Jesse Fuller Movies
- 2002
- Add Legends of Bottleneck Blues Guitar to Queue Add Legends of Bottleneck Blues Guitar to top of Queue
In the blues, slide guitar is often called "bottleneck guitar" because many rural blues artists would crack the neck off of a bottle of beer or whiskey and use the glass as a slide on their guitar neck, sliding it across the strings for effect. Legends of Bottleneck Blues Guitar features a handful of crucial rural blues players demonstrating their mastery of the slide guitar. Performers include Johnny Shines, Mississippi Fred McDowell, Son House, Furry Lewis, Mance Lipscomb, and Jesse Fuller. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- 1995
- Add Legends of Country Blues Guitar, Vol. 3: Blues up the Country to Queue Add Legends of Country Blues Guitar, Vol. 3: Blues up the Country to top of Queue
This documentary features rarely seen performances by eight legends of Country Blues guitar. Featured during the show are appearances by Furry Lewis, John Jackson, Josh White, Robert Pete Williams, Ethel & George McCoy, Jesse Fuller, Rev. Gary Davis, and Pink Anderson. Over a dozen songs are performed including "The Woman I Had She Left Me," "You Know Baby What I Want," "See That My Grave Is Kept Clean," and "That Will Never Happen No More." ~ Perry Seibert, Rovi
Although the characters' names were changed, The Great White Hope was a thinly veiled account of the trials and tribulations of boxer Jack Johnson, based on the play by Howard Sackler and directed by Martin Ritt. James Earl Jones stars as boxing great Jack Jefferson, who defeats Frank Bardy Larry Pennell in a Reno, Nevada bout to become the world's first black heavyweight champion. After crossing a state line with his white girlfriend Eleanor (Jane Alexander in her feature debut), however, Jack is arrested and tried under the miscegenation-barring Mann Act. Found guilty and sentenced to three years in prison, Jack escapes and leaves the U.S., but he's dogged by his now bad reputation and can't get honest work as a fighter. Offered his freedom from criminal charges if he'll agree to a fixed fight in Cuba that will restore the title to a white contender, Jack refuses and Eleanor commits suicide, their life on the run overwhelming her. Jack finally accepts the bout in Havana, but he fights his opponent with everything he's got. ~ Karl Williams, Rovi
- Starring:
- James Earl Jones, Jane Alexander, (more)
- 1929
Together with MGM's Hallelujah, Fox's Hearts in Dixie is historically significant as one of the first all-talkie, big-studio productions to boast a predominately African-American cast. The ineluctable Clarence Muse, all of forty years old, stars as elderly Grandpap Nappus, a former slave whose beloved daughter Chloe (Bernice Pilot) marries the shiftless Gummy (comedian Stepin Fetchit, in his only "straight" role). After Chloe's death, Grandpap determines that his grandson Chinaquapin (Eugene Jackson) will not follow in Gummy's footsteps. He intends to send the boy North for a proper education, a move that is strongly opposed by the no-good Gummy. Essentially a white man's view of the Black South, Hearts in Dixie may strike modern viewers as stereotypical and demeaning, but its intentions were honorable, and the end result was quite pleasing to both black and white audiences in 1929. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Clarence Muse, Eugene Jackson, (more)
- 1925
The exotic Pola Negri is given the role of a half-English, half-Chinese girl in this drama based on W. Somerset Maugham's play and directed by Raoul Walsh. In spite of the illustrious names attached to this production, however, it was a weak film which did justice to none of them. When Daisy Forbes (Negri) returns to China after being educated in England, she discovers that her father has died, and she has been ostracized from white society because her mother was Chinese. Daisy had no idea of her origins because her real mother had been posing as her nurse all this time. Although George Tevis (Edmund Lowe) loves her, his uncle convinces him to avoid her. Lee Tai (Sojin Kamiyama), a Mandarin, is determined to have Daisy, and he uses all his wiles to abduct her. She is saved by Harry Anderson (Rockliffe Fellowes), and out of gratitude she marries him. But when he finds himself snubbed by society because of her, he begins treating her cruelly. Nevertheless, he refuses to let her go -- he threatens to kill Tevis if he sees him with her. But Anderson is removed from the picture when he drinks a poisoned glass of wine that Lee Tai had meant for Tevis to drink. Tevis and Daisy return to England together and Lee Tai is executed. ~ Janiss Garza, Rovi
- Starring:
- Pola Negri, Edmund Lowe, (more)
Douglas Fairbanks is at his most graceful and charismatic in one of the classic silent films of the 1920s. As the thief of Baghdad, his movements are dance-like -- nothing like the athletics he performed in most of his other films. In this Arabian take, the thief ignores the holy teachings and sneaks into the palace of the Caliph (Brandon Hurst). All thoughts of robbery slip away, however, when he sees the beautiful princess (Julanne Johnston). Princes have come from many faraway lands to win the princess' hand (and it's amusing to watch her face growing ever more alarmed at their arrival, because each one is uglier than the last). The thief disguises himself as a prince and the princess falls in love with him. After having a pang of conscience, the thief confesses all to the Holy Man (Charles Belcher), who sends him to find a magic chest. He braves many obstacles to get it, and when he returns he discovers that the Mongol Prince (Sojin) has taken over the city. Using the chest, the reformed thief creates armies of men out of nothingness and recaptures the city. He then uses the cloak of invisibility to spirit the princess away on a magic carpet. Fairbanks stole some of the special effects for his film from Fritz Lang's Der Müde Tod, which he had purchased for American distribution. The Thief of Baghdad, with its look of unrealistic beauty (courtesy of art director William Cameron Menzies), was not fully appreciated in its day. Because of its huge cost (two million dollars -- a real fortune in those days), it made little money. After that, Fairbanks stuck closer to the swashbuckling persona he felt his audience wanted. Available now on DVD, the remastered film features a new score by Carl Davis. ~ Janiss Garza, Rovi
- Starring:
- Douglas Fairbanks, Snitz Edwards, (more)
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