Swing!: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

A 16mm release print of the feature film Swing!. It consists of two reels of positive, black-and-white, 16mm acetate film with variable-area optical sound.

In the opening scene, the protagonist, Mandy Jenkins (Cora Green), is awakened by an alarm clock which reads 6 o’clock. Mandy snoozes the alarm and exclaims, “Oh, Lordy, why do they invent alarm clocks anyway,” before going back to sleep. She’s awakened a second time and as she dresses herself, her husband, Cornell (Larry Seymour), enters the bedroom. The rest of the film follows a love triangle between Mandy, who is a cook for a wealthy white family, her husband Cornell and his mistress Eloise (Hazel Diaz). The final scene shows Lena Powell (Dorothy Van Engle) threatening Cornell with physical harm if he breaks Mandy’s heart.

Materials, dates and provenance

• Date: 1938
• Directed by: Oscar Micheaux, American, 1884 - 1951
• Written by: Oscar Micheaux, American, 1884 - 1951
• Produced by: Oscar Micheaux, American, 1884 - 1951
• Subject of: Cora Green, American, born 1895
• Subject of: Larry Seymour, American, 1917 - 1989
• Subject of: Hazel Diaz, American, 1908 - 1997
• Subject of: Alec Lovejoy, American, 1893 - 1946
• Subject of: Amanda Randolph, American, 1896 - 1967
• 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: 65 Minutes
• Dimensions: Length (Film Reel 1): 1100 Feet
• Dimensions: Length (Film Reel 2): 1400 Feet
• Place depicted: Birmingham, Jefferson County, Alabama, United States, North and Central America
• Place depicted: Harlem, New York City, New York County, New York, United States, North and Central America
• Place filmed: New York City, New York County, New York, United States, North and Central America
• Topic: African American
• Topic: Actors
• Topic: American South
• Topic: Film
• Topic: Musicians
• Topic: Nightlife
• Topic: Race films
• Object number: 2015.167.20.1ab
• 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.