Product: Stormy Weather [VHS] (1980)
Rating: 4.0
Entertainment Is The Name Of This Tune
Music, not story, is the name of the game here."Stormy Weather" provides an avenue for black singers, dancers and musicians of the mid-1940s to show off their talents. Too bad it was that way but at least putting these acts on screen in a movie format wasn't just black folks "preaching to the choir." This film gave a lot of white people a chance to see some great talent they might never have seen and, hopefully, helped some of these entertainers in their careers.Bill Robinson and Lena Horne are the stars of the film, or should I say the main entertainers. Robinson is wonderful to watch throughout. He's not just a great dancer but an extremely likable guy. He comes across that way, anyway, and has in every film I've seen him. Horne has a good voice and a pretty face that became famous for almost never aging.Since I prefer a little more up-tempo, Fats Waller, Cab Calloway and The Nicholas Brothers filled the bill nicely. They were awesome.What little story there is centers around Robinson's character trying to break into show business. En route are also some funny lines and characters.