S-Wing it!: The "Cats" Yowl in Carnegie Hall: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

A 16mm print of a film with the title S-Wing It!: The "Cats" Yowl in Carnegie Hall. It consists of a single reel of positive, black-and-white, 16mm acetate film without sound. The film opens with a title card that reads [RKO-PATHE NEWS / S-WING IT! / THE "CATS" YOWL / IN CARNEGIE HALL / Described by ANDRE BARUCH]. In the first scene, cars can be seen driving past Carnegie Hall as people holding placards march outside the building. The next shot shows a poster that reads [BENNY GOODMAN / AND HIS / SWING ORCHESTRA] before another scene with people entering a building plays. In the next scene, the Benny Goodman Orchestra is seen performing on stage as members of the audience sing and tap their feet.

Materials, dates and provenance

• Date: 1938
• Distributed by: RKO-Pathe, Inc., American, founded 1931
• Subject of: Benny Goodman, American, 1909 - 1986
• Subject of: Benny Goodman Orchestra, American
• Subject of: Carnegie Hall, American, founded 1891
• Owned by: Ernie Smith, American, ca. 1925 - 2004
• Type: silent films
• Type: black-and-white films (visual works)
• Type: short subjects
• Type: 16mm (photographic film size)
• Medium: acetate film
• Dimensions: Duration (digitial file): 00:01:27.
• Dimensions: Physical extent (film): 60 ft
• Place filmed: New York City, New York County, New York, United States, North and Central America
• Topic: African American
• Topic: Film
• Topic: Jazz (Music)
• Object number: 2015.275.27.1a
• Credit Line: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Anonymous Gift in memory of Ernest (Ernie) R. Smith, Jazz Historian
• 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.