Swing Dancing from the Movie Hellzapoppin' (1941)

[bobandrayfan1]

Slim and Slam were the guys on bass and piano/guitar.. they were a big name act in the 1930s and 1940s.. Slim Galliard and Slam Stewart. you're watching the dancers but not listening to the music.. appreciate both..and try being color blind..

[shakia6]

first of all @sadbutsandman 91, mind your damn buisness I was making a statement about my people and how great they are okay, so mind yours, my people are the greatest on this planet earth because god said so, we are the hildren of israel gods chosen people no nation is better then us, where better singers, dancers, athletes and lovers thern all nations no one can mess with us and we invented damn near everything so exscuse you

[themonkeydrunken]

@shakia6 hahaha are you for real? You're an idiot! Hahahahaha

[shakia6]

my people are so talented,

[sadbutsandman91]

@shakia6 True talent doesnt recognize races.

[SPAWNOFSMILEY]

2:05 that drumming was amazing and his face at 2:16 was amazing haaahah

[bross001Angus]

How many dancers were killed during this number?

[lindyhop411]

@bross001Angus None. But Frankie Manning did say his butt was bruised pretty bad after getting kicked hard every take.

[moisesfunes24]

man, these people can dance!!

[dabidosan]

Help! Help! Does anyone remember a swing/jazz film (most likely from the 40's) in which a Black couple was dancing, in which the man was very heavyset and was dancing with this really cute gal? The memorable part of that scene was the Heavyset guy manages to do "James Brown" style splits....going all the way down and popping himself back up again. It was probably editing but it looked like he did it in slo-mo. Sorry I have no other descriptions or information to go by. Thanks for any help!

[lindyhop411]

@dabidosan Day at the Races

[dabidosan]

@lindyhop411 Thanks Lindyhop!! Yeah, I quickly discovered the answer after I posted the question. You know how it is on youtube. You just start clicking on the 'suggested' videos...and bam, there it was. Hope thanks for your quick reply!!

[frepi]

These folks didn't need to watch their diet to stay lean...

[The40ounceBMX]

incredible

[MsLala8282]

OMG I LOVED this. Watched it 4 times in a row...lol. Now I have to find this movie and download it.

[JRebel617]

Yes I'm black and I rap but I'm so glad blacks brought America away from compositional music, they brought emotion and feeling into music. I love the blues and jazz. Through music blacks expressed themselves and America learned to express themselves as well. The beat generation, hippies and all the other counter culturalism movements after the liberation of blacks were caused mainly from the influence of music, it literally change America! Blacks play a huge role on why America is America today!

[frepi]

@JRebel617

And this why the Koch brothers want to bring it back to pre-new deal society.

[jamblisstic]

I could never dance like this...but I tried, and trying was great!

[RivaRibs]

Goofs: @ 3:25 the girls hat flies off her head. @ 3:32, it back on her again without doing anything.

[bolder2009]

@RivaRibs That's that Hollywood magic.

[REBELSLAVES]

MENSTRAL SHOW. WHY ARE WE ALWAYS THE DAM MAIDS AND BUTLERS OR JUST PLAIN OL SAMBOS...???? SMDH

[frepi]

@REBELSLAVES

This was in the 40's...Even if slavery was prohibited in 1865, blacks were still at the lowest level of society and were often practically slaves up until the beginning of WWII. Look up "slavery under another name" in google

[harvey1954]

@frepi I will type this again since You Tube has chosen to knock my first attempt off suddenly. Irish immigrants were paid less than free blacks before the Civil War. That is how great the anti-Catholicism was that existed in the USA at the time. Despite the discrimination that existed in the 20th century to call it "slavery" is an insult to those Americans who truly were slaves. The Great Migration up north during WWI and WWII would have never taken place if black Americans were slaves.

[flyinhome865]

@REBELSLAVES Because this was filmed in 1941, and that kind of depiction was what white audiences would accept at the time. There's also a dance sequence in the Marx Brothers' A Day At The Races with black dancers who were portrayed as simple, humble people who have song and rhythm in their hearts and can be joyful despite their circumstances. yeah, right. And that whole sequence was deliberately incidental to the plot so that it could be cut out when the movie played in the South.

[OofusTwillip]

@photolitherland - What today's black pop & rap musicians fail to realize is that the imagery & ideals of their music are just a slightly more modern version of the old "sportin life" imagery & ideals that we find so cringeworthy in the racist old cartoons, movies and music.

