Ebony Parade

Source catalog description

This description refers to material held by Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture. Visual details below describe the original material.

A 16mm print of a film with the title Ebony Parade. It consists of a single reel of positive, black-and-white, 16mm acetate film with bilateral variable-area optical sound. The footage consists of a compilation of "Soundies," each beginning with an introduction by comedian Matan Moreland. In the opening scene, Moreland appears on screen wearing a turban while sitting in front of a table that holds a crystal ball and a magazine. He looks directly into the camera and says, "Hello folks, this is Mantan Moreland your obedient servant bringing you the top movie entertainment of the year, from the Ebony Parade. Now I’ll tell you how I do this: I move my hand around the crystal ball just like this, wait a minute, I’ve got to look in here and see what’s going on.” He then holds up the magazine, which features dancer Mabel Lee on its front cover.

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