Keep Punching (1939)
1939 film
- Released
- 1939
- Country
- United States
- Language
- English
- Genre
- Boxing film
- Director
- John Clein
- Starring
- Henry Armstrong, J. Rosamond Johnson, Dooley Wilson, Hamtree Harrington, Francine Everett, Willie Bryant
Keep Punching is a 1939 film about boxing. Its primary character is Henry Armstrong (born Henry Jackson). Unlike most films of the era, its cast was composed entirely of African Americans.
The film includes Whitey's Lindy Hoppers (Lindy Hop) performing the much imitated Big Apple Routine. A film clip of the dance scene was also released as the short “Jittering Jitterbugs” in 1943 showing the Big Apple routine choreographed by Frankie Manning and a Jitterbug dance competition that followed in the film.
External links
Facts from Wikidata Q85486582 (CC0); quoted introduction from English Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Data retrieved 2026-10-22.
Data: Wikidata (CC0 1.0); Wikipedia (English) (CC BY-SA 4.0). Retrieved 2026-10-22.