IMDb > Birth of the Blues (1941)

Birth of the Blues (1941) More at IMDbPro »

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Overview

User Rating:
6.5/10   114 votes
MOVIEmeter: ?
Down 70% in popularity this week. See why on IMDbPro.
Writers:
Harry Tugend (story)
Harry Tugend (writer) ...
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Contact:
View company contact information for Birth of the Blues on IMDbPro.
Release Date:
7 November 1941 (USA) more
Genre:
Music more
Tagline:
Strike Up The Band ! * Here comes happiness . . . in a merry medley of romance . . . and rhythm !
Plot:
Jeff grows up near Basin Street in New Orleans, playing his clarinet with the dock workers. He puts together a band... more | add synopsis
Plot Keywords:
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Awards:
Nominated for Oscar. more
User Comments:
The Crooner, The Canary, and the Slide Trombone. more (7 total)

Cast

  (Cast overview, first billed only)

Bing Crosby ... Jeff Lambert

Mary Martin ... Betty Lou Cobb

Brian Donlevy ... Memphis
Carolyn Lee ... Aunt Phoebe Cobb
Eddie 'Rochester' Anderson ... Louey (as Rochester)
J. Carrol Naish ... Blackie
Warren Hymer ... Limpy
Horace McMahon ... Wolf (as Horace MacMahon)
Ruby Elzy ... Ruby
Jack Teagarden ... Pepper
Danny Beck ... Deek
Harry Barris ... Suds
Perry Botkin Sr. ... Leo
Minor Watson ... Henri Lambert
Harry Rosenthal ... Piano player
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Additional Details

Parents Guide:
Add content advisory for parents
Runtime:
87 min
Country:
USA
Language:
English
Color:
Black and White
Aspect Ratio:
1.37 : 1 more
Sound Mix:
Mono (Western Electric Mirrophonic Recording)
Certification:
UK:U | Finland:S | USA:Approved (PCA #7330)
Company:
Paramount Pictures more

Fun Stuff

Trivia:
One of over 700 Paramount Productions, filmed between 1929 and 1949, which were sold to MCA/Universal in 1958 for television distribution, and have been owned and controlled by Universal ever since. more
Movie Connections:
Referenced in "Night Court: The Blues of the Birth (#7.24)" (1990) more
Soundtrack:
By The Light of the Silvery Moon more

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User Comments

   (Comment on this title)
11 out of 12 people found the following comment useful.
The Crooner, The Canary, and the Slide Trombone., 7 July 2004
8/10
Author: bkoganbing from Buffalo, New York

Birth of the Blues was a labor of love for Bing Crosby and it showed. Coming up with Paul Whiteman, Bing met and worked with some of the greatest musicians in history. He enjoyed their company, he enjoyed working with them, just couldn't get enough. The plot is a fictionalization of the creation of the first all white jazz combo, the Original Dixieland Band.

This is Mary Martin's second of two films she did with Crosby and at the same time this was being shot, she was doubling as the girl singer on his Kraft Music Hall. As in Rhythm on the River, for once he's given a leading lady who matches him vocally. Why movie audiences didn't take to her is still a mystery.

Brian Donlevy was at the height of his career where he usually played villains. He's no villain here, but he's Bing's rival for Mary Martin. He plays a hot cornet player named Memphis and I do love the scene where Crosby's band engages in an impromptu jam session on the street in front of the new Orleans Jail where Donlevy is residing and Crosby's trying to get him out. In a radio broadcast dramatization of this film, Phil Harris played Donlevy's part and Dinah Shore played the Mary Martin role.

Usually Crosby's films have original material written for them, this is an exception. A whole lot of old standards are used, the only original song for Birth of the Blues is The Waiter and The Porter and The Upstairs Maid, written by Bing's good pal Johnny Mercer. It's nice, catchy, novelty number with the waiter and upstairs maid done by Crosby and Martin. The porter is jazz trombone great Jack Teagarden who's really into the spirit of the thing.

One of the standards is Wait Till The Sun Shines Nellie, this time done with a jazz inflection. Crosby and Martin duet it and it became a big seller Decca recording.

J. Carroll Naish plays a good gangster villain assisted by henchmen Horace McMahon and Warren Hymer. Hymer had a specialty in playing schlemiel henchmen and this is a typical Warren Hymer part.

Eddie Anderson is in the film, playing a Rochester like part for Bing Crosby as he did for Jack Benny. In many ways he played the typical servile black person and some would say he does it here. Personally I found his Rochester character very good, he often got the best of Jack Benny. He acquits himself well here.

Ruby Elzy plays Anderson's wife and she gets a good vocal opportunity to sing St. Louis Blues as Anderson is unconscious and the band thinks he's checking out.

No one should pass on an opportunity to see Bing and Mary Martin together.

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