Charleston Parade
About Charleston Parade
In 2028, after a war has wrecked Europe, an African scientist lands a flying bubble on a Morris column in the ruins of Paris. A white woman living there with a monkey ties him up and dances. He recognizes the Charleston, a dance his people have lost. She frees him, teaches him the steps, and the two fly off toward Africa, leaving the monkey behind. A cardboard title says this is how the dance of the white aborigines entered Africa.
Cast & crew
More about Charleston Parade
Jean Renoir shot Sur un air de Charleston in three days in the autumn of 1926, using some leftover footage from Nana. Pierre Lestringuez wrote it, Pierre Braunberger produced it, and Clément Doucet is credited with the music. Catherine Hessling plays the Parisian savage. Johnny Hudgins, in blackface, plays the African explorer. Braunberger, André Cerf, Lestringuez, and Renoir are credited as angels. The short was released in 1927. English-speaking countries called it Charleston Parade.
Themes
Making
Wikipedia records that the film was left unfinished and is rarely shown.
Reviews
Renoir wrote that the press reviewed the film favorably, and that the notices did not open the doors of popular cinemas.
Music
Clément Doucet is credited with the music. The French title, Sur un air de Charleston, names the dance tune the picture is built on.
Preservation
A restored version was screened at the Grand Lyon Film Festival in 2018.
Notes
- Renoir later said he made it because he had just discovered American jazz.
- Boards in parts of the United States and Europe objected to Hessling's near-nude dance.
- Renoir said the press was favorable and that this did not get the film into popular cinemas.
- A restored print was shown at the Grand Lyon Film Festival in 2018.
Scenes
- Hessling ties Hudgins to the Morris column and dances the Charleston until he joins her.
- The pair leave in the flying bubble while the monkey stays behind.
Also available
- Internet Archive (CharlestonParade)
