A Rhapsody in Black and Blue
1932 short film
A Rhapsody in Black and Blue is a 1932 American short black and white film directed by Aubrey Scotto and starring Louis Armstrong, Sidney Easton and Fanny Belle DeKnight. It was written by Phil Cohan. The film includes the tunes "I’ll Be Glad When You Are Dead You Rascal You" and "Shine", sung and played by Armstrong.
Plot
A husband who would rather listen to jazz and drum on pots and pans than mop the floor is whacked over the head with the mop by his wife when she hears him listening to "I’ll Be Glad When You Are Dead You Rascal You". He falls into a dream in which he is the king of "Jazzmania," sitting on a royal throne with servants to fan him. In the dream Louis Armstrong plays and sings jazz for him while dressed in a leopard print cave man outfit. When he wakes up and sees his flustered wife still standing over him, he smiles and breaks a vase over his own head.
Cast
Louis Armstrong and his orchestra
Sidney Easton
Fanny Belle DeKnight.
Critical response
In 2022 The New York Times wrote: "Armstrong ... contended with degrading scenes.
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “A Rhapsody in Black and Blue” as 1932 short film. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.
Why this record matters
The subject matters to the arts & letters register because the source frames it as 1932 short film. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.
Attribution, date and provenance are strongest when supported by the original work, a catalogue record and documented transmission. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jul 16, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q17131078. The first chronological checks are 1932 and 2022.
Later fame can flatten the distinction between original context, subsequent adaptation and institutional collecting history. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
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The original object or edition, catalogue raisonné, performance record, rights file and holding institution.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “A Rhapsody in Black and Blue”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow A Rhapsody in Black and Blue primary sources, A Rhapsody in Black and Blue archive and Rhapsody research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
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- Which edition, object, performance or recording is being described?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “A Rhapsody in Black and Blue” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.