Bessie Smith is shown standing at a bar in a bar singing a sad blues song. She has a hand on a glass mug of beer and is swaying as she sings. She is wearing a black dress and a white hat. There is a bartender watching her from behind the bar. As she sings, there is a choir of people that are singing with her on the refrains. Next, a wide shot is shown of the whole bar with the woman standing and singing alone at the bar, while the nightclub is full of people sitting at tables and a full blues or jazz band playing on the stage. People sitting at one of the tables are doing the accompanying singing, and the band is playing with her as she sings. People move around the bar and then there is another shot of just the woman singing. All the people in the club appear to be Black or of African American descent.