Film clip of Cab Calloway perfoming on Kreisler Bandstand
date: label: Date
content: 1951
name: label: Directed by
content: Perry Lafferty, American, 1918 - 2005
label: Produced by
content: George Foley Jr., American
label: Produced by
content: Richard Gordon Jr., American
label: Subject of
content: Cab Calloway, American, 1907 - 1994
label: Subject of
content: Ella Fitzgerald, American, 1917 - 1996
label: Subject of
content: Teddy Hale, American, 1926 - 1959
label: Subject of
content: Fred Robbins, American, 1919 - 1992
label: Owned by
content: Cab Calloway, American, 1907 - 1994
notes: label: Caption
content: This film is an episode of a 1951 television music series titled "Kreisler Bandstand" sponsored by Jacques Kreisler Watchbands and hosted by Fred Robbins. This episode prominently features Cab Calloway, who engages in banter with the host and performs with his orchestra. It also features performances by Ella Fitzgerald and Teddy Hale.
label: Description
content: A 16mm black-and-white kinescope motion picture film. It is an episode from a 1951 half-hour television series sponsored by Jacques Kreisler Watches and broadcast on ABC-TV, premiering on March 21, 1951. The program was directed by Perry Lafferty and produced by Richard H. (Dick) Gordon, Jr. and George F. Foley, Jr. It features live musical performances, including: "Shot Gun Boogie" performed by Cab Calloway and his Orchestra; "Someone to Watch Over Me" performed by Ella Fitzgerald; "One for My Baby (and One More for the Road)" performed by Cab Calloway, preceded by a tap dance performance by Teddy Hale; "If I Were a Bell" performed by Ella Fitzgerald; and, "Night and Day" performed by Cab Calloway and his Orchestra.
label: Description
content: The film begins with a title sequence composed of pages of music with the titles of the show printed on them. An announcer reads each title card as it appears. Following the title sequence, Cab Calloway is introduced by an announcer as “his holiness of hi-de-ho” and via his custom Kreisler watchband featuring his initials [CC]. He and his orchestra then perform a small section of "Minnie the Moocher." Fred Robbins, the host, appears in the frame and greets Calloway with an elaborate handshake as the song ends. Robbins then introduces the program and welcomes Calloway back from his recent tour in South America. They engage in some brief stage banter before Calloway and his orchestra perform "Shotgun Boogie." At the conclusion of the song, Calloway joins Robbins at the side of the stage and the two engage in stage banter. They speak in particular about Calloway's "Hepster's Dictionary" and use some of the phrases it contains to describe each other's clothing. They then introduce Ella Fitzgerald and discuss how she got her start with Chick Webb. Fitzgerald then performs "Someone to Watch Over Me." She performs on a set made to look like an apartment and pretends to read an issue of New Love Magazine. When her performance ends, the show cuts back to Robbins and Calloway, who has changed jackets, and the two men praise Fitzgerald's performance. They continue to discuss Fitzgerald's talent more generally and which of her songs is their favorite.
label: Description
content: The show then cuts to a commercial for Kreisler watchbands, specifically the option to customize them with one's initials. The show returns to Robbins, who introduces the next performance by Cab Calloway. The camera cuts to Teddy Hale pretending to tend bar on a set made to look like a dive bar. He admonishes Calloway [off-screen] to go home because he wants to close the bar. Calloway asks for another drink instead. A depressed-looking Calloway convinces Hale to do a tap-dancing routine to cheer him up. Hale again tries to get Calloway to go home, instead he performs "One for My Baby (and One More for The Road)." At the conclusion of the song, Calloway exits the stage; Robbins enters and asks Hale if he has seen Calloway. Robbins then introduces Ella Fitzgerald, who performs "If I Were a Bell." At the conclusion of the song, Robbins joins Fitzgerald on stage and complements her performance. Robbins then introduces the next Kreisler Watchband commercial, which features a Groucho Marx impression. Following the commercial, Calloway introduces the final song of the program, "Night and Day," and begins his performance. When the performance concludes, the camera cuts to Robbins, who closes the show with some final words and “thank you’s.” The below-the-line credits are then presented as Calloway again performs a part of "Minnie the Moocher." The program concludes with a shot of Calloway and his orchestra performing the call and response sections of "Minnie the Moocher."
place: label: Place filmed
content: New York City, New York, United States, North and Central America
topic: label: Topic
content: African American
label: Topic
content: Advertising
label: Topic
content: Composers (Musicians)
label: Topic
content: Conductors (Musicians)
label: Topic
content: Entertainers
label: Topic
content: Film
label: Topic
content: Instrumentalists (Musicians)
label: Topic
content: Jazz (Music)
label: Topic
content: Language
label: Topic
content: Singers (Musicians)
label: Topic
content: Television
setName: label: See more items in
content: National Museum of African American History and Culture Collection
label: Collection title
content: The Cabell “Cab” Calloway III Collection
label: Portfolio/Series
content: Kreisler Bandstand
label: Classification
content: Archival Collections
label: Classification
content: Time-based Media - Moving Images
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Gift of Cabella Calloway Langsam
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of African American History and Culture
identifier: label: Object number
content: 2015.273.2.7.1a
objectType: label: Type
content: sound films
label: Type
content: black-and-white films (visual works)
label: Type
content: 16mm (photographic film size)
objectRights: label: Restrictions & Rights
content: Unknown - Restrictions Possible
label: Restrictions & Rights
content: Rights assessment and proper usage is the responsibility of the user.
physicalDescription: label: Medium
content: acetate film
label: Dimensions
content: Length (film strip): 1100 Feet
label: Dimensions
content: Duration: 00:30:14