Boogie-Woogie Dream
Encyclopedia
Boogie-Woogie Dream is an independently-made short film musical directed by Hanus Burger
, starring Lena Horne
, Albert Ammons
, Pete Johnson
and Teddy Wilson
and his orchestra. It is a significant film in the history of jazz for its early glimpse of Lena Horne (in her second film) and as the only film of boogie-woogie
piano masters Albert Ammons and Pete Johnson.
The Weathercoops fall asleep, and this leads to a dream where the kitchen maid has gotten her evening gown; she introduces Ammons and Johnson, who play Boogie Woogie Dream. Teddy Wilson then conjures up his band and backs up the maid, with some help from Johnson, on the song Unlucky Woman. This is followed by a jam with Wilson's band, illustrated by a montage. Ammons, Johnson and the kitchen maid are then seen sleeping, propped up at the piano; the phone rings and wakes them up. Mr. Weathercoop ends up with the call, and afterward gives the others the offer that they have been dreaming about.
, which Burger co-directed with Herbert Kline and Alexander Hammid. Crisis was widely acclaimed in the United States, and its success of helped propel Burger through a long string of left-wing documentaries, U.S. War Department films and other kinds of official documentary work throughout the 1940s. Boogie Woogie Dream was a side project, inspired by the musicians at Café Society
in New York, a popular nightspot and frequent location for live radio remotes; it served as the flash point for the Boogie Woogie craze in New York City.
Boogie Woogie Dream was written by Austrian cabaret performer and emigrant Karl Farkas
and produced by Mark Marvin, a playwright and the older brother of Herbert Kline. It was made by Burger and his small crew at Astoria Studios on Long Island. Albert Ammons and Pete Johnson, Horne, and Teddy Wilson and his orchestra were all acts then engaged at Café Society; Wilson was an established swing bandleader and pianist, whereas Horne was a relative newcomer. According to Burger, he had first wanted to engage Billie Holiday
to play the kitchen maid in the film, but Holiday proved unavailable for the shooting, and he settled on Horne instead.
The film was shot in the latter part of September of 1941, but it took at least three years for Burger to render it into a completed form. Burger sold it outright to Bert and Jack Goldberg in 1944; the Goldbergs were entrepreneurs in the field of race movies marketed directly to black audiences. By this time, Lena Horne had already become a star in mainstream Hollywood films. The Goldbergs extracted three distinct sections from the film, "Unlucky Woman," "My New Gown" and "Boogie Woogie Dream" (consisting only of Ammons and Johnson's duet) and redistributed the shorter films through Soundies Distributing Corporation, who copyrighted the titles on December 30, 1944. Nevertheless, the Goldbergs also passed the short versions on to the theatrical distributor Sack Amusements, while continuing to book the original film on a States' Rights Basis; it was also distributed to the home market in 16mm.
Hanus Burger
Hans Herbert Burger , also known as Hanus Burger, Hans Burger and Jan Burger, as well as under the pseudonyms Hans Herbert and Petr Hradec, was a theater, film, and television director, playwright and author of books and screenplays.- External links :...
, starring Lena Horne
Lena Horne
Lena Mary Calhoun Horne was an American singer, actress, civil rights activist and dancer.Horne joined the chorus of the Cotton Club at the age of sixteen and became a nightclub performer before moving to Hollywood, where she had small parts in numerous movies, and more substantial parts in the...
, Albert Ammons
Albert Ammons
Albert Ammons was an American pianist. Ammons was a player of boogie-woogie, a bluesy jazz style popular from the late 1930s into the mid 1940s.-Life and career:...
, Pete Johnson
Pete Johnson
Pete Johnson was an American boogie-woogie and jazz pianist.Journalist Tony Russell stated in his book The Blues - From Robert Johnson to Robert Cray, that "Johnson shared with the other members of the 'Boogie Woogie Trio' the technical virtuosity and melodic fertility that can make this the most...
and Teddy Wilson
Teddy Wilson
Theodore Shaw "Teddy" Wilson was an American jazz pianist whose sophisticated and elegant style was featured on the records of many of the biggest names in jazz, including Louis Armstrong, Lena Horne, Benny Goodman, Billie Holiday and Ella Fitzgerald.-Biography:Wilson was born in Austin, Texas in...
and his orchestra. It is a significant film in the history of jazz for its early glimpse of Lena Horne (in her second film) and as the only film of boogie-woogie
Boogie-woogie
Boogie-woogie has the following meanings:*Boogie-woogie, a piano-based music style*Boogie-woogie , a swing dance or a dance that imitates the rock-n-roll dance of the 1950s*"Boogie Woogie" , a song by EuroGroove and Dannii Minogue...
piano masters Albert Ammons and Pete Johnson.
