Product: Stormy Weather [VHS] (1980)
Rating: 4.0
Great Musical and Dance Numbers
When STORMY WEATHER was re-released in a new DVD format, I had to add it to my collection. I had never seen the complete film before, only the well known excerpts such as the closing scene where the Nicholas Brothers tap their hearts away and Lena Horne singing her famous ballad "Stormy Weather" from which the film gets its title.The plot of the film is not all that strikingly different from other Hollywood musicals of the time. It has a straightforward story, loosely based on the story of Bill "Bojangles" Robinson. The film begins as Robinson returns home a hero from World War I and longs to get into show business. He is in love with his buddy's sister played by the young Lena Horne. Like all Hollywood musicals, the two are destined for each other, go their separate ways, but eventually are reunited. The film is also like other musicals of the era. It is set in 1943 so patriotic fervor is great and there is no hint of the racial tensions or the great divide between white and black that was so true at the time. Viewers in 2006 will wince at some of the blatant stereotypes and caricatures in the film, but it was a daring film for the time.Though the story may be contrived, for musical lovers this is not a problem. Not thinking too much about the story gives the viewer more time to enjoy the stuff that makes the film great-the phenomenal musical numbers. "Stormy Weather" is but one of the great numbers. We also have Cab Calloway singing "Geechy Joe" Fats Waller performing "Ain't Misbehavin" and Ada Brown singing "That Ain't Right" just to name a few great scenes.For the musical numbers alone, STORMY WEATHER belongs with the great Hollywood musicals, but one can only wonder. If Hollywood and America had not had such strong color barriers in the days of the great musicals, how much greater would these extravaganzas have been.