Birth of the Blues (1941)

Director:

Victor Schertzinger

Writers:

Harry Tugend (story)
Harry Tugend (writer) ...
(more)

Release Date:

7 November 1941 (USA)

Genre:

Music

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...

Plot Keywords:

Scat Singing | Jazz | New Orleans Louisiana | Musician | Murder

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar.

Cast

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
Donald Kerr	...	Skeeter, Barbershop Musician
Barbara Pepper	...	Maizie
Cecil Kellaway	...	Granet
Ronnie Cosby	...	Jeff, as a boy (as Ronnie Cosbey)
Ted Lewis	...	Himself, Ted Lewis (archive footage)
Duke Ellington	...	Himself, Duke Ellington (archive footage)
Louis Armstrong	...	Himself (archive footage)
Tommy Dorsey	...	Himself, Tommy Dorsey (archive footage)
Jimmy Dorsey	...	Himself, Jimmy Dorsey (archive footage)
Benny Goodman	...	Himself, Benny Goodman (archive footage)
Paul Whiteman	...	Himself, Paul Whiteman (archive footage)
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Rose Allen	...	Woman in theater (uncredited)
Roscoe Ates	...	Cab driver (uncredited)
Kathryn Bates	...	Woman in theater (uncredited)
Brooks Benedict	...	Dance Floor Extra (uncredited)
Nell Craig	...	Woman in theater (uncredited)
Jimmie Dundee	...	Jake (a thug) (uncredited)
Pearl Early	...	Woman in theater (uncredited)
Sarah Edwards	...	Dowager in cafe (uncredited)
Edward Emerson	...	Mayor's son in cafe (uncredited)
Betty Farrington	...	Woman in theater (uncredited)
John Gallaudet	...	Dude in pool parlor (uncredited)
Grace Hayle	...	Fat woman in cafe (uncredited)
Brandon Hurst	...	Headwaiter in cafe (uncredited)
Payne B. Johnson	...	Boy in theater (uncredited)
Yvonne Jungquist	...	Girl in illustrated slides (uncredited)
Alice Keating	...	Woman in theater (uncredited)
Richard Keene	...	Stage manager (uncredited)
Charles Lane	...	Wilbur, Theater Manager (uncredited)
Jeni Le Gon	...	Black girl in jail (uncredited)
Jimmie Lucas	...	Man outside of jail (uncredited)
James T. Mack	...	Undetermined role (uncredited)
Sam McDaniel	...	Black clarinet player (uncredited)
John 'Skins' Miller	...	Skinny man in cafe (uncredited)
Bert Moorhouse	...	Cafe Diner (uncredited)
Mantan Moreland	...	Black trumpet player (uncredited)
Edmund Mortimer	...	Cafe Patron (uncredited)
Joe Ploski	...	Dance Extra (uncredited)
Oscar Polk	...	Man in Jail (uncredited)
Victor Potel	...	Trumpet player (beer garden) (uncredited)
Lillian Randolph	...	Dancing Woman (uncredited)
Keith Richards	...	Man in illustrated slides (uncredited)
Cyril Ring	...	Cafe Patron (uncredited)
Bert Roach	...	Fat man Sleeping in Theater (uncredited)
Constantine Romanoff	...	One of Blackie's Thugs (uncredited)
Hayden Stevenson	...	Stagehand (uncredited)
Mary Thomas	...	Child in theater (uncredited)
Bess Wade	...	Woman in theater (uncredited)
Evelyn West	...	Woman in theater (uncredited)
Pat West	...	Proprietor of pool hall (uncredited)
Ernest Whitman	...	Fancy-Pants, Doorman (uncredited)
Guy Wilkerson	...	Man outside of jail (uncredited)
Harry Wilson	...	One of Blackie's Thugs (uncredited)

Directed by
Victor Schertzinger

Writing credits
Harry Tugend		(story)
Harry Tugend		(writer) and
Walter DeLeon		(writer)
Erwin S. Gelsey		uncredited and
Wilkie C. Mahoney		uncredited

Produced by
Monta Bell	....	producer
Buddy G. DeSylva	....	producer (uncredited)

Original Music by
Robert Emmett Dolan
Kerry Mills		(uncredited)
Ignacy Jan Paderewski		(uncredited)