It sure as hell isn't what Martin Luther King was fighting for.

[TheGericsBrothers]

@OofusTwillip

yeah.. no matter what your gripe, legit or otherwise, about racism and religious intolerance, thank god some people in Hollywood got this on film. just wish they could have pushed a little harder and taken more chances. more people than they realize would have loved to see more of this in other situations in film rather than just as a novelty item.

[WaldenFalden]

 Increible!!!!!

[doowopman49]

oh man i saw this video about 2 months ago and it floored me. wonderful all the way around. thanks for the special treat. tom d brick,nj.any more questions about rhythm and entertainment is at it's very finest? give credit where credit is {over} due.

[doowopman49]

oh man i saw this video about 2 months ago and it floored me. wonderful all the way around. thanks for the special treat. tom d brick,nj.

[MattMurdockCZ]

4:36 - so sexy!!!!!!

[fibracartonata]

questo film è un mito

[vkorchnoifan]

@lindyhop411 Thanks for the FYI I had no idea. And God Bless those dancers.

[gonzalorvol]

SIN PALABRAS SIMPLEMENTE QUE MARAVILLA

[vkorchnoifan]

I don't think The Soul Train would appreciate this wonderful and very energetic dance routine, but I think its great. Thank you Olson and Johnson.

[lindyhop411]

@vkorchnoifan I think you should thank Frankie Manning and Whitey's Lindy Hoppers for the routine.

[buddacafe]

Holly Jesus! This is some hard core swing dancing! They would make millions today.

[lindyhop411]

@buddacafe I'm sure the dancers in my videos would love to know where their millions are being kept. :-)

[MrBlinkee]

Most excellent!

[rubybloomers]

Love this clip ... brilliant dancin', fantastic music with slim gaillard as one of the musicians ... fanflippintastic ... x

[niunbounichiinuyasha]

Yeah, this is what I call REAL music and REAL dance. I wish I could dance like that :C

[lindyhop411]

@niunbounichiinuyasha You can! Just learn Lindy Hop!

[Filmwolf1]

Wow! This number didn't need a choreographer, it needed an air traffic controller!

[lindyhop411]

@Filmwolf1 It had a choreographer, Frankie Manning. He was the last guy to dance, and he actually invented aerials.

[elipsis000]

I think I was born in the wrong time, not that life was less complicated then, just that life was closer to people and the persuit of happiness was a laudable aim...

[grundlepod]

You notice how when the girls are being thrown around in a particularly dangerous way, like at 3.14, .3.38, 3.46, and particularly at 4.06, one of the other guys will come stand behind her to break her fall -- that's a concrete floor they're dancing on!

[megarouge2001]

@grundlepod I noticed that! Discreet spotting. :-)

[peliparado94]

What badassery... why has the world turned so crappy?

[MissyDeRail]

I'd love to see the idiots in rap videos pull some moves like that.

[ynotime2dream2]

Truly a treasure.

[amennuramen99]

Meet the real dancing wit the STARS!!!!!

[thomeselby1947]

a bonafide classic !!

[TheCwetzker]

Wow. All I can think of is... How did she keep that hat on?

[megarouge2001]

@TheCwetzker Super glue.

[slobomotion]

Just about perfect. I danced the Lindy with George Lloyd in NYC in 1983.

[BowerbirdRed]

holy WOW! there is SO much talent here!!

[dancinfool522]

holy hell! LOOK AT THAT DANCING

[dirtynuke]

Jive and speed.

[lindyhop411]

@dirtynuke Actually, it's Lindy Hop and speed. :-)

[Kaalec]

Holy cow, these guys were talented!

[riitade644]

WOW this is just great!!!!!

[DelilahAnnDavis]

I loved this wild and fun power dancing

[mooncalfwilliams]

I love it - Slim Gaillard plays a little snippet of "Buddy Bolden's Blues," right at the beginning.

I saw him in the 1990s is Seattle. What a player, and what a character!

Vout-o-rooney!

[curlychronicles]

holy crap, this is the most amazing thing to watch if you're a visual person!

[nubient]

I met Slim Gaillard once, what a genius he was!

[snackcakeman]

Fabulous. It's entertaining to watch.

[CuteCatFaith]

This movie played in Saint-Denis France where I now live. I studied swing and danced with George Lloyd in 1983 in NYC. Bless you.

