The meeting with Edens led to Lena Horne's first movie, Panama Hattie (1942), starring singer Ethel Merman. Further roles followed in movies such as Cabin in the Sky (1943), Stormy Weather (1943), Swing Fever (1943), Broadway Rhythm (1944), Ziegfeld Follies (1946), and Till the Clouds Roll By (1946). Often, her roles were mostly short guest shots that easily could be omitted without damage to the plot. She was excised in versions shown in the Southern states where a film with...