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Just in case you've been feeling insufficiently fabulous this evening ...
The Movies! TV channel has been showing "Top Hat" followed by "Flying Down to Rio" tonight. The plot for each is kind of on the thin side, so I look up when the dance tunes come on.
From "Top Hat":
FRED ASTAIRE TOP HAT WHITE TIE AND TAILS (1935)
1,861 views•May 23, 2018
The Vintage Archive
1.34K subscribers
The one and only Fred Astaire in the film Top Hat made in 1935
Music and Lyrics by Irvin Berlin
From "Flying Down to Rio":
Flying down to Rio (Carioca) 1933 (3b)
124,011 views•Dec 10, 2012
Paris Poulbot
980 subscribers
Titre : Carioca
Titre original : Flying Down to Rio
Réalisation : Thornton Freeland
Davison Virgil
1 year ago
The African-American actress/singer is Etta Moten Barnett (1901-2004). The credits at the end of the movie listed her as simply "The colored singer." She was much more than that. She had quite a career in the 1930s and early 1940s, as a singer and actress, and secured the starring role in "Porgy and Bess." She was a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. She attended Western University and the University of Kansas. Following her years of work in the film industry and on stage, she went on to become quite the community activist.
Etta Moten Barnett
3 replies
= new reply since forum marked as read
= new reply since forum marked as read
Etta Moten Barnett
Born: November 5, 1901; Weimar, Texas, U.S.
Died: January 2, 2004 (aged 102); Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
Occupation: Actress, singer, U.S. cultural representative in Africa
Etta Moten Barnett (November 5, 1901 – January 2, 2004) was an American actress and contralto vocalist, who was identified with her signature role of "Bess" in Porgy and Bess. She created new roles for African-American women on stage and screen. After her performing career, Barnett was active in Chicago as a major philanthropist and civic activist, raising funds for and supporting cultural, social and church institutions.
{snip}
Career
Etta Moten Barnett's first job began at Lincoln University. She received a teaching contract, which was short lived when her father informed her that should we be moving to New York. Moten moved to New York City, where she first performed as a soloist with the Eva Jessye Choir. Jessye was a groundbreaking collaborator with Virgil Thomson and George Gershwin. In 1931, she performed in Fast and Furious; a musical revue written by Zora Neale Hurston. Moten was cast in the Broadway show Zombie.
On January 31, 1934, Moten became one of the rare black stars to perform at the White House since Marie Selika Williams performed for President Rutherford B. Hayes and First Lady Lucy Webb Hayes in 1878. Moten performed The Forgotten Man from her movie Gold Diggers of 1933 for President Franklin Delano Roosevelt at his birthday celebration. {The Wiki originally said this happened in 1933. That's not possible, as FDR was not inaugurated until March 4, 1933. I made the edit.} She performed in two musical films released in 1933: Flying Down to Rio ( singing "The Carioca" ) and a more substantial role as a war widow in the Busby Berkeley musical Gold Diggers of 1933 (singing the emotive "My Forgotten Man" with Joan Blondell). Also in 1933 dubbed the singing of Theresa Harris in Professional Sweetheart. Up until this point, the representation of black women in movies was limited to maids or nannies (the Mammy archetype). Moten made a breakthrough with her roles in these movies and is generally recognized as the 1st black woman to do so.
Gershwin discussed her singing the part of "Bess" in his new work Porgy and Bess, which he had written with her in mind. She was concerned about trying a role above her natural range of contralto. In the 1942 revival, the part of Bess was rewritten. She did accept the role of "Bess", but she would not sing the word "nigger", which Ira Gershwin subsequently wrote out of the libretto. Through her performances on Broadway and with the national touring company until 1945, she captured Bess as her signature role.
She stopped performing in 1952 owing to vocal problems. After her husband, Claude Barnett, died in 1967, she lived in Chicago, where she became active in the National Council of Negro Women, the Chicago Lyric Opera and the Field Museum. She was also active in the DuSable Museum, and the South Side Community Art Center.
In addition to activities with civic organizations, Moten Barnett served as a board member of both The Links, a service organization for African-American women, and her sorority, Alpha Kappa Alpha. She was also active in International Women's Year activities and events in the 1980s.
{snip}
Born: November 5, 1901; Weimar, Texas, U.S.
Died: January 2, 2004 (aged 102); Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
Occupation: Actress, singer, U.S. cultural representative in Africa
Etta Moten Barnett (November 5, 1901 – January 2, 2004) was an American actress and contralto vocalist, who was identified with her signature role of "Bess" in Porgy and Bess. She created new roles for African-American women on stage and screen. After her performing career, Barnett was active in Chicago as a major philanthropist and civic activist, raising funds for and supporting cultural, social and church institutions.
{snip}
Career
Etta Moten Barnett's first job began at Lincoln University. She received a teaching contract, which was short lived when her father informed her that should we be moving to New York. Moten moved to New York City, where she first performed as a soloist with the Eva Jessye Choir. Jessye was a groundbreaking collaborator with Virgil Thomson and George Gershwin. In 1931, she performed in Fast and Furious; a musical revue written by Zora Neale Hurston. Moten was cast in the Broadway show Zombie.
On January 31, 1934, Moten became one of the rare black stars to perform at the White House since Marie Selika Williams performed for President Rutherford B. Hayes and First Lady Lucy Webb Hayes in 1878. Moten performed The Forgotten Man from her movie Gold Diggers of 1933 for President Franklin Delano Roosevelt at his birthday celebration. {The Wiki originally said this happened in 1933. That's not possible, as FDR was not inaugurated until March 4, 1933. I made the edit.} She performed in two musical films released in 1933: Flying Down to Rio ( singing "The Carioca" ) and a more substantial role as a war widow in the Busby Berkeley musical Gold Diggers of 1933 (singing the emotive "My Forgotten Man" with Joan Blondell). Also in 1933 dubbed the singing of Theresa Harris in Professional Sweetheart. Up until this point, the representation of black women in movies was limited to maids or nannies (the Mammy archetype). Moten made a breakthrough with her roles in these movies and is generally recognized as the 1st black woman to do so.
Gershwin discussed her singing the part of "Bess" in his new work Porgy and Bess, which he had written with her in mind. She was concerned about trying a role above her natural range of contralto. In the 1942 revival, the part of Bess was rewritten. She did accept the role of "Bess", but she would not sing the word "nigger", which Ira Gershwin subsequently wrote out of the libretto. Through her performances on Broadway and with the national touring company until 1945, she captured Bess as her signature role.
She stopped performing in 1952 owing to vocal problems. After her husband, Claude Barnett, died in 1967, she lived in Chicago, where she became active in the National Council of Negro Women, the Chicago Lyric Opera and the Field Museum. She was also active in the DuSable Museum, and the South Side Community Art Center.
In addition to activities with civic organizations, Moten Barnett served as a board member of both The Links, a service organization for African-American women, and her sorority, Alpha Kappa Alpha. She was also active in International Women's Year activities and events in the 1980s.
{snip}