[mrlaboo]

this was real dancing



[nunicorng]

So you think tou can dance eh?

[feellip]

ależ to w pytkę!

[mesopotamicuspicense]

movimiento jajajaj que bueno

[migitmatador]

hmm how many sterotypes can you count...  but theese guys fuckin rip no doubt

[IvanLongShanks]

sublime

[CanadianPhoenix11]

If only dances in this day and age could be something like this.

[54nomore]

this was song and dance at it's very best. What athleticism and energy by these great dancers. This is truly awesome!

[M0N3t7]

I want to learn this... :D

[klainski2]

The Hottest, Heppist Jivin'. I honestly wish I could have played with the likes of these folks, Cab Calloway, etc. The energy is true and natural, talented galore and hard to beat in any age.

[Vittoria10538]

Just stunning. And the girls' legs are so beautiful!

[snuju1]

unbe-fucking-lievable!!!

[niceprince]

LETS GO AFRICAN AMERICANS!!!????

[cymondo]

@niceprince Yawwn!

[thedoowopcorner]

I come back every week to watch this video. This shits all over 'So you think you can dance'.

[boochamiss]

wow this so beats booty poppin this is classic! actually seems to have some god damn meaning

[Ann012481]

Wow. And ow. They must have gotten bruised from head to toe learning those moves. That was sweet.

[smookbottom]

All I can say is Dayuum - that's some serious dancing - nice video

[KryJoe]

I wish i could dance like that :) ahahahh heck i wish i could dance :) ahahahaha

[lander4545]

'aint no whites that can move like dat!

[dewasisay]

and that's what matters, right?

[lander4545]

Yes! Just like hiring quota's and Affirmative Action matter,right??

[rjr1227]

Oh man..thats just sick!! I had to watch it again.. Amazing sync there...I love it!

[drwinkle101]

Slim Gaillard on guitar. Dark Gable they called him, a back handed compliment if ever I heard one!!

[carawai]

wow

[sinetwo]

Wow, a lot of breakers have gotten loads of inspirations of these old dance forms.

Amazing what they did back then. People are so constrained now :)

[hotchickfv]

holy shit that was some fasssst swing dancing

[Kaalec]

As a white Canadian, I have to agree with ppie1970. The power that American black people put into popular music is still with us in rock and roll. Even the word play in rap has its roots in Africa, although not really the Congo. Most black Americans came from west Africa - from what are Ghana, Senegal, Liberia, Guinea, Sierra Leon today. But their traditions mixed with other influences and have given the world the best music ever created early jazz, blues, swing. It just moves you.

[Battlecataclysmic]

DATGOMMIT, CANADIANS ROCK! I'm about to be your country's newest resident! Guess who's comin' to dinner, lolol

[4120Wade]

The dancing has breakneck pace or speed. The dancers are both physically powerful and funny. They add comic, wiggily, touches to their big moves. They move with what seems to be reckless abandon, yet they're always, finally, in control. The whole sequence seems to be improvised on the spot, but is actually the product of careful planning, choreography, & rehearsal. We sense that this is but a sample of great black American dancing & music that went largely unrecorded in this era. Wow!!!

[frejascircle]

one of the greatest dance scenes I've ever seen. Absolutely marvelous.

[RupertDCD27]

Wow!

[jmw102667]

If this don't make you happy, you're missing a pulse!

[TurningRedInAmerica]

my new favorite video

[silkyslush]

damn that was cool

[Yochab]

Wooooow!!!!!

This is unbelieveable! Amazing! What an inspirational source!

[calmmind23]

wooooooooooooooooooow!!!!!

[petite0salope]

Dance sequence is INSANE!! Wow!

[Polak4infinity]

This is an amazing dance video!

I love this kind of music.

[4120Wade]

The situation has powerful social truth: folks relegated to servant jobs who are bursting with talent seize a brief moment to cut loose with who they REALLY are. Great music AND dancing. If this isn't the high water mark of jitterbuggin' what is? So inventive, athletic, joyful. Then they see the white folks staring at 'em and they have to turn back into pumpkins. It's played off as comedy but it has to hurt.

[frejascircle]

Don't you mean the white folks smiling and applauding happily?

[ritade45]

This is so awesome I watch it every time I go on UTube. Wish I could dance like that!!!

[SundyataOyebisi]

I really love it.