Cinematography by
William C. Mellor

Film Editing by
Paul Weatherwax

Art Direction by
Hans Dreier
Ernst Fegté

Costume Design by
Edith Head

Makeup Department
Robert Ewing	....	makeup artist (uncredited)
Mary Ann Jones	....	hair stylist (uncredited)
Leonora Sabine	....	hair stylist supervisor (uncredited)
Wally Westmore	....	makeup supervisor (uncredited)

Production Management
George C. Bertholon	....	production manager (uncredited)
Ed Ebele	....	production manager (uncredited)
Harold Schwartz	....	unit manager (uncredited)

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Alvin Ganzer	....	second assistant director (uncredited)
Harry Tugend	....	assistant director (uncredited)
Hal Walker	....	assistant director (uncredited)

Art Department
Jim Cottrell	....	props (uncredited)
Roy Kreuger	....	props (uncredited)
Stephen Seymour	....	set dresser (uncredited)

Sound Department
John Cope	....	sound recordist
Earl S. Hayman	....	sound recordist (as Earl Hayman)

Camera and Electrical Department
Neal Beckner	....	second camera operator (uncredited)
Schuyler A. Sanford	....	assistant to second camera operator (uncredited)

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Gladys Baxter	....	wardrobe (uncredited)
M. Cohn	....	wardrobe (uncredited)

Editorial Department
Frank Bracht	....	assistant film editor (uncredited)

Music Department
Robert Emmett Dolan	....	music supervisor
Robert Emmett Dolan	....	musical director
Arthur Franklin	....	musical advisor
'Pokey' Carriere	....	musician: cornet double for Brian Donlevy (uncredited)
Joe Glover	....	music arranger: dixieland (uncredited)
John Leipold	....	composer: incidental music (uncredited)
Danny Polo	....	musicina: clarinet double for Bing Crosby (uncredited)
Walter Scharf	....	orchestrator (uncredited)

Other crew
Jerry Donovan	....	stand-in (uncredited)
Eda Edson	....	dialogue coach (uncredited)
Eleanor Edwards	....	secretary (uncredited)
Byron Fitzpatrick	....	stand-in (uncredited)
Lee Frederic	....	screenplay clerk (uncredited)
Bill Hurley	....	livestock supervisor (uncredited)
Bert Lawrence	....	comedy gags (uncredited)
Leo Lynn	....	stand-in (uncredited)
Eddie Prinz	....	dance director (uncredited)
James Vincent	....	dialogue director (uncredited)
Dan Wyler	....	stand-in (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Paramount Pictures

Distributors

• Paramount Pictures (1941) (USA) (theatrical)
• MCA/Universal Pictures (1958) (USA) (TV)
• Universal Home Entertainment (USA) (DVD)

Runtime:

87 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Mirrophonic Recording)

Certification:

UK:U | Finland:S | USA:Approved (PCA #7330)

Company:

Paramount Pictures

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.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Night Court: The Blues of the Birth (#7.24)" (1990)

Soundtrack:

Memphis Blues

Not What I Had Expected

In this musical comedy set in New Orleans in the 1890's, a clarinet player with a passion for jazz, played by Bing Crosby, organizes a band of white musicians in an effort to bring this "blue music" to the white café society of New Orleans, during an era when whites looked down on jazz as a product of Black people.

The film's screenplay is not very good. Characters are poorly defined. They exist only to further the contrived plot. For a musical, there's too much dialogue, composed largely of supposedly humorous one liners. That may have worked in 1941. But times change. Sixty years after the film, the script now seems dismissive of serious social concerns, and is therefore not funny.

Meanwhile, the shallow plot dilutes the impact of the film's music. Blues numbers include "Melancholy Baby", "Memphis Blues", and several others. But they are uninspired, and seem tangential to the talky script. The only musical number I found even faintly memorable was "St. Louis Blues", performed with passion by diva Ruby Elzy.

One thing I did find interesting was the inclusion of a couple of bit part actors who would later become well known. Mantan Moreland (from the Charlie Chan series) shows up toward the beginning as a trumpet player. And Barbara Pepper (as Doris Ziffel from "Green Acres") shows up off and on in the film as a nightclub hussy.

Given the title, I was expecting a blues extravaganza, not a talk fest. Even so, "Birth Of The Blues" might have some value given its historical subject matter. And it probably would be a good film for fans of Bing Crosby, for whom the film functions as a cinematic vehicle.