First released under the title “Cab Calloway, le dandy de Harlem » in 2010 in France and Europe on the ARTE channel, the 52-minute documentary is directed by Gail LEVIN (US) and co-written with Jean-François PITET (France). The US release aired in February 2012 on PBS as part of the American Masters series.
On a script based on Jean-François PITET’s work, “Cab Calloway, le dandy de Harlem” (aka “Cab Calloway: Sketches”) was developed and produced between 2009 and 2010 by Artline Films.
Emmy-winning filmmaker Gail LEVIN (1946-2013) explores Cab Calloway’s musical journey:
“Calloway had a unique ability to actually “be” his music… he inhabited every note, every nuance, making him singularly exciting as both “l’homme spectacle” (in French) or the showman (in English) and a sort of natural wonder… This film evokes the ineffable grace of Calloway, his style, his longevity, his indelible effect, that slithery, willowy guy that is Cab was also every role he ever touched… his life did not imitate his art – his life was his art!…”
Besides the interviews, this film is filled with the opportunity to re-immortalize Cab Calloway: archival footage, rare or characteristic, plus animation based on caricatures by famed illustrator Steve Brodner and French cartoonist Cabu.
The animated Cab dancing alongside Matthew Rushing, choreographer/principal dancer of Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater (Uptown) demonstrate how modern Calloway’s movements were and how he had a deep impact on hip-hop.
Interviewees include:
“This film is not just another biopic in the sense of interviews and recollections, but a reinvigoration of the whole Calloway presence – a reprise of a timeless virtuoso,” wrote Gail Levin.
- Stanley Crouch (1945-2020), jazz critic, writer
- Gary Giddins, jazz historian, music critic
- Calloway’s daughters Cecelia and Camay (1927-2024)
- Grandson and Cab Calloway Orchestra bandleader Christopher “Calloway” Brooks
- Bandleader and arranger Gerald Wilson (1918-2014), who worked with Calloway in the mid-forties
- Director John Landis for The Blues Brothers (1980) and band members Steve Cropper (1941-2025), Lou Marini and Donald “Duck” Dunne (1941-2012)
End title music written and played by John Faddis
“Cab Calloway: Sketches” / “Cab Calloway, le Dandy de Harlem”
Co-produced by Artline Films, ARTE France, and AVRO, in association with Inscape Productions and THIRTEEN’s American Masters for WNET
Directed by Gail Levin
Co-written by Jean-François Pitet and Gail Levin
Produced by Artline Films, France (Olivier Mille), with Benjamin Landsberger as executive producer.
The movie was presented at several festivals around the world and was awarded Etoile de SCAM in 2010.
