St. Louis Blues (1929)

St. Louis Blues (1929) • American two-reel short film starring Bessie Smith. This is the only known film featuring Bessie Smith, and the soundtrack is her only recording not controlled by Columbia Records. An early sound film, it features an entirely African American cast, with Smith in the role of a woman left alone by her roving lover; in a speakeasy during the Prohibition era. Smith sings the W. C. Handy standard "St. Louis Blues.”

Starring: Bessie Smith