#the cotton club

[poppingmary]

The original Betty Boop, Esther Jones aka Baby Esther.

Esther Jones, known by her stage name “Baby Esther”, was an african american singer and entertainer in 1920s. She performed regularly at The Cotton Club in Harlem, NY. Helen Kane saw her act in 1928 and appropriated Jones singing style for a record of “I Wanna Be Loved By You”. Her style went on to become the inspiration for the voice of Betty Boop.

(source Facebook)

[shewhoworshipscarlin]

Wooden clapper from the Cotton Club promoting Ethel Waters, 1933, USA.

[citizenscreen]

Bill “Bojangles” Robinson and Jesse Owens with the Cotton Club dancers in 1936. The legends were such good friends that Owens gave his Olympic Gold medal to Robinson a few years after the Olympics.

[lisamarie-vee]

[arconinternet]

Fiasco (Book, Robert James Parish, 2006)

You can digitally borrow it here.

[erstwhile-punk-guerito]

[lefildariane]

The Cotton Club (Francis Ford Coppola, 1984).

[cinemajunkie70]

The happiest of birthdays to Nicolas Cage!!

[itcanbefilmed]

The Cotton Club Encore (Francis Ford Coppola, 1984)

[periodically80s]

[movie-titlecards]

The Cotton Club (1984)

My rating: 7/10

I enjoyed this way more than I expected - it feels a lot less stuffy and self-important than most of the Coppola movies I've seen, which I think may be partly due to its focus on the entertainment industry at the time. There's a bunch of great song and dance numbers in there, which work nicely to break up the gangster shenanigans.

[allthedesiredusernamesaretaken]

"I think cinema, movies, and magic have always been closely associated. The very earliest people who made film were magicians..."

- Francis Ford Coppola

Born on this day 85 years ago

[theoscarsproject]

The Cotton Club (1984). Meet the jazz musicians, dancers, owner, and guests (like gangster Dutch Schultz) of The Cotton Club in 1928-1930s Harlem.

Man, but Francis Ford Coppola knows how to direct a musical. The plot of this one's a bit all over the place, but the sequences where he throws story to the wind and leans into the energy of performance and the pace of the music are some straight up movie magic. Also I kind of wish the entire movie had been about Gregory Hines and Lonette McKee's characters. 7/10.

[afrologik]

Legends of the Chitterling Circuit: Birthplace of Icons

The Chitterling Circuit: The Birthplace of Legends The Chitterling Circuit was more than just a collection of venues—it was a cultural powerhouse that birthed legends, shaped genres, and provided a stage for African American artists to thrive despite the constraints of segregation. Icons like James Brown, Aretha Franklin, B.B. King, Little Richard, Quincy Jones, and Ray Charles emerged from this…

[masterhallmark]

Someone: Gee, I wonder why Hollywood romanticizes mobsters so much?

Hollywood:

Yeah that would do it

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