Birth of the Blues

I think I saw a clip of this movie when I watched a special on PBS a couple of decades ago called "Remembering Bing", that clip being of Crosby and Mary Martin whistling. Anyway, this was quite entertaining despite the inaccuracies that abounded. In the New Orleans sequence where a bunch of black musicians were playing, it took me awhile to realize that one of them was Mantan Moreland with his familiar bug eyes-who I knew was a native of Monroe, Louisiana. Nice color sequence involving slides being shown. One might be put off by some of the violence shown near the end but it did result in a touching scene involving Eddie "Rochester" Anderson. So on that note, I do recommend Birth of the Blues. P.S. Since It's a Wonderful Life is my favorite movie, I do like citing when players from that are in something else. Here, it's Charles Lane, Sarah Edwards, and Lillian Randolph from there who appear here. Oh, and a few decades after this movie, Bing's daughter Mary played a character on "Dallas" who was revealed to have shot Mary Martin's son, Larry Hagman, as J. R. Ewing there.

Another of Der Bingle favorites with Mary Martin; wow, how I loved her; her heart really sang to Daddy. I haven't seen it for some years, but I do have it on VHS which I recorded. I have over 1000 recorded VHS movies all in the garage, so now that I am retired, I have time to look at some now and then. This also has Crosby singing with Louis Armstrong.

The blues is a black American invention...period. So, seeing and hearing Bing Crosby and a bunch of white actors singing what they refer to as 'the blues' and its birth is pretty funny....in a sad way. It's a lot like the 1950s when black rock 'n roll songs were remade by dull white singers--such as when (I kid you not) Pat Boone remade Little Richard's "Tutti Frutti"--and outsold the original! Sad...very sad.

Now despite the title of the film being 100% ridiculous, there is one other problem with the film. Most of the music is NOT the Blues but Dixieland--a much happier and bouncier variation on Jazz and the Blues. Now I don't mind this style of music--but this isn't the film's title! So is the film worth seeing? Well, yes--provided you don't take the film very seriously. The actors (Bing Crosby, Brian Donlevy and Mary Martin) are fine--but very white and middle-class. An enjoyable film but not at all a tribute to the black men who created this music. While the black men are mentioned (such as by using enlightened phrases like folks referring to it as 'darkie music'!), this is clearly a white-wash--though an enjoyable one.

As with many musicals of the era, the little girl of the film sparks a sort of magic, something Carolyn Lee was quite good at. She first appears as six-year-old "Aunt Phoebe" sliding down a spiral banister and landing on Bing Crosby's lap, after which she smashes his lucky hat. Bing, nice guy that he is, takes her on his lap and smiles tremendously. So Phoebe becomes a sort of mascot/hanger-on of the early New Orleans blues band that struggles to survive against strong prejudices against "darkie" music. Every time she opens her little mouth to say a few lines I found myself giggling at her. Some of her pranks are quite memorable. I especially liked the scene where she paints herself in white-face and puts a girdle on for a dress. Her little broom dance with Rochester is also adorable. Carolyn was a very funny little girl. Towards the end of the movie Bing picks her up and lullabies her to sleep with the #1 hit song of 1941, "Melancholy Baby". I never imagined this song was written to sing to six-year-old Carolyn Lee. The Melancholy Baby scene alone is worth the price of admission.

The movie is well filmed, the jazz is great, the acting good and the story interesting. Bing is at his best, Mary Martin is gorgeous and Brian Donlevy with his rakish mustache is quite the rogue. One thing I liked about the film was the close, friendly relationships between the African-American and White jazz musicians. Seems like the jazz folks were ahead of their time and we can only wish that the rest of the country will eventually catch up.

Mary Martin, was a real favorite and got her Hollywood start singing "Daddy" in Cole Porter's Night and Day". 1941. This film enjoyed the talents of Eddie (Rochester), Jack Teagarden (who sang with Tommy Dorsey's orchestra, and my favorite male vocalist, Bing Crosby. Crosby and Martin were so good together, and make you feel like hopping dancing and singing lively with them. It's a pleasure to reminisce about these great musical films.