Hats off and kudos to the programming folks over at TV One.
Always willing to up the ante on quality television for grown black folks, the channel will air a special block of programming hosted by Queen Latifah, Jennifer Hudson and Alicia Keys, in conjunction to the upcoming movie, 'The Secret Lives of Bees' on Oct. 12.
Dubbed 'Sisters of Cinema,' members of Black Hollywood's new power generation will pay homage to trailblazing entertainment legends Diahann Carroll and Lena Horne.
From 6-10 PM ET, the singing and acting dynamos will introduce the two classic films ('Stormy Weather,' and 'Claudine'), tell facts about the movies, and applaud the pioneering women stars of the films -- as well as offer a sneak peak of their upcoming Bees film, slated to hit theaters Oct. 17.
Carroll, who just released the compelling memoir, 'The Legs Are The Last To Go,' was nominated for an Academy Award in 1975 for 'Claudine,' in which she portrays a mother trying to raise six children while on welfare in Harlem. The movie airs on TV One from 6-8 PM.
'Stormy Weather' -- considered to be one of the milestones of Black cinema -will air from 8-10 PM. In the classic 1943 film, Horne plays a popular songstress, whose relationship with an aspiring dancer, played by Bill Robinson, provides a retrospective of the great African American entertainers of the early 1900s, including Cab Calloway, Fats Waller, and The Nicholas Brothers.
The pairing of the three women honoring the two women is a genius idea. Not only because 20th Century Fox has stake in all the film projects, but because like Horne and Carroll, Latifah, Hudson and Keys are true renaissance women.
All five are acclaimed recording artists who also took Hollywood by storm with their respective film projects.
Recently, the Academy Award nominated Latifah exposed a true knack for the classic music fare that Carroll and Horne both wowed mainstream audiences with throughout their respective careers. Hudson, with her Oscar winning pedigree, is one to watch with a bright future ahead of her. And Keys, an eleven time Grammy Award winner, will reportedly portray Horne in a long overdue biopic.
Not sure when it's re-airing but this is the type of programming that is not to be missed.
1. I have to say that "Claudine" was my favorite movie when I was a little girl. It was what my childhood was like when my mother was married to "Mr. Welfare", with four children. I loved, loved, loved, the soundtrack. Does anyone know where I can purchase it on CD?
sheila davis at 9:17PM on Oct 13th 2008