Lena Horne is probably the only person capable of singing "Stormy Weather" in a movie scene, while a large, crystalline tear courses down her right cheek--and get away with it. She manages to make the schmalz inherent in the scene seem plausible. That the script calls upon her to perform such a feat, and that she does it, present a good summary of quality of both script and performers.

"Stormy Weather" was filmed in 1943 and is now being re-released a month after the death of Bill Robinson. It has a plot, although a sub-microscopic one. If you separate one song-and-dance routine from the next, you will find, jammed between, a few incidents in the life of Bill Robinson.

But in a musical comedy no one looks for plot, because, by tradition, it is nothing more than a rack on which to hang as many comic or spectacular scenes as possible. "Stormy Weather" has a few such scenes. In every case the success of the routine lies entirely with excellence of the performer. Thus any credit for the film must go entirely to Lena Horne, Bill Robinson, and Fats. Waller. Almost every other performer who appears on the screen is either uninteresting, poor, or repellent.

Bill Robinson, the celebrated "Bojangles," is, of course, a superb soft shoe dancer. What comes through in this movie is not only his great talent, but his obvious enjoyment in playing his part. This same enjoyment is also found in Lena Horne and Fats Waller, and that is what raises them from the scores of run-of-the-mill actors in the film.

Certainly "Stormy Weather" has too much sticky sentiment, too much sound and fury. The script is not worth the paper it is written on, but not even a poor script can hold a good entertainer down.