Jeff grows up near Basin Street in New Orleans, playing his clarinet with the dock workers. He puts together a band, the Basin Street Hot-Shots, which includes a cornet player, Memphis. ...
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Title: Birth of the Blues (1941)
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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 | |
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Danny Beck | ... | Deek |
| Harry Barris | ... | Suds | |
| Perry Botkin Sr. | ... | Leo (as Perry Botkin) | |
| Minor Watson | ... | Henri Lambert | |
|
|
Harry Rosenthal | ... | Piano Player |
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Storyline
Jeff grows up near Basin Street in New Orleans, playing his clarinet with the dock workers. He puts together a band, the Basin Street Hot-Shots, which includes a cornet player, Memphis. They struggle to get their jazz music accepted by the cafe society of the city. Betty Lou joins their band as a singer and gets Louie to show her how to do scat singing. Memphis and Jeff both fall in love with Betty Lou. Written by Lisa Grable <grable@unity.ncsu.edu>
Plot Keywords:
scat singing | jazz | new orleans louisiana | cultural conflict | african american |Taglines:
1941's Happiest Blessed Event! See more »Parents Guide:
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(uncredited)
Music by Niccolò Paganini
Lyrics by Barclay Grey
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Did You Know?
Trivia
Though the movie is in black and white, in one scene, when Bing Crosby is singing "By the Light of the Silvery Moon" in a movie theater, a slide show being projected behind him is in full color, though Bing is still in black and white. See more »Soundtracks
Carnival of Venice(uncredited)
Music by Niccolò Paganini
Lyrics by Barclay Grey
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Details
Country:
USALanguage:
EnglishRelease Date:
7 November 1941 (USA) See more »Also Known As:
Birth of the Blues See more »Edit
Box Office
Budget:
$857,283 (estimated)Company Credits
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I think I saw a clip of this movie when I watched a special on PBS a couple of decades ago called "Remembering Bing", that clip being of Crosby and Mary Martin whistling. Anyway, this was quite entertaining despite the inaccuracies that abounded. In the New Orleans sequence where a bunch of black musicians were playing, it took me awhile to realize that one of them was Mantan Moreland with his familiar bug eyes-who I knew was a native of Monroe, Louisiana. Nice color sequence involving slides being shown. One might be put off by some of the violence shown near the end but it did result in a touching scene involving Eddie "Rochester" Anderson. So on that note, I do recommend Birth of the Blues. P.S. Since It's a Wonderful Life is my favorite movie, I do like citing when players from that are in something else. Here, it's Charles Lane, Sarah Edwards, and Lillian Randolph from there who appear here. Oh, and a few decades after this movie, Bing's daughter Mary played a character on "Dallas" who was revealed to have shot Mary Martin's son, Larry Hagman, as J. R. Ewing there.