Includes bibliographical references (pages 275-298) and index.
Contents
Jazz culture and all-girl films. The feminization of mass culture and the novelty of all-girl bands -- The Ingenues and the Harlem Playgirls -- All-girl bands and sound films in the swing era. Phil Spitalny's Musical Queens -- The "blonde bombshell of swing": Ina Ray Hutton and her Melodears -- Soundies and features during the 1940s. Swinging the classics: Hazel Scott and Hollywood's musical-racial matrix -- Pinups, patriotism, and feminized genres -- Swing-centered films and the hour of charm -- The International Sweethearts of Rhythm and independent black sound film -- Variety television and the 1950s. Television, vaudeo, and female musical hosts -- Variety television revives all-girl bands -- Television's musical variety guests: Hazel Scott, Peggy Lee, and Lena Horne -- The jazz canon (representations and gendered absences).