New Orleans

New Orleans
United Artists, 1947, B/W, 90 minutes
Released April, 1947



The only feature film appearance of the legendary Billie Holiday, who performs "Farewell to Storyville," is just one of the highlights of this song-filled look at the (fictionalized) birth of jazz. When bandleader Louis Armstrong's sizzling new sound draws crowds to his gambling hall, New Orleans saloonkeeper Arturo de Cordova sets out to spread the music to the public. Kid Ory and Woody Herman are among the other jazz greats appearing; with Irene Rich, Shelley Winters.

Produced by: Herbert J. Biberman
Directed by: Arthur Lubin
Screenplay: Elliot Paul and Dick Irving Hyland,
(from a story by Elliot Paul and Herbert J. Biberman)
Original Music by: Bob Carleton, Eddie Delange, Cliff Dixon, Nat W. Finston, Woody Herman
Art Direction: Rudi Feld
Costume Design: Teddi Barri
Special Effects: Nick Carmona
Cinematography: Lucien N. Andriot
Editor: Bernard W. Burton



Cast: Arturo De Cordova {Nick Duquesne], Dorothy Patrick [Miralee Smith], Marjorie Lord [Grace Voiselle], Irene Rich [Mrs. Rutledge Smith], John Alexander [Colonel McArdle], Richard Hageman [Henry Ferber], Jack Lambert [Biff Lewis], Bert Conway [Tommy Lake], Joan Blair [Constance Vigil], Louis Armstrong and His Band [Original New Orleans Ragtime Band], Billie Holiday [Endie, Miralee's maid], Woody Herman and His Orchestra [Themselves], Zutty Singleton [Himself, drummer], Barney Bigard [Himself, clarinetist, with Louis Armstrong Band], Kid Ory [Himself, trombone], Lucky Thompson [Himself], Bud Scott [Himself, guitar], Red Callender [Himself, bass], Charlie Beal [Himself, piano], Meade "Lux" Lewis [Himself, piano], Brooks Benedict [Croupier], Papa Mutt Carey [Himself], Pat Flaherty [Moving Man], Jesse Graves [Smiths' Butler], John Hamilton [Police Chief], Ralph Montgomery, Bert Stevens [Men in Audience], Jeffrey Sayre [Drunk], Shelley Winters [Miss Holmbright, Nick's secretary in Chicago]



Musical Program: Do You Know What It Means to Miss New Orleans (sung by Chorus behind titles; played on piano and sung by Billie Holiday; played by Louis Armstrong and His Band, vocal by Billie Holiday; played on piano by Arthur Schutt dubbing for Richard Hageman, vocal by Theodora Lynch dubbing for Dorothy Patrick; played by Woody Herman and His Orchestra, vocal by Theodora Lynch dubbing for Dorothy Patrick; Maryland, My Maryland (Louis Armstrong and His Band); Where the Blues Were Born in New Orleans (Louis Armstrong and His Band, vocal by Louis Armstrong); Buddy Bolden's Blues (Louis Armstrong and His Band, vocal by Louis Armstrong); Fantasie-Impromptu in C Sharp Minor, Op.66 (Arthur Schutt dubbing for Richard Hageman at the piano); Farewell to Storyville (Louis Armstrong and His Band, vocal by Billie Holiday); Honky Tonk Train Blues (Meade "Lux" Lewis at the piano); The Blues Are Brewin' (Louis Armstrong and His Band, vocal by Billie Holiday); Endie (Louis Armstrong and His Band, vocal by Billie Holiday)