The best of the early sound revues 1930's King of Jazz is the best of the early sound cycle of movie studio revues. Very few films shot completely in two-strip Technicolor survive - this is one of them. Warner Bros. probably made the most all-Technicolor films in the early sound era, but since most of them were Vitaphone the films have long since been lost in most cases.
The 1929 and 1930 early sound revues were made by the studios primarily to showcase their talent in an all-talking setting. MGM's "Hollywood Revue of 1929" started the cycle, and did a pretty good job. However, other studios lost sight of the goal and the revues that followed were often clumsily put together and didn't even showcase talent that belonged to the studio.
"The King of Jazz" is a surprise not only because it holds up so well with time, but because it is such a non-typical product for Universal Studios of that era. Universal of the 20's and 30's mainly made westerns for rural moviegoers with an occasional prestige picture and they were beginning to dabble in the horror genre for which the studio is most remembered. However, at this time they were also known for their thrift, which went out the window when they made this film. The film starts out with a cartoon showing how Paul Whiteman - who called himself The King of Jazz - discovered Jazz. What follows are a sequence of musical and comedy routines. This film doesn't make the mistake of trying to sew the numbers together with some maudlin backstage melodrama. It simply presents the numbers in sequence. Most of the talent here is not under long-term contract to Universal. Laura LaPlante is one of the rare exceptions to that rule. The musical numbers are a delight and it is great to see Bing Crosby at the very beginning of his career. The Brox Sisters light up this film just as they did MGM's revue with "Singin in the Rain". The whole thing is so lively and done with with such innovation and energy considering the static camera of the early talkie era that I can't believe Universal has never thought to put this on DVD. They made this one great musical and didn't really make another one until 1936's "Showboat".
The Brox Sisters and the Rhythm Boys... This movie was really fun to watch, with young Bing Crosby and all the other people, and whats really cool about it is that it's in COLOR!!! Early two-strip technicolor, but color no less. I recognized some people I'd seen in other movies, like the Brox Sisters from Hollywood Revue of 1929, and Harry Barris, who I watched in a musical short on the Golddiggers of 1933 special features. I thought he looked different in this movie. But the BIGGEST suprise I'd seen in the thing was THE BROX SISTERS WITH THE RHYTHM BOYS!!!!! They were singing some song called "A Bench in the Park". It was nice, but the Brox sisters scared me the first time I saw them in "Hollywood Revue", because they were wearing something that made them look like a three headed monster. So, this movie is a really fun musical revue, with lots of jazzy songs and catchy tunes. Very Jazz-Age, thouch made in the 30s. You're missin' out if you don't watch it!
EARLY TECHNICOLOR GEM Paul Whiteman was the most popular bandleader of the Roaring Twenties and his VICTOR records were best sellers; his JAPANESE SANDMAN and WHISPERING went way over the million mark in sales. Universal's entry in the all-talking, all-singing, all-dancing sweepstakes was KING OF JAZZ. The result was a garish (RHAPSODY IN TURQUOISE?) over-long mixed-bag, yet it's an undeniably entertaining item which, surprisingly, holds up much better than you'd expect. Cleverly, the film opens with Der Bingle crooning MUSIC HAS CHARMS over the credits and then commences with an amusing animated cartoon about Whiteman's scrapbook and how he became the famed King of Jazz. Despite its length and creakiness, KING OF JAZZ remains a fascinating vintage musical. As a member of The Rhythm Boys, Bing Crosby made his film debut in this production; but a drunk-driving charge landed him in jail during filming,and so the song SONG OF DAWN went to another crooner/actor of the day - John Boles. Boles recorded both IT HAPPENED IN MONTEREY and the above tune for VICTOR and they became hot sellers. P.S. For the Hungarian version(?!) - Bela Lugosi served as the host!
Real Taste of the 1920's Though this movie was made in 1930, it is "all 20's" Enjoy the emerging Bing Croby of the Rhythm Boys and see his two partners in the group.
The video features the great Paul Whiteman, the originator of Symphonic Jazz. In 1930, there was no band leader more popular than he. Since I love 20's music, I really enjoy this video. My favorite scene is "Happy Feet." Some may appreciate, "Rhapsody in Blue," while others, "I Like to Do Things for You." This movie was one of the first made in color, and the sound has been restored fairly well.
On the negative side, some of the Vaudeville jokes in between musical numbers are off-color, something I do not appreciate.
If you love the Sweet Jazz sound of the 20's, you'll enjoy this!
Paul Whiteman Really Was the King! Whether you're a big band buff, an early talkie buff, a Bing Crosby buff, or just looking solid entertainment, THE KING OF JAZZ is a wonderful film on all counts. TKOJ is a rare look at a surviving early talkie filmed in the two-strip Technicolor process. The various reels were obviously pieced together from several sources, some sequences being in pristine condition, others being worn. MCA deserves a lot of credit for restoring this masterpiece even though some material is missing (more on that later).
On the talent side, TKOJ proves why Paul Whiteman enjoyed such great popularity in the 20s and 30s, and why he remained personally popular long after he folded his band in 1940. A young Bing Crosby makes his debut in motion pictures as part of the Rhythm Boys and easily displays his future star power. Years later, Crosby would credit Whiteman for introducing him to the various forms of mass media, records, radio and movies, where Crosby would prove so enduring. As if to show the vicissitudes of fame, today TKOJ is marketed as a Bing Crosby film while Paul Whiteman is all but forgotten. But if that strategy gets people to watch, PW becomes a delightful re-discovery. It's interesting to note that one of Mr. Whiteman's latter day ideas would involve a him as a DJ in a television teenage record hop that eventually would be called American Bandstand. Mr. Whiteman's assistant was a young Dick Clark.
Having bought the VHS edition a long time ago, I'm eagerly awaiting the DVD release especially since MCA is really leading the pack on DVD releases of old movies. Recently, I read where a missing reel of TKOJ has been found so, hopefully, that reel will be incorporated to the DVD version making it bigger, better, and complete.
Anything Goes Trivia
Megaton Man
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