Synopsis
In a nightclub, Teddy Wilson and his orchestra are laying down their last groove for the night. In the audience, Mr. Weathercoop (Russel Morrison) and his date (Virginia Pine) briefly discuss Wilson's band. Back in the kitchen, where Albert Ammons is hanging paper and Pete Johnson tunes a piano, a kitchen maid (Lena Horne) begins to sing about how she would like to perform in a new gown, rather than to wash dishes. Pete Johnson provides an impromptu accompaniment, and then Ammons joins in on a duet; a cutaway informs us that the Weathercoops are paying attention.The Weathercoops fall asleep, and this leads to a dream where the kitchen maid has gotten her evening gown; she introduces Ammons and Johnson, who play Boogie Woogie Dream. Teddy Wilson then conjures up his band and backs up the maid, with some help from Johnson, on the song Unlucky Woman. This is followed by a jam with Wilson's band, illustrated by a montage. Ammons, Johnson and the kitchen maid are then seen sleeping, propped up at the piano; the phone rings and wakes them up. Mr. Weathercoop ends up with the call, and afterward gives the others the offer that they have been dreaming about.
Background and Dissemination
Hanus (or Hannes) Burger (1909-1990) was a Czech documentary filmmaker who had fled to the United States in the wake of the Anschluss; footage he had taken when the Germans invaded Prague was incorporated into the acclaimed documentary film Crisis (1939 film)Crisis (1939 film)
Crisis is a feature-length documentary about the 1938 Sudeten Crisis. It was released briefly before the Nazi occupation of Czechoslovakia on March 15th, 1939. The film was directed by Herbert Kline, Hans Burger, and Alexander Hammid, with narration written by Vincent Sheean and read by Leif...
, which Burger co-directed with Herbert Kline and Alexander Hammid. Crisis was widely acclaimed in the United States, and its success of helped propel Burger through a long string of left-wing documentaries, U.S. War Department films and other kinds of official documentary work throughout the 1940s. Boogie Woogie Dream was a side project, inspired by the musicians at Café Society
Café Society
Café society was the collective description for the so-called "Beautiful People" and "Bright Young Things" who gathered in fashionable cafes and restaurants in New York, Paris, and London beginning in the late 19th century...
in New York, a popular nightspot and frequent location for live radio remotes; it served as the flash point for the Boogie Woogie craze in New York City.
Boogie Woogie Dream was written by Austrian cabaret performer and emigrant Karl Farkas
Karl Farkas
Karl Farkas was an Austrian actor and cabaret performer.In accordance with the wishes of his parents, he was to study law, but decided to follow the call of the stage...
and produced by Mark Marvin, a playwright and the older brother of Herbert Kline. It was made by Burger and his small crew at Astoria Studios on Long Island. Albert Ammons and Pete Johnson, Horne, and Teddy Wilson and his orchestra were all acts then engaged at Café Society; Wilson was an established swing bandleader and pianist, whereas Horne was a relative newcomer. According to Burger, he had first wanted to engage Billie Holiday
Billie Holiday
Billie Holiday was an American jazz singer and songwriter. Nicknamed "Lady Day" by her friend and musical partner Lester Young, Holiday had a seminal influence on jazz and pop singing...
to play the kitchen maid in the film, but Holiday proved unavailable for the shooting, and he settled on Horne instead.
The film was shot in the latter part of September of 1941, but it took at least three years for Burger to render it into a completed form. Burger sold it outright to Bert and Jack Goldberg in 1944; the Goldbergs were entrepreneurs in the field of race movies marketed directly to black audiences. By this time, Lena Horne had already become a star in mainstream Hollywood films. The Goldbergs extracted three distinct sections from the film, "Unlucky Woman," "My New Gown" and "Boogie Woogie Dream" (consisting only of Ammons and Johnson's duet) and redistributed the shorter films through Soundies Distributing Corporation, who copyrighted the titles on December 30, 1944. Nevertheless, the Goldbergs also passed the short versions on to the theatrical distributor Sack Amusements, while continuing to book the original film on a States' Rights Basis; it was also distributed to the home market in 16mm.