Bessie Page #4

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about you, girl!

- Your audition

ain't over yet.

- ( honking )

( women screaming )

Keep your eyes

on the road.

- ( belt buckle clinking )

- ( chuckles )

A good man

is hard to find

You always get

the other kind

Just when you think

that he's your pal...

Say, we still

$15 short.

- 10 is what everybody gets.

- But we had a contract, sir.

Contract?

You must be one of them

old country n*ggers.

( chuckling )

Contra--

I'll cut you

every way but loose.

Hug him in the morning,

kiss him every night

Give him plenty of lovin',

you know what I mean

And treat him right,

'cause a good man

nowadays...

Bessie:

And remember when we did

that show at Don's place?

- Clarence:
Ah,

you don't remember that.

- Bessie:
Oh, lookit.

Lookit, J.G.

That's our corner.

- That's our corner.

- Clarence:
A penny a song.

( laughs )

- Woman:
I love you, Bessie!

- You see that gin joint

right there?

That's where I made

my first whole dollar.

- Spent it, too.

- Hug him in the morning,

kiss him every night

Give him plenty of lovin',

treat him right

'Cause a good man nowadays

is hard to find

Ah, yes,

hard to find...

- How y'all doing?

- Oh, my God.

A good man

is hard to find

You always get

another kind

So if your man

is nice

- Take my advice...

- Come over here right now.

- You know all them words?

- Yeah.

You know

what you're singing?

Hold out your hand

right now.

Keep singing.

Make sure all

you're doing is singing.

- Boy:
Come on, let's go.

- ( children giggling )

( young Bessie crying )

Mommy. Where's my mama?

- ( child giggling )

- ( crying continues )

Man:
Welcome home.

Come on inside.

- Man #2:
Hey, hey!

- ( men laughing )

Hey y'all.

How you doing?

How you doing?

Well, I guess you think

you're something.

How are you?

You care?

I think I'm gonna go show

Jack and Lucille around.

That's your man?

You got something

to eat?

- Drink?

- Oh, city gal, huh?

Can't stand to be in regular

folks' houses no more.

You still keeps

the food locked up.

That's right.

Y'all was like

little rats.

How else was I supposed to

keep the food in the house

- and feed six people?

- Come here.

Go get a case of Coca-Cola

and a lot of ice.

As many potato chips

and peanuts as you can get.

Oh, golly. Mm.

A whole case

of Coca-Cola.

After 10 years,

ain't you a saint?

Don't drink it all up.

You're one to talk.

Well, you're the one still

keeps the food locked up.

Don't look like you're

missing no meals.

Well, I sure didn't

get 'em here, did I?

I got some tickets

for the show tonight.

You want to bring

the family...

I got someplace

else to be.

You been by

Mama's grave yet?

Lucy:

No street signs,

no lights, no nothing.

Bessie:

Told ya, Mama, this is

Blue Goose Hollow.

I know this town

better than J.G.'s

ding-a-ling.

( all laughing )

Yeah, this is my town!

Woman:

Hey, Bessie! Hey.

( crowd cheering )

Woman:

Oh, you remember.

I know you remember...

Woman:

Easy, papa. Leave room

for the Holy Ghost, now.

Man:

Good times

with you two.

Woman #2:

Girl, you gotta

get your man.

- Hey.

- Leave them gals be.

- Yeah.

- Get off of me.

- What do you think this is?

- I said leave 'em be!

Shut up, fat b*tch.

- What'd that f***er

say to me?

- I said--

- ( thuds )

- ( man yells )

- ( whistling )

- ( cheering )

- ( applause )

- Don't nobody try her.

She's in her gin, y'all.

...your little dancer

decided to come along

for the ride.

Y'all know how to ball!

And we're gonna

ball again tomorrow.

- ( woman screaming )

- Man:
Hey, get back here!

Woman:

Clarence, help us.

- Where's a doctor?

- Clarence:
Get somebody!

- Get somebody! Hurry up.

- Baby, look at me.

Look at me.

Oh, sh*t.

Help!

Help!

Baby...

( shushing )

- Lucy:
Bessie!

- Clarence:
Hurry up!

Bessie!

- Bessie! Bessie!

- Mommy!

- Bessie!

- Mommy!

- Bessie!

- No!

( screaming )

Where's my mommy?

Where's Mama?

( screaming, crying )

Jack:

It's okay.

It's okay, baby.

- Baby, it's okay.

- Get off of me!

Get off of me!

- Get off of me!

- She's okay. She's okay.

- Why did you--

- I'm right here, baby.

- You let her get me.

- I ain't going nowhere,

I love you.

Jack

You gotta let that heal.

You gotta let that heal.

- Bess, you gotta

let that heal.

- We got a show to do.

Clarence:

No, no, ain't no show.

Ain't no show.

Lucy:
Bess!

Jack:
Bess!

Bess!

- Lucy:
Nurse!

- Bess, what are

you doing?

( chattering )

( crowd cheering )

How much y'all pay

to get in here?

- Crowd:
25 cents.

- 25 cent?

Hmm, I wouldn't pay 25 cent

to go nowhere.

Well, I guess I better

sing something, huh?

'Cause y'all spent

all that money.

( music playing )

Man:

"Dear Miss Smith,

my name is

Harry Herbert Pace,

president of the newly formed

Black Swan Records

based in Harlem,

New York City.

I'm a great admirer

of your work,

having seen you perform

at the Royal Theater

in Philadelphia.

News of your great talent

continues to precede you

and we would like to invite you

to an audition

at our offices

in Times Square,

New York City,

to be our first recording

artist signed to

the Black Swan label!

- Hoo!

- Well, this is it.

I always wanted to

live in New York City,

you know.

You're gonna be the biggest

thing since Mamie Smith.

You know how many records

she sold last year?

- Bessie:
A million.

- A colored outfit?

Ain't nobody heard of

no Black Swan.

What you need is

a national label.

Big-time.

W.E.B. Du Bois' company

wants to record you, sis.

This is the big time!

- So? I read his book.

- I doubt you read his book.

I read the damn book.

- What's that got

to do with music?

- This is the big ticket.

Bessie, this is what they're

calling Pan-Africanism.

Well, what about

Pan-Americanism?

Can she sell more tickets?

That's what I wanna know.

"The only genuine

colored records.

The others are only

passing for colored."

- That's their motto.

- I like that.

I like it, too.

"Yours in negritude,

Harry Herbert Pace."

The f*** is negritude?

That means they're real,

real black.

My kind of people.

Talk about passing.

Y'all is fried, dyed,

and laid to the side.

Well, and we are very

excited to be here.

- Very excited.

- We were surprised you could

schedule the audition

so quickly given your

busy tour schedule.

We canceled the rest of

our tour to be here.

- Well, that's, uh--

- Well, y'all wanna

hear me sing, right?

Yes. Yes, yes,

of course.

Is there anything else

that you need?

I need a little something

for this tea.

Honey, sugar, milk?

Splash of Old Tom

will be just fine.

- "Old Tom"?

- Gin?

I'm sorry, I-- I--

I don't know that we have any

or where we could find any.

You see, it's, ah...

- I mean, it's illegal.

- Never mind. It's okay.

No, it ain't okay.

You want her at her best,

then give her what she needs.

Oh, it's okay, papa.

( vocalizing )

Oh...

( clears throat )

Hold up.

Something ain't right.

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