Bad News Johnson, a con artist from Memphis, Tennessee, arrives in Dallas, Texas, accompanied by his dim sidekick July Jones with only twenty-five cents between them. The duo arrange to become boarders at the home of Louella "Mama Lou" Holiday, who is fooled into believing Johnson is an acting teacher from Hollywood. Mrs. Holiday agrees to give the men free room and board if they will provide poise lessons to her daughter, an aspiring beauty queen named Honey Dew.
Cast
Spencer Williams
Bad News Johnson / Vanderbilt Whitney
July Jones
'Cornbread' Green
Inez Newell
Louella 'Mama Lou' Holiday
Leonard Duncan
Samuel 'Papa Sam' Holiday
Dauphine Moore
Barbara 'Honey Dew' Holiday
Katherine Moore
Florida Holiday
Tilford Patterson
Jefferson Lee
Albert Smith
'High Life' Harris
Howard Galloway
'Juke Joint' Johnny
Melody Duncan
Melody Holiday
Red Calhoun
Bandleader
Crew
Spencer Williams
Director
True T. Thompson
Writer, Technical Advisor
George Sanderson
Director of Photography
Alfred N. Sack
Executive Producer, Presenter
Bert Goldberg
Producer
Julian Julliene
Costume Designer
Farilla McGowan
Makeup & Hair
Richard E. Byers
Sound Engineer
George Randolf
Music Director
Red Calhoun
Music
Arthur Kendall
Property Master
Recommendations
view all
Dumplin'
Miss Congeniality
Drop Dead Gorgeous
Misbehaviour
Paper Moon
Wise Blood
F the Prom
Family Weekend
The Notorious Bettie Page
Little Miss Sunshine
O Brother, Where Art Thou?
Sordid Lives
City Slickers
Smile
...All the Marbles
Soul Food
Scooby-Doo! The Mystery Begins
Summer of 69
Chris Rock: Kill the Messenger
Judy & Punch