Stormy Weather (1943)

Stormy Weather
Directed by Andrew L. Stone
Written by Frederick J. Jackson, Ted Koehler et al
1943/USA
Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation
First viewing/Netflix rental

[box] It’s not the load that breaks you down, it’s the way you carry it. — Lena Horne[/box]

Bill Robinson … Lena Horne … Fats Waller … Cab Calloway … the Nicholas Brothers … Dooley Wilson.  Does this wonderful musical really need a review?

The plot is very slight.  Bill Williamson (Robinson) is being honored for his contribution to the entertainment industry.  He looks back on his career.

Williamson gets his start after he comes home from Europe at the end of WWI.  He meets up-and-coming singer Selina Rogers (Horne) who was close to one of his army buddies. They hit it off immediately.  Williamson struggles to get a break as a hoofer.  Finally Selina convinces her manager to hire him for the show she is starring in.  But the manager is very jealous and will only let Williamson play native drums in a African number.  Williamson turns the tables on him by dancing on those very drums when his back is turned.

Time marches on and Selina and Bill become an item.  But singing is her life and Selina refuses to settle down and raise a family.  With Dooley Wilson as Williamson’s con-man friend.

The framing story allows one glorious musical number after another.  We get the title song, Horne’s signature tune; Fats Waller doing a couple of numbers; Cab Calloway and His Orchestra doing another couple of numbers; and tons of fantabulous dancing, including a tap routine from the Nicholas Brothers and of course Robinson at his best.  I didn’t realize that Robinson was a pretty fair singer as well as one of the great dancers. Recommended.

Clip – Fats Waller sings “Ain’t Misbehaving”