Introduction: Turning on a Dime
1. Circa 1940: Race and the Pop-Culture Landscape
3. Starting in Hollywood, Heading to Harlem
Part II: Follow the Music
5. Encounter and Improvisation: Reimagining the City
7. Romance, Relationships, Legs
8. One Performer, Ten Soundies: Another Look at Dorothy Dandridge
9. Visual Music: Big Bands, Combos, Solo Musicians
10. Backing into Integration
11. Unplugged, with an Afterlife
Appendix 1. Directory of Black-Cast Soundies
Appendix 2. Performers and Their Films
Appendix 3. Makers and Their Films