama at the time, using a loosely constructed plot as an excuse for comic scenes and musical numbers. Williams and July Jones (Texas dancer Robert Orr) co-star as a pair of con artists who get the civic leaders in a small African-American town to bankroll a nightclub for them. Their shady dealings are complicated by their involvement with the Holliday family, complete with fiery matriarch and temptingly beautiful daughters. Like such Williams classics as Blood of Jesus (1941) and Go Down, Death (1944), it provided a look at African-American life outside the big cities. Like many filmmakers in the race film movement, Williams worked outside of the Hollywood and New York entertainment centers, filming Juke Joint in Dallas and San Antonio, Texas. Unlike those earlier films, however, the picture deals very little with the importance of religion in African-American life. At only one point, when the Holliday family sits down to say grace before dinner, does it give a sense of how Christianity helped sustain black Americans through decades of oppression.

On the negative side, the film's low budget and largely untrained cast were typical of the later race films, which had begun to wear out their welcome with critics in the African-American newspapers. Even the most generous reviewers found the picture's flat acting and flubbed lines (the budget was too low for re-takes) hard to ignore. Far from an alternative to Hollywood's stereotyped depiction of black Americans, the film simply perpetuated the images already rife in the white media. Moreover, the practice in many race films of casting light-skinned blacks in the leading roles and dark-skinned blacks as villains and buffoons was beginning to draw fire in the ethnic press.

Of course, like most race films, Juke Joint wasn't entirely an African-American production. Although the race film movement had started with black businessmen financing their own films to counter the offensive racial images in mainstream films, by the '30s and '40s, the circuit was largely run by white producers like Bert Goldberg. To his credit, Goldberg had bankrolled Williams' more pioneering productions. Nonetheless, the movement had lost its social impetus and simply become a way of providing cheap product to audiences who otherwise would have few chances to see African-American performers on screen. When Hollywood began producing films about racial issues in the years following World War II, African-American audiences deserted race films.Juke Joint would mark the end of the road for Williams, who would resurface on television as Andy in the TV version of the popular radio series Amos 'n' Andy. His films would be largely forgotten until the '70s, when critics and film archivists re-discovered his and other filmmakers' unique visions of African-American life.

Producer: Bert Goldberg, Alfred N. Sack
Director: Spencer Williams
Screenplay: True T. Thompson
Cinematography: George Sanderson
Music: Red Calhoun
Principal Cast: Spencer Williams (Bad News Johnson/Vanderbilt Whitney), July Jones ("Cornbread" Green), Inez Newell (Louella "Mama Lou" Holliday), Leonard Duncan (Samuel "Papa Sam" Holliday), Dauphine Moore (Barbara "Honey Dew" Holliday), Melody Duncan (Melody Holliday), Red Calhoun (Bandleader), Duncan's Beauty Show Girls, Kit and Kat, Mac and Ace, The Jitterbug Johnnies.
BW-69m.

by Frank Miller
Juke Joint

Juke Joint

Juke Joint, a 1947 combination of musical numbers and low comedy, was one of the last films produced specifically for African-American audiences during the race film movement that had started in response to D.W. Griffith's Birth of a Nation (1915). It marked the final directing credit for the pioneering Spencer Williams, combining the elements that had made his pictures distinct contributions to the development of black cinema with the problems that would eventually lead to the end of the race film. On the plus side, the film captured the spirit of African-American ethnic drama at the time, using a loosely constructed plot as an excuse for comic scenes and musical numbers. Williams and July Jones (Texas dancer Robert Orr) co-star as a pair of con artists who get the civic leaders in a small African-American town to bankroll a nightclub for them. Their shady dealings are complicated by their involvement with the Holliday family, complete with fiery matriarch and temptingly beautiful daughters. Like such Williams classics as Blood of Jesus (1941) and Go Down, Death (1944), it provided a look at African-American life outside the big cities. Like many filmmakers in the race film movement, Williams worked outside of the Hollywood and New York entertainment centers, filming Juke Joint in Dallas and San Antonio, Texas. Unlike those earlier films, however, the picture deals very little with the importance of religion in African-American life. At only one point, when the Holliday family sits down to say grace before dinner, does it give a sense of how Christianity helped sustain black Americans through decades of oppression. On the negative side, the film's low budget and largely untrained cast were typical of the later race films, which had begun to wear out their welcome with critics in the African-American newspapers. Even the most generous reviewers found the picture's flat acting and flubbed lines (the budget was too low for re-takes) hard to ignore. Far from an alternative to Hollywood's stereotyped depiction of black Americans, the film simply perpetuated the images already rife in the white media. Moreover, the practice in many race films of casting light-skinned blacks in the leading roles and dark-skinned blacks as villains and buffoons was beginning to draw fire in the ethnic press. Of course, like most race films, Juke Joint wasn't entirely an African-American production. Although the race film movement had started with black businessmen financing their own films to counter the offensive racial images in mainstream films, by the '30s and '40s, the circuit was largely run by white producers like Bert Goldberg. To his credit, Goldberg had bankrolled Williams' more pioneering productions. Nonetheless, the movement had lost its social impetus and simply become a way of providing cheap product to audiences who otherwise would have few chances to see African-American performers on screen. When Hollywood began producing films about racial issues in the years following World War II, African-American audiences deserted race films.Juke Joint would mark the end of the road for Williams, who would resurface on television as Andy in the TV version of the popular radio series Amos 'n' Andy. His films would be largely forgotten until the '70s, when critics and film archivists re-discovered his and other filmmakers' unique visions of African-American life. Producer: Bert Goldberg, Alfred N. Sack Director: Spencer Williams Screenplay: True T. Thompson Cinematography: George Sanderson Music: Red Calhoun Principal Cast: Spencer Williams (Bad News Johnson/Vanderbilt Whitney), July Jones ("Cornbread" Green), Inez Newell (Louella "Mama Lou" Holliday), Leonard Duncan (Samuel "Papa Sam" Holliday), Dauphine Moore (Barbara "Honey Dew" Holliday), Melody Duncan (Melody Holliday), Red Calhoun (Bandleader), Duncan's Beauty Show Girls, Kit and Kat, Mac and Ace, The Jitterbug Johnnies. BW-69m. by Frank Miller

Quotes

Trivia

Notes

Although the viewed print contained a copyright statement for the year 1947, it was not included in the copyright registry. The viewed print was missing approximately ten minutes of the story. The film was Spencer Williams' last as a director. Modern sources note that filming took place in two Texas "juke joints": Dallas' Rose Room and Don's Keyhole in San Antonio. Juke Joint was considered a lost film for many years, until 1983, when a print was discovered in a Tyler, TX warehouse and identified by film historian G. William Jones.