Lena Horne by Donald Bogle

This is a handsomely produced volume about one of the last century’s great African-American singers, the inimitable Lena Horne. Illustrated with a host of glossy stills that remind us of the singer/actress’s striking beauty, Bogle makes no secret of the indignities that black performers were obliged to put up with in this era – notably the fact that Horne’s film segments would be shot in such a way that they could be seamlessly removed from musicals when shown in the American South. Perhaps the most egregious injustice reported here is how Horne was not allowed to play the role she was born for in Kern and Hammerstein’s musical Showboat — that of the mixed-race singer Julie — as the Production Code of the time would not allow miscegenation (even though that is the specific theme of the musical). Horne did, however, get a chance to perform as Julie in extract from the show in the film Till the Clouds Roll By. The text of Bogle’s volume is detailed and well written, and the author does not shy away from the fact that Horne could be difficult – hardly a novel notion when talking about great performers. It’s a volume that still has things of importance to say in the 21st century.

Barry Forshaw

Lena Horne by Donald Bogle is published by Running Press