Keep Punching (1939 film)

Keep Punching is a 1939 film about boxing. Its primary character is Henry Armstrong (born Henry Jackson).[1] Unlike most films of the era, its cast was composed entirely of African Americans.

Keep Punching
Directed byJohn Clein[1]
Produced by
  • John Clein,
  • Edward Mead[1]
Screenplay byMarcy Klauber[1]
Story byJohn Rosamond Johnson[1]
Starring
Music by
  • Lee Norman (music score),
  • Dean Cole (sound engineer)[1]
Cinematography
  • J. Burgi Contner,
  • Jay Rescher[1]
Edited byAl. Harburger[1]
Production
company
M. C. Pictures, Inc.[1]
Distributed byState Rights[1]
Release date
Running time
81 minutes[1]
CountryUnited States of America
LanguageAmerican English
For other uses, see Keep Punching (disambiguation).

The film includes Whitey's Lindy Hoppers (Lindy Hop) performing the much imitated Big Apple Routine.[2] A film clip of the dance scene was also released as the short “Jittering Jitterbugs” in 1943 showing the Big Apple routine choreographed by Frankie Manning and the a Jitterbug dance competition that followed in the film.[3]

Plot

Golden gloves champion Henry Jackson turns professional and gets scheduled into a though match. Days before the match, he finds a old school friend of his, Frank Harrison, but Henry does not know that Frank is betting heavily on his loss. Then Frank sets Henry with beautiful Jerry Jordan, who is instructed to get him drunk and mess him up in anyway possible, and on the day of the fight she slips him a sleeping drug, she loves him, but is being blackmailed by Frank.

Cast

The film's cast was entirely composed of African-American people; this was highly unusual for its era.

It was directed by John Clein.[1] Performers in the film include Dooley Wilson and George Wiltshire. The film also features boxing champion Henry Armstrong.[1]

References
  1. "Keep Punching". AFI Catalog of Feature Films. American Film Institute. Retrieved February 25, 2018.
  2. "Big Apple Keep Punching Version". Lindy Hop Moves.
  3. Reporter, Lindy Hop (July 3, 2019). "The Big Apple / Keep Punching (1939)".
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