The King of Jazz

A few weeks back, TCM ran the restored print of The King of Jazz as part of a night of movies with John Boles. I hadn't seen it before, so I DVRed it and watched it.

This is a difficult movie to review, because it's not a traditional movie with a plot, but instead a revue, with a few comedy numbers and a lot of songs, and the music for those songs provided by Paul Whiteman and his band. Whiteman had become known as the "King of Jazz", in what I'd have to guess was an act of self-promotion the way Eddie Muller calls himself the "King of Noir". In any case, Whiteman introduces several songs in styles popular at the time, and a couple that have stood the test of time.

The first in this latter group has to be "Rhapsody in Blue". I had forgotten that Whiteman commissioned this song from George Gershwin, and it became one of the Whitman band's signature tunes, so it's only natural that it should show up here. Among the spectacular parts of this number is the giant grand piano which , when the lid is opened, reveals several members of the orchestra. The camera angles rival Busby Berkeley, although this came a few years before 42nd Street.

The other is "Happy Feet". It opens with a pair of dancing shoes in stop-motion animation (at least, I think it's stop-motion), followed by some lavish dancing as well as the novelty dancing of Al Norman, who has to be one of the most frighteningly flexible dancers you'll ever see. There's also a dispute with Whiteman and the MC discussing whether it's the music or the dancing that puts a song over, resolved rather humorously.

Other highlights are the appearances of the Rhythm Boys, one of whose members was a very young Bing Crosby at the beginning of his career. There's also a skit about a boss being caught in flagrante delicto that has a great punchline. But most noteworthy of all would have to be the two-strip Technicolor. The restoration looks extrememly good, although there is a few minutes of footage missing, replaced by black and white stills, or photos moved like in a Ken Burns documentary. (Ugh.)

The King of Jazz is well worth a watch for anybody who's a fan of early color and early musicals (or this type of music in general).