Stormy Weather with The Duke is Tops

Stormy Weather with The Duke is Tops

Stormy Weather

Nearly retired tap dancer Bill "Corky" Williamson (screen and stage legend Bill “Bojangles” Robinson) recounts the welcome that he and his 15th New York Regiment band received when they returned from Europe after World War I—and the young lady he met that night—in this star-studded studio musical. Brimming with over twenty songs, Stormy Weather features performances from Cab Calloway; the Nicholas Brothers (Fayard and Harold), who defy gravity with a mind-boggling staircase dance routine; Fats Waller; and Lena Horne, who plays the young Corky’s girlfriend in a star-making performance.

The Duke Is Tops

Lena Horne was only 21 when she made her screen debut as a Broadway-bound ingenue whose ascent mirrors the descent of her former producer and one-time beau Ralph Cooper. Punctuated by musical and dancing routines from almost forgotten performers such as the Basin Street Boys, Willie Covan, and Rubberneck Holmes, The Duke Is Tops also finds The Flying Ace (1926) star Laurence Criner giving a memorable turn as the flamboyant Doc Dorando.

Stormy Weather
DIRECTOR: Andrew L. Stone. WRITTEN BY: Frederick Jackson, Ted Koehler. ADAPTATION BY: H.S. Kraft. CAST: Lena Horne, Bill Robinson, Cab Calloway, Katherine Dunham. 1943. 78 min. USA. B&W. English. DCP.

The Duke Is Tops
DIRECTOR: William L. Nolte. WRITTEN BY: Phil Dunham. CAST: Ralph Cooper, Lena Horne, Laurence Criner, Monte Hawley. 1938. 74 min. USA. B&W. English. DCP. Digital restoration courtesy of the UCLA Film & Television Archive.

Academy Museum film programming generously funded by the Richard Roth Foundation.

Make It Dinner and a Movie

Fanny's Restaurant & Café
Fanny's Restaurant & Café

All guests who present a ticket for a film screening, Tuesday through Saturday (and the first Sunday of every month), receive 10% off all food and non-alcoholic beverages at Fanny's. Discount only applicable on the same day as the screening and cannot be redeemed for another screening or date. Dinner reservations can be made on OpenTable or Resy.

Back to Main Series