There's been a lot of interest recently over the claimed 10 sec clip of 1930s amateur film that just might show Robert Johnson….
Apparently, some salvaged footage from an old amateur movie has a clip of a blues player who some think just might be Robert Johnson. Contributors to the Blues-L blues discussion group who have senn it had this to say…
"The film is not, apparently, urban myth. It was discussed this past April at the Delta Blues Symposium by a guy who saw it. His name is Leo Schumaker, a blues programmer from Santa Barbara, CA. David Evans said he also saw it and believes it to be likely Johnson. At this point, the original film no longer exists, but the clip is on videotape. It is very short, less than 10 seconds. Robert Jr. Lockwood has also seen it, or a still from it, and feels it is Johnson. The footage was part of a long reel taken on the street in Memphis in front of a theatre that featured all kinds of performers. The owner was in the habit of taking short clips. "
"There is no sound. It is silent. The figure has on a hat, wears a harmonica rack, and is very animated. Having said all this, I did not see the clip, but Schumaker and Evans have and, if I understood them correctly, believe that it could very well be Johnson. That was a few months ago and things may have changed since then. I saw the film when I was in Memphis last May. I saw it on video, on a tiny but clear TV screen, at Tater Red's shop on Beale Street, next to the Black Diamond. "
"It's a silent, 2-3 minute, b/w film loop of various street scenes in a well-populated Delta town -- possibly Clarksdale, Greenville, or Greenwood -- on maybe a Saturday afternoon. The quality/transfer is very good -- not too grainy and not blurry."
"The 10-second or so snippet in question shows the guitarist standing as the subject of the film, on the sidewalk as the cameraman films from the street (apparently). He is shown from the thighs up, fingering some chords, wearing a light, floppy hat (that somewhat obscures his face), and wearing a harp rack. (I can't remember if he actually blew the harp at any point).
If I had to say, I'd make it 80-20 that it *is* Johnson. His spidery fingers are a dead give-away. "
