Cab Calloway, le Dandy de Harlem plot
Charismatic black big band leader, singer, and dancer Cab Calloway became immortal in the 1930s thanks to the song 'Minnie the Moocher'. The well-known chorus of this song earned him the nickname 'The Hi De Ho Man'. Calloway is also inextricably linked to the famous New York jazz club 'The Cotton Club'. Director Gail Levin brings Cab Calloway to life using a variety of old movie clips, including a television interview with the man himself. Conversations with family and colleagues provide insight into his personality as a person and as a showman, while jazz historians Gary Giddins and Stanley Crouch give Calloway a place in music history. Finally, cartoonist Steve Brodner creates an entirely new portrait of Calloway that comes to life at the end of the film using animation techniques to engage in a dance with choreographer Matthew Rushing.