Stormy Weather 1943

     Selina Rogers is an aspiring singer during the period after WWI.  She meets dancer Bill Williamson and they start doing shows together with other performers.  This film is multilayered with music and dance.  There are 14 musical numbers with Lena Horne singing the title song near the ending.

     This film is considered to be one of the best Hollywood musicals with an all black cast.  The plot line is very thin and really there is almost no plot.   I wonder if many of the scenes would be shown in a new film of today?  A lot of scenes contain items that are things complained about in the time period of today?   3* (This movie is OK)    

78 min, Musical directed by Andrew L. Stone with Lena Horne, Bill Robinson, Cab Calloway and His Cotton Club Orchestra, Katherine Dunham and Her Troupe, Fats Waller, The Nicholas Brothers, Ada Brown, Dooley Wilson.

Note:  Imdb 7.3 out of 10, 81% audience on Rotten Tomatoes, Amazon 4.6* out of 5* with 216 reviews, TCM Leonard Maltin 2.5* out of 4*, 4.35* out of 5* average user review.

Special Note:  Filmed in Stage 2 and Stage 14, 29^th Century Fox Studios, Los Angeles, California.  At the time of filming Bill Robinson was 39 years older than Lena Horne.  In the film, he's hoping she will marry him.  This is the final film of Fats Waller.  Less than five months after the July 21 opening in Manhattan, Waller died at the age of 39 from pneumonia while traveling by train.  Also the final film of Bill Robinson, he died of heart failure at age 71 in New York City.  There is another film with the same title from 2003.