Birth of the Blues / Blue Skies [DVD] [1941/1946]

Birth of the Blues - the movie

I guess this is a documentary of sorts about the introduction of Dixieland Jazz music, originally the province of the black slaves, to the white folks; but it's presented as an entertaining black-and-white musical. It stars Bing Crosby, Mary Martin and Brian Donlevy ad dates from 1941. The tunes are of their time, circa World War I. They include `By the light of the silvery moon', `Tiger rag', `Cuddle up a little closer', `Melancholy baby' and of course `Birth of the blues'. The movie also introduced Johnny Mercer's `The waiter and the porter and the upstairs maid', which became a big hit for him and Crosby.

Blue Skies - the movie

This was the second movie to feature Fred Astaire and Bing Crosby together, the first being Holiday Inn. It was in full colour from 1946 and was little more than a vehicle for a host of songs by Irving Berlin, many still popular today like the title song, `A pretty girl is like a melody', `How deep is the ocean', `You keep coming back like a song', and `Heat wave'. But there are several less well-known tunes here too. Best moments: Astaire's seemingly effortless dancing in `Putting on the Ritz', and the comedy duo number `A couple of song and dance men' - Crosby and Astaire of course. If you like Berlin's music, you'll like this.

This has been one of my favourite films since I first saw it as a child, around 1942. It led me to later take up the clarinet and gave me a lifelong love of jazz..

The film is really the story of The Original Dixieland Jazzband, although this is never acknowledged, with Bing Crosby playing the Nick La Rocca part. In spite of its mild racism, characteristic of the Hollywood of the times, and its emphasis on white jazz, it contains wonderful musical sequences, both jazz and popular, and the presence upfront of a real jazzman, Jack Teagarden, a giant of the trombone, lends an authenticity to every scene he appears in. Bing, of course, together with Louis Armstrong invented jazz singing and influenced all popular singing that followed.

My favourite scenes include the one outside the jail - the search for 'a hot cornet player' who is white (Brian Donlevy). The mores of the time didn't permit mixed black and white groups, although some brave bandleaders, notably Benny Goodman and Artie Shaw, frontally challemged that discrimination. Bing's lifelong love of jazz shines through.

The scene in the cinema, where Bing offers a light popular song of the period as a sop to the cinema manager so that he can play his jazz later is the best rendition of 'By the Light of the Silvery Moon' I have ever heard. 'The Waiter and the Porter and the Upstairs Maid' is also a wonderfully crafted musical sequence which has never been bettered.

But my favourite of all is the young boy playing clarinet with a black group down on the levee at the foot of Basin Street, in spite of its eye-rolling caricatures of black musicians. The infectious lift of 'At a Georgia Camp Meeting' stayed with me all my life.

Mary Martin, later of South Pacific fame - and Larry Hagman's mum (JR of Dallas) - plays her part to perfection, especially in the scene where she persuades the stuffed-shirt club audience to dance to the jazz.

If you love cinema and you love music, you must have this film in your collection.

An excellent buy for Bing fans and lovers of great music. I thoroughly enjoyed both films. The image quality and sound were very good, and at this price a bargain; recommended.