{{Infobox film | name = The Black Network | image = File:The Black Network by Roy Mack.png | alt = | caption = Film title card | native_name = <!-- {{Infobox name module|language|title}} or {{Infobox name module|title}} --> | director = Roy Mack | writer = A. Dorian Otvos | screenplay = | story = | based_on = <!-- {{Based on|title of the original work|creator of the original work|additional creator(s), if necessary}} --> | producer = | starring = Nina Mae McKinney<br>Nicholas Brothers<br>The Washboard Serenaders<br>Babe Wallace<br>Amanda Randolph | narrator = | cinematography = Ray Foster | editing = Bert Frank | music = Cliff Hess | studio = Vitaphone | distributor = Vitaphone | released = {{Film date|1936}} | runtime = | country = United States | language = English | budget = | gross = }}
'''''The Black Network''''' is an American short musical film released in 1936 that was directed by Roy Mack and released through Vitaphone.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZIJx22Ca7xMC&dq=the+black+network+babe+wallace&pg=PA417|title=Slow Fade to Black|first=Thomas|last=Cripps|date=February 3, 1977|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-972787-2|via=Google Books}}</ref> It is extant.
== Synopsis == Nina Mae McKinney plays the star performer of a radio show who must contend with the sponsor's wife, who wants to take over her spot. The wife, Mezzanine, is more than willing to use her husband's shoe polish company to blackmail the show to do as she wishes.<ref name=mc>{{Cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gT-DDwAAQBAJ&dq=black+network+nina.mckinney&pg=PT20|title=Nina Mae McKinney: The Black Garbo|first=Stephen|last=Bourne|publisher=BearManor Media|via=Google Books}}</ref> Ultimately Mezzanine's singing is so terrible that listeners complain and she is taken off the show, the status quo restored.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Liebman|first=Roy|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=REaeCQAAQBAJ&dq=%22Black+Network%22+Roy+Mack&pg=PA146|title=Vitaphone Films: A Catalogue of the Features and Shorts|date=2015-05-20|publisher=McFarland|isbn=978-1-4766-0936-2|pages=146|language=en}}</ref>
==Cast== * Nina Mae McKinney * The Nicholas Brothers * The Washboard Serenaders * Babe Wallace * Amanda Randolph as Mezzanine Johnson<ref>{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=wdImAAAAIBAJ&pg=2491,1954100&dq=amanda+randolph&hl=en|title='Black Network' Shows on Screen at the Harlem|date=April 18, 1936|publisher=The Afro American|access-date=October 21, 2010}}{{Dead link|date=October 2025 |bot=InternetArchiveBot }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.weirdwildrealm.com/f-blacknetwork.html|title=The Black Network|publisher=Weird Wild Realm|access-date=November 10, 2010}}</ref>
== Production == ''The Black Network'' went into production at the Brooklyn Vitaphone studios during December 1935,<ref>{{Cite news|date=December 22, 1935|title=All-Colored Review|work=The Montgomery Advertiser|publisher=Newspapers.com|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/414132782/?terms=%22Black%20Network%22%20Roy%20Mack&match=1}}</ref> starting on December 7.<ref name=":0">{{Cite news|date=December 7, 1935|title=All-Colored Review at Vitaphone Studios|work=Times Union|publisher=Newspapers.com|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/576221880/?terms=%22Black%20Network%22%20Roy%20Mack&match=1}}</ref> Nina Mae McKinney and The Nicholas Brothers were announced as the film's stars; they had previously worked together in the 1932 Roy Mack film ''Pie Pie Blackbird''.<ref name="mc" /> The film, which was created as part of the "Broadway Brevity" series,<ref name=":0" /> adapted a script written by A. Dorian Otvos and special songs were credited to Cliff Hess. Photography was by Ray Foster and the film was edited by Bert Frank.<ref>{{Cite web|title=THE BLACK NETWORK|url=https://www.loc.gov/item/jots.200013887/|website=Library of Congress}}</ref>
== Release == ''The Black Network'' was released to theaters in 1936, where it was shown as a supplemental film alongside movies such as ''The Lion's Den'' and ''Adventure in Manhattan''.<ref>{{Cite news|date=July 11, 1936|title=Theatres|work=The Bristol News|publisher=Newspapers.com|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/584720052/?terms=%22Black%20Network%22%20Roy%20Mack&match=1}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|date=October 27, 1936|title=Hamrick (now playing)|work=The Gaffney Ledger|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/78044154/?terms=%22Black%20Network%22%20Roy%20Mack&match=1}}</ref>
== Reception == ''The Film Daily'' praised ''The Black Network'', citing the actors' performances as a highlight while noting that the story was not original.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Bourne|first=Stephen|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gT-DDwAAQBAJ&dq=%22Black+Network%22+Roy+Mack&pg=PT20|title=Nina Mae McKinney: The Black Garbo|publisher=BearManor Media|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|date=April 1, 1936|title=The Black Network (review)|work=Film Daily}}</ref>
==See also== *Vitaphone Varieties
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== * {{IMDb title|0122402}} * [https://web.archive.org/web/20220301050401/https://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/400364/enwp ''The Black Network''] at the TCM Movie Database
{{DEFAULTSORT:Black Network, The}} Category:1936 musical comedy films Category:1936 short films Category:American musical short films Category:African-American films