Description

The Christmas Eve 1949 episode of Studs Terkel's improvisational television drama guest stars Mahalia Jackson. Together with Studs and his coterie of players, Mahalia Jackson performs: "Go Tell It On The Mountain" and "His Eyes Are on the Sparrow."16mm black and white kinescope film features a performance by Mahalia Jackson on "Studs' Place," an unscripted television drama that often featured famous people. This episode is a Christmas episode from 1949. It is a prime example of the late-1940s "Chicago School" of television in early broadcast television history.Consists of: 16mm Film (a), Original 1200 foot Film Reel (b), and Original Film Shipping Box (c).2014.141.1.1a: 16mm film. This film opens with a shot of store sign that reads "Studs' Place, Fine Eats, Fine Friends, The Place To Meet and Eat." The narrator welcomes the audience and invites them inside to see who is in attendance that night. Inside, a man and woman, Grace, decorate a tree and converse. The phone rings, and Studs Terkel enters the room for a brief moment before leaving to answer the phone. Another man enters the room and offers to add tinsel to the Christmas tree. Eventually, all three men and Grace are standing around the tree talking about the tree and other things. They begin to talk about the one customer who is still in the restaurant and wonder why she's there alone on Christmas Eve. One of the men grabs his guitar and begins to play "Mockingbird," and the young girl walks over to the...

Record Contributed By

National Museum of African American History and Culture

Record Harvested From

Smithsonian Institution