KING OF JAZZ

King of Jazz
Universal, 1930, Color, 98 minutes, ***
Released April, 1930

Paul Whiteman explains how he earned his title "The King of Jazz" through a series of musical sketches. Charles Irwin is Master of Ceremonies. This is a musical revue; there is no plot.

Sets and Costumes are fantastic, and so is the talent. It's a virtual talent smorgasbord of music, dance and comedy -- in some of the best sets ever filmed!

Carl Laemmle Presents:
Produced by: Carl Laemmle, Jr.
Entire Production Devised and Directed by: John Murray Anderson
Assistant Director: Robert Ross
Comedy Sketches: Harry Ruskin
Screenplay: Edward T. Lowe, and Charles MacArthur
Lyrics: Jack Yellen
Music: Milton Ager
Additional Musical Numbers: George Gershwin, Mabel Wayne, Billy Rose, James Dietrich
Orchestrations: Ferde Grofe
Dance Director: Russell Markert
Settings & Costumes: Herman Rosse
Assistant Art Director: Thomas F. O'Neill
Animated Cartoons: Walter Lantz, Bill Nolan
Recording Supervision: C. Roy Hunter
Cinematographers: Hal Mohr, Jerry Ash, Ray Rennahan
Photographed by Technicolor Process
Film Editor: Robert Carlisle

Awards: Academy Award for Best Interior Decoration (Herman Rosse)

Cast: Paul Whiteman, John Boles, Laura La Plante, Jeanette Loff, Glenn Tryon, William Kent, Slim Summerville, The Rhythm Boys (with Bing Crosby), Kathryn Crawford, Beth Laemmle, Stanley Smith, Charles Irwin, George Chiles, Jack White, Frank Leslie, Walter Brennan, Churchill Ross, Johnson Arledge, Al Norman, Jacques Cartier, Paul Howard, Dell O'Day and The Tommy Atkins Sextet, Don Rose, The Russell Market Girls, Additional Cast: Merna Kennedy, Grace Hayes, Sisters G, The Brox Sisters, John Fulton, Marian Statler, Nell O'Day, Richard Cromwell, Wilbur Hall, Jeanie Lang, Otis Harlan, George Gershwin, George Sidney, Charlie Murray

Program: [0:00] Music Hath Charms (sung behind titles by Bing Crosby with the Paul Whiteman Orchestra); [0:02] My Lord Delivered Daniel (sung by Bing Crosby, cartoon man running from lion onscreen); [0:05] "Meet the Boys" (features short solos and small ensembles of band members playing short excerpts of various tunes: Hot Lips (Harry Goldfield on Trumpet), Wildcat (Joe Venuti on Violin and Eddie Lang on Guitar), Piccolo Pete (Roy Maier on Piccolo), Caprice Viennois (Kurt Detierle, Matty Malneck, John Bowman, Joe Venuti, Ted Bacon and Otto Landau on Violins), Nola (Roy Bargy at the Piano and Chester Hazlett on Clarinet, Wilbur Hall on Trombone), Linger Awhile (Mike Pingitore on Banjo); "Meet the Girls" (played by the Paul Whiteman Orchestra, leg-danced by The Russell Market Girls); [0:11] My Bridal Veil (sung by Jeanette Loff, Stanley Smith and Ensemble); [0:18] The Daily Meows (comedy skit with Laura La Plante, Jeanie Lang, Merna Kennedy, Grace Hayes and Kathryn Crawford); [0:19] Mississippi Mud / So the Bluebirds and the Blackbirds Got Together (sung by The Rhythm Boys); [0:22] (It Happened In) Monterey (sung by John Boles and Jeannette Loff, danced by Sisters G, George Chiles and The Russell Market Girls with Mexican Soloist Nancy Torres); [0:27] Comedy skit: "In Conference" (with Laura La Plante, Glenn Tryon and Merna Kennedy); [0:28] I'm a Fisherman (sung and acted by Jack White with the Orchestra); [0:32] A Bench in the Park (sung by George Chiles and Jeannette Loff, then sung by the Brox Sisters and The Rhythm Boys, then danced by The Russell Market Girls); [0:38] Comedy skit: "Springtime" (with Slim Summerville, Yola D'Avril and Walter Brennan); [0:38] Comedy skit: "All Noisy on the Eastern Front" (featuring Yola d'Avril, Slim Summerville, Walter Brennan and Paul Whiteman); [0:40] Comedy skit: "Willie Hall: One of the Whiteman Boys" (Wilbur Hall finds some comical ways to play violin, playing "Variations Based on Noises from a Garage" and "Pop Goes the Weasel," then he playes "Stars and Stripes Forever" using a tire pump); [0:43] Rhapsody in Blue (begins with drum solo danced by Jacques Cartier, then played by Orchestra with George Gershwin at the piano and danced by the Russell Market Girls -- many interesting sets, props and visuals); [0:52] Comedy skit: "Oh! Forevermore!" (with William Kent); [0:55] My Ragamuffin Romeo (sung by Jeanie Lang and George Chiles, danced by Marion Stattler and Don Rose -- really cute number!); [1:01] Happy Shoes (played by Orchestra, danced by disembodied shoes, sung by The Rhythm Boys); [1:01] Happy Feet (sung by The Rhythm Boys, sung and danced by Sisters G, danced by rubber-legged Al Norman, danced by The Russell Market Girls -- all with Paul Whiteman and His Orchestra); [1:06] Happy Feet (danced by Paul Whiteman -- or is it??); [1:07] Comedy skit: Slim Summerville; [1:08] I Like to Do Things for You (sung by Jeanie Lang, Grace Hayes and William Kent; danced by Nell O'Day and Tommy Atkins Sextette); [1:13] Has Anybody Seen Our Nellie? (parody squawked by Churchill Ross, John Arledge, Frank Leslie and Walter Brennan with slide show in music hall style); [1:15] The Song of the Dawn (sung by John Boles and Mens Chorus); [1:19] The Melting Pot of Music: America is a melting pot of music wherein the melodies of all nations are fused into one great new rhythm: Jazz! (madley of many tunes played, sung and danced by The Company)