[wintervixen1]

Holy WOW!!!

[crunkface11]

I love my People! We always could get our dance on

[PeteyHop]

Hairy!!! Back when Swing dancing was a full contact activity!!

One miscalculation and somebody could get knocked out

[yojylo]

shit this is an awesome and a crazy dance!

[mrgoodvibrations]

Jammin!

[ppie1970]

wow you must respect this 10000000000000000000 times the power of black music,, wow the top dog we so copy from the beinging 400 years ago fresh from the congo 2 beep bop our music is here and will always moved this nation,,, so no matter with all the prisons and drugs like crack and the new stuff being made and out in the hoods we are still here,,,,,,, for you doug fasion enjoy heaven,,

[chiluk]

4/27/09 .. I will miss you Frankie...

[Lulichi]

me recuerda a snoopy xD muy bueno ♥♥♥

[juanvansteen]

Remember that this scene was filmed, almost seventy years ago!!!

[balletzoom]

En España se titulo Loquilandia me rei mucho con esta pelicula.

[dopeclown]

I don't even know what to say, awesome music, and the BEST dance routine that I've ever seen

[carddealerz]

hahha thats sooooooooo awsome

[BARBIEDANCER1323]

It looks like they are having such a good time I want to swing dance too

[ProductionsofPM]

God, when is this cunt going to shut up.

[BARBIEDANCER1323]

THis was one of the reasons why America use to be so skinny

[BARBIEDANCER1323]

THey should have a club that teaches this and we could also dance there all week even Sunday

[BARBIEDANCER1323]

How come they don't teach this at my school, I bet America won't be so overweight if they taught us this instead of complaining about it

[JOEBLACK36]

my grandmother was only 4'11" which made her very popular as a dance partner back on those days. she won ribbons for swing danciing..miss you lucille.

[MrKevin1a]

thats pretty cool!

[BARBIEDANCER1323]

It looks like they are having such a good time I want to swing dance too

[jettkrash]

kinda racist and very stereotyped reprentations of African-Americans.

[mustangfootballrl]

At the time, African-Americans were the one producing most of that kind of music. African-Amercians produced almost ALL of the jazz back then...

[cruxshadws]

this is actually not that racist for an image of African-Americans. It just shows more of a fantasy that White people have of African Americans. Thinking that when they are not looking that we all mysteriously come alive with singing and dancing. The truth is that there is a culture among most African Amer. that comes out more when we are together in a group. Also, this fantasy shows the amazement they had that an obviously lower class and oppressed people could make such a culture with music...

[jettkrash]

Thanks for the response. It makes sense.

[Zantestupk]

Thats actually a pretty insightful way to see this. Not to sound stereotypical or anything, but I wouldn't expect anyone who wasn't black to come up with something so...true.

[daniel14]

all until the end...best video ever. lol

[hep2jive]

wow listen to that muted trumpet. SEVERE!

[lausi69]

Slim Gaillard&Slam Stuart

[fatboyslimfake]

This video is absolutely incredible!

[deadjames3759]

I LOVE THIS!!

[ColleenMarie86]

They look like they are having such a great time!

[dukeofmystery]

i just read about Slim in Kerouac's On the Road. i's awesome to see what he was talking about. youtube is great.

[GreaserJohn]

lol idk why but for some reason the guy that walks in at 1:39 reminds me of barack obama

[vaporrub003]

wow... crazy aerial moves.

[JonasClark]

Awesome! Nothing short of awesome! Looks like a lot of fun... Glad this got posted. Yeah, they ARE hoofin' it up!

[sexxydanceholic]

lindyhop*

[Spikezx7]

no its not.

[sexxydanceholic]

i met norma miller today. HAHA! no joke. i'm in love with lindihop

[freakyhead20]

omg great video, great dancing and playing you dont see that nowadays anymore, what a shame but great video! :D

[autosam]

arooney!

[oobleckboy]

Slim & Slam are the zoot-a-reeniest!

[NaomiS72]

WOW! What else can you say.

[daisyjmv]

Love this...Awesome and the kids today think that they can dance...Put them to shame!

Athletic and to the beat too.

Tooo coooooool!

[1statone]

Daaaaaaaaaaam!

Boy were they hoofin it up.

[hit004541]

boy, you forgot the n

[scarlett24ca]

DAAAAAAMMMM puts todays artist to shame