Mystery in Swing: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

A 16mm release print of the feature film Mystery in Swing. It consists of two reels of positive 16mm acetate film (a) and (b), is in black-and-white and contains sound. The film opens with newspapers printing. The next scene opens in a media house where a man sitting hands another man a piece of paper and tells him to go over to the Penguin Club and interview Prince Ellis (Robert Webb). The recipient of the paper asks if he must go through with the assignment. His boss responds with “You get a story out of Prince Ellis and make it good before I fire you again.” The man exists the room and has a conversation with a woman about interviewing Prince Ellis. The rest of the film follows a local detective who investigates the murder of Ellis, a Harlem-based trumpeter. During his investigation, he develops an extensive list of suspects as he learns of Ellis' unpopularity.

Materials, dates and provenance

• Date: 1940
• Directed by: Arthur Dreifuss, German American, 1908 - 1993
• Written by: Arthur Hoerl, American, 1891 - 1968
• Produced by: Arthur Dreifuss, German American, 1908 - 1993
• Subject of: Monte Hawley, American, 1901 - 1950
• Subject of: Marguerite Whitten, American, 1913 - 1990
• Subject of: Tommie Moore, American, 1917 - 2004
• Subject of: Edward Thompson, American, 1898 - 1960
• Subject of: Buck Woods, American, 1905 - 1974
• Type: sound films
• Type: black-and-white films (visual works)
• Type: release prints (motion pictures)
• Type: feature films
• Type: 16mm (photographic film size)
• Medium: acetate film
• Dimensions: Duration: 75 Minutes
• Dimensions: Length (Film Reel 1): 900 Feet
• Dimensions: Length (Film Reel 2): 1000 Feet
• Place depicted: Harlem, New York City, New York County, New York, United States, North and Central America
• Place filmed: United States, North and Central America
• Topic: African American
• Topic: Actors
• Topic: Film
• Topic: Musicians
• Topic: Race films
• Object number: 2015.167.16.1ab
• Credit Line: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Gift of Randall and Sam Nieman
• Data Source: National Museum of African American History and Culture

Sources and reuse

Catalogue descriptions and facts adapted from National Museum of African American History and Culture through the Smithsonian's official Open Access dataset. This record explicitly marks its metadata CC0 1.0; formatting and selection have been changed. The underlying object's rights statement is: Unknown - Restrictions Possible Rights assessment and proper usage is the responsibility of the user.