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RAGTIME WARRIOR
A FORGOTTEN MUSICAL GENIUS! James Reese Europe fights racism, Army prejudice and the Germans when he takes command of the “Harlem Hellfighters” band, introduces jazz and pop tunes; he revolutionizes military band music forever. A WW1 action musical biopic; all music public domain. Can be adapted to TV miniseries. Professional Coverage: “Recommend” Dave Trottier (Author “The Screenwriter’s Bible.”) Multiple contest wins and placements.
Europe ultimately becomes the exclusive band leader for Vernon and Irene Castle, the internationally famous dance team. The Clef Club eventually performs at Carnegie Hall, the first all-Negro orchestra to so. James Reese Europe is acknowledged to be the most well-known conductor/composer in America at that time.
With the outbreak of World War 1, Europe puts his career on hold to join the newly formed all-black 369th Infantry Division -- destined to become the famed New York “Harlem Hellfighters” -- and forms their military band. He intends to use the band as an instrument to improve the living conditions and future hopes of Harlem’s young men.
Under the command of white Colonel William Hayward, the 369th Infantry Division overcomes ridicule, racism and indifference from the U. S Army. Europe remakes the military band using modern music dynamics and popular songs and jazz
The band is honored to play at a benefit for President Woodrow Wilson where Europe cleverly rebuffs an attempt by an Army officer to replace his black soloist with a white one.
During Army training in South Carolina, black soldiers under Europe’s command refuse to be provoked by white red neck racists. White soldiers take up the defense of their black comrades in a rollicking, glorious fight against the red necks.
After disembarking in France, Europe’s clever musicianship and use of the band keeps the brigade from being assigned to stevedore duty. The band performs, and fights, bravely and heroically during the war to great acclaim. Throughout the war Europe stays in touch with Bessie Smith who has now born his son and is managing the Clef Club in New York.
While serving on the front lines, Europe is wounded in “The Battle of Henry Johnson,” a famous WW I Medal of Honor incident. Though confined to the hospital he writes his famous song “Out In No Man’s Land.” The war ends and Europe returns to Bessie and his son, and leads the Harlem Hellfighters in a triumphant parade up New York’s Fifth Avenue.
The fame of the band leads to a recording contract and Europe takes the band on a nation-wide tour. During the tour he is tragically murdered by one of his bandsmen. His funeral service is conducted at New York’s Cathedral of St. John the Divine, and he is buried in Arlington National Cemetery.
30's Female Africa-American
30s African-American
STARS AND STRIPES FOREVER
Screenplays
Jim specializes in screenplays based on historical true events (including musicals), bio/pics and/or disasters. In alphabetical order:
“BOJANGLES, EUBIE AND BERT!” Three Black musical legends of the past – Bert Williams, Eubie Blake and Bill “Bojangles” Robinson – relive their show business success in spite of racism and theatrical bigotry.
ScriptLinks
Post Your Script Here!The Ephod
Based on a true story. After a troubling Bible study shakes her lifelong Catholic faith, a woman experiences a vivid dream turned Spirit encounter when a mysterious Black Noble Man enters her dream and began preaching to her with passion and authority.
Translation
Two strangers meet at a bar and discover they share more in common than either expected, navigating identity, attraction, and the courage to be truly seen by another person.
Flatus Maximus
In 9 A.D., a pacifist Roman teenager with a deadly cinnamon allergy is conscripted by a ruthless general to weaponize the one thing he's always been ashamed of — and must choose between his homeland and the people who showed him kindness.
The Casing
After a pickleball injury leaves a strange mark on a retiree's shin, he discovers a trans-dimensional anomaly that will either ruin his life or change it forever.
Hitler in Hell
Bored with his luxury accommodations in the underworld, Adolf Hitler requests a meeting with Satan to negotiate an upgrade — but every promotion comes with a price designed specifically for history's most infamous monster.
Real Old
A young man visits a retirement home resident claiming to be a long-lost relative, but as the conversation unfolds, his impossible stories and unsettling knowledge suggest he is far more than he appears — and he hasn't come to reconnect.
Une Femme Sur Terre
After a pandemic wipes out nearly every woman on the planet, the last known female survivor fights to stay alive in a world where her existence has become the most dangerous commodity on Earth.
Second Born
God's second-born Son is on Earth, living in His famous older Brother's shadow, and it proves more complicated — and more enlightening — than Heaven prepared Him for.
Mister and Miscellaneous
A dating app glitch pairs people with their polar opposites, forcing mismatched strangers into awkward encounters that might just be exactly what they needed.
Heterochronic
A desperate young man signs up for a suspiciously lucrative clinical trial, unaware the procedure is designed to steal something far more valuable than blood — but the doctor who preys on the vulnerable may have chosen the wrong victim.
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