| By JANET MASLIN, September 28, 1986, Sunday
On the same bill at the New York Film Festival, tonight
at 7:00, is ''International Sweethearts of Rhythm,'' a delightful
30-minute trip down memory lane. The group of the title is
an interracial, all-women swing band that enjoyed enough popularity
during the 1940's to be remembered affectionately by the fans
who are interviewed here. The film, by Greta Schiller and
Andrea Weiss, combines these reminiscences with those of the
musicians themselves, and with vintage footage of the group
working its magic. ''We put in the time, we put in the
hours,'' one of them says. ''We didn't consider ourselves
a novelty band.''
Accompanied by footage of the segregated South at the time
of the band's greatest popularity, the musicians talk of touring
as an interracial troupe. ''I always looked very freakish
and not quite right, but we tried everything we could,''
says Roz Cron, a white woman who played alto saxophone and
would make herself up as a black. The group encountered potential
racial troubles each time its tour bus was searched by local
sheriffs, who were on the lookout for white women traveling
in black company.
The interviewees, among them the glamorous singer and band
leader Anna Mae Winburn, recall their initial trepidation
at the idea of a band like this - ''I said 'What a bunch
of cute little girls, but I don't know whether I could get
along with that many women or not,'' Miss Winburn recalls.
And even Ella Fitzgerald had her doubts about whether the
band could back her adequately, doubts that were dispelled
when she heard them play. The best testimonial to the group's
experience comes from one of the musicians, who says ''I never
realized that I could experience such freedom being away from
my home.''
INTERNATIONAL SWEETHEARTS OF RHYTHM, directed
and produced by Greta Schiller and Andrea Weiss; photographed
and edited by Miss Schiller; co-producers, Rosetta Reitz and
Rebecca Reitz; produced by Jezebel Productions and Rosetta
Records in association with Channel 4 Television, London;
a Cinema Guild Release. At Alice Tully Hall, part of the 24th
New York Film Festival. Running time: 30 minutes. This film
has no rating.
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