Antediluvian soundie cannot do justice to the enormous talent of Washington. Although the picture is sharp and the composition is excellent, Washngton's voice is washed out as he sings the title song while lounging against a tree and his 'mammy' berates him into getting a job moving empty crates in Harlem.
5 Reviews
Who is George Dewey Washington?!
planktonrules14 July 2012
George Dewey Washington is a man just about completely forgotten today. Heck, when I saw his name in the credits, I had no idea who he was and I had to do a bit of research (espcially since IMDb has little information on him). Surprisingly, there was just about NOTHING on him on the internet--not even a Wikipedia article! So, aside from telling you he was a Black singer of the age and he stars in this very early talkie, I can't elucidate any further on the man or his career.
This musical short was filmed on a sound stage though it's supposed to occur outside in the South. It has a definite sound stage sound to it. Bits of connecting shots were made outdoors but otherwise, it's a stage-bound piece. Characters all behave very stereotypical for the era--with hard-working mothers named 'Mammy' and often lazy Black men. It's the sort of thing we have thankfully outgrown BUT we need to preserve these images because you'd lose out on the music of Washington--who was pretty good. His style was a bit like Paul Robson (though not quite as powerful or soulful) and Al Jolson put together! It's quite compelling and worth seeing--even if a bit rough.
This musical short was filmed on a sound stage though it's supposed to occur outside in the South. It has a definite sound stage sound to it. Bits of connecting shots were made outdoors but otherwise, it's a stage-bound piece. Characters all behave very stereotypical for the era--with hard-working mothers named 'Mammy' and often lazy Black men. It's the sort of thing we have thankfully outgrown BUT we need to preserve these images because you'd lose out on the music of Washington--who was pretty good. His style was a bit like Paul Robson (though not quite as powerful or soulful) and Al Jolson put together! It's quite compelling and worth seeing--even if a bit rough.
Ol' King Cotton was my first look at singer George Dewey Washington
tavm7 February 2008
Warning: Spoilers
Having just discovered this obscure singer named George Dewey Washington on Ol' King Cotton from a series of shorts compiled for the DVD "Hollywood Rhythm, Vol. 1: The Best of Jazz & Blues", I must say he's a fine singer! The first part takes place in his yard near a shack in the South as he sings a song that seems inspired by Kern & Hammerstein's "Ol' Man River" which I think is the title song. After his wife sends him away to a delivery job on a train, we see him there talking with his co-workers about the South and how much he misses it. He then sings about levees breaking and the sun shining afterwards that made me think he could've been referring to Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans but was possibly actually singing about the Louisiana flood in 1927. The short ends back where we started before the fade out. Largely because of the singing, I found this pretty entertaining.
An experiment that failed.
mark.waltz2 December 2016
Warning: Spoilers
Early sound films usually all suffer from several major flaws: poor sound, creaky filming, tepid editing, weak writing and more often than not, dated concepts of stereotype that easily offend less than a century later. This one has all of those flaws and possibly more, starting off with the lazy black man singing in modern times about having to painfully pick cotton, preferring to sleep under a tree until his wife nags him to get a job. He ends up working for someone named Uncle Remus, shown carting one bail before sitting down and singing (badly) in Jolson style. At least it's a real black man singing, not someone in blackface. The character is never deserving of any sympathy. No ole man river this one...
Surreal to Say the Least
Michael_Elliott1 May 2011
Ol' King Cotton (1930)
** 1/2 (out of 4)
This Paramount short is certainly entertaining in a surreal way, although I'll also admit that I'm not overly sure what it was suppose to be saying (if anything at all). George Dewey Washington is the star of this short and we start off in the South where he's sitting under a tree singing "Ol' King Cotton" when he's suppose to be picking the cotton. His wife throws a fit and sends him into the city to work where he talks to his co-workers about the greatness of the South and sings them "On the Sippi Shore". This film runs just under ten-minutes and it's an interesting work that can be found on the Kino Hollywood Rhythm Vol. 1 collection. Fans of this style of music will certainly want to check it out, although the story being partially told doesn't ever add up to much. I'm not sure if there was some sort of political angle going on here as the first section appears to be in the Civil War days with the second in current times. I'm guessing this wasn't the intent but it really does seem like we're seeing things from two different eras even if the character stays the same. The two songs are extremely good and it's clear Washington had a terrific voice and it's this that makes this short worth sitting through.
** 1/2 (out of 4)
This Paramount short is certainly entertaining in a surreal way, although I'll also admit that I'm not overly sure what it was suppose to be saying (if anything at all). George Dewey Washington is the star of this short and we start off in the South where he's sitting under a tree singing "Ol' King Cotton" when he's suppose to be picking the cotton. His wife throws a fit and sends him into the city to work where he talks to his co-workers about the greatness of the South and sings them "On the Sippi Shore". This film runs just under ten-minutes and it's an interesting work that can be found on the Kino Hollywood Rhythm Vol. 1 collection. Fans of this style of music will certainly want to check it out, although the story being partially told doesn't ever add up to much. I'm not sure if there was some sort of political angle going on here as the first section appears to be in the Civil War days with the second in current times. I'm guessing this wasn't the intent but it really does seem like we're seeing things from two different eras even if the character stays the same. The two songs are extremely good and it's clear Washington had a terrific voice and it's this that makes this short worth sitting through.
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