''Sepia Cinderella'' is a 1947 American

musical Musical is the adjective of music. Musical may also refer to: * Musical theatre, a performance art that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance * Musical film Musical film is a film genre in which songs by the Character (arts), charac ...

race film The race film or race movie was a genre of film produced in the United States between about 1915 and the early 1950s, consisting of films produced for African American, black audiences, and featuring black casts. Approximately five hundred race ...

directed by Arthur H. Leonard. The film is notable for musical numbers by vocalists

Billy Daniels William Boone Daniels (September 12, 1915 – October 7, 1988) was an American singer active in the United States and Europe from the mid-1930s to 1988, notable for his hit recording of " That Old Black Magic" and his pioneering performances on ...

and Sheila Guyse, and for a brief guest appearance by former child star

Freddie Bartholomew Frederick Cecil Bartholomew (March 28, 1924 – January 23, 1992), known for his acting work as Freddie Bartholomew, was an English-American child actor who was very popular in 1930s Hollywood films. His most famous starring roles are in '' Cap ...

, who is onscreen as himself for five minutes, telling gags to recharge his post-war career. It was the film debut of

Sidney Poitier Sidney Poitier ( ; February 20, 1927 – January 6, 2022) was a Bahamian-American actor, film director, activist, and diplomat. In 1964, he was the first black actor and first Bahamian to win the Academy Award for Best Actor. Among his ot ...

, who had an uncredited role.

Plot

A young woman, Barbara, is in love with a good and kind bandleader, Bob, who seems oblivious to her love. Barbara helps Bob write a new song, "Cinderella", and it becomes an unexpected hit. Success and sudden fame lead Bob to abandon his former performing venue and lose touch with his friends. He becomes caught in the talons of a devious female club-owner who milks his success and tries to also seduce him, even though she is engaged, unbeknownst to Bob. As his career crumbles and the scales fall from his eyes, Bob's press agent finally finds a way for things to end happily: Bob will make a comeback and in doing so will choose a woman's shoe out of dozens entered, and the winner will sing with him and have her prince. Bob rightly picks Barbara's shoe, and the show goes out on yet another great musical number.

Cast

Soundtrack

*Deek Watson and The Brown Dots - "Long Legged Lizzie" (Words and music by Herman Fairbanks and Deek Watson) *Deek Watson and The Brown Dots - "Is It Right" (Words and music by Deek Watson and William "Pat" Best) *Billy Daniels and Sheila Guyse - "Cinderella" (Words and music by Walter Fuller) *Billy Daniels - "Ring Around My Rosie" (Words and music by Walter Fuller) *Credited in the opening titles, may be used in the background - "Can't Find a Thing to Say" (Words and music by

Milt Shaw Milt is the seminal fluid of fish, mollusks, and certain other water-dwelling animals. They reproduce by spraying this fluid which contains the sperm, onto roe (fish eggs). It can also refer to the sperm sacs or testes that contain the semen. ...

) *Ruble Blakey - "Oh Ho! It's a Lovely Day" (Words and music by Eric Miller, Ruble Blakey and

Rudy Toombs Rudolph Toombs (1914 – November 28, 1962) was an American performer and songwriter. He wrote " Teardrops from My Eyes", Ruth Brown's first number one R&B song, and other hit songs for her, including " 5-10-15 Hours". He also wrote " One M ...

)

Home media

''Sepia Cinderella'' was released on

Region 0 DVD region codes are a digital rights management technique introduced in 1997. It is designed to allow rights holders to control the international distribution of a DVD release, including its content, release date, and price, all according to t ...

DVD by

Alpha Video Alpha Video (also known as Alpha Home Entertainment) is an entertainment company founded in 1985 as New Age Video, based near Philadelphia, that specializes in the manufacturing and marketing of public domain movies and TV shows on DVD. Alp ...

, as part of a double feature with '' Dirty Gertie from Harlem U.S.A.'', on July 31, 2007.

References

External links