Stella nel cielo

The merits of this picture lay rather in the execution of the great jazz scores than the plot itself - lacking and predictable. Starting by a little chronicle about the jazz development from its African roots till its further evolving into New Orleans and Chicago style, the story approaches the career's flourish of a young trumpeter Cooper, who falls for a "stride" piano player during the Great War. The movie also portrays the prejudice of higher classes against jazz valued as a 'vulgar' genre. A movie that certainly will apply the classic jazz lovers, with locations in Basin street and, at the end, a very special featuring of the most hot jazz players of early 40's as Benny Goodman, Charlie Barnet, Gene Krupa, Harry James, Jack Jenny, Joe Venuti, and Alvino Rey, not forgetting the special appearance of Connie Boswell singing "under a falling star". As against another movies as "Alfie", "anatomy of murder" or "Ball of fire" which conciliate good scripts with good music (Sonnie Rollins, Duke Ellington and Roy Eldridge respectively),Syncopation, even unprovided of a consistent story, still is a delicious option in order to evoke one of the most fruitful music period in this century.

Previous comments size this one up pretty well; it has jazz strengths, story weaknesses, and jazz weaknesses.

But it has jazz, so it's obviously better than movies that do not. ;-)

Somewhat surprised there have been no mentions of the film's clearly dismissive treatment of the "symphonic jazz" maestro "Ted Browning", a full-on swipe at a certain real-life caucasian bandleader with an ironic surname who profited handsomely from the music while bringing relatively little to it himself.

But set aside whether the character's model merits the derision; "Ted Browning" seems almost too close to TOD Browning, the name of the director of both Dracula and Freaks, to have been a purely coincidental choice.

That you'd essentially name the bandleader of an orchestra that was clearly depicted as sucking the life from jazz musicians after the director of a vampire movie feels like another small point in favor of this seldom-shown movie.

George Latimer (Adolphe Menjou) and his daughter Kit (Bonita Granville) live in New Orleans, the city of jazz. Unfortunately, the family business is not doing well and has to relocate to Chicago. Kit is heartbroken, but she agrees to the move with the promise that they will return someday. As she gets older, she never loses her love of jazz and plays it whenever she gets a chance. One night, she goes for a walk and comes across Johnny Schumacher (Jackie Cooper), a down and out musician. He takes her to a party where they play a new variation on New Orleans jazz and she brings down the house with her piano-playing. Her confidence gives Johnny a new outlook on his love for music, although money is always a temptation.

Syncopation could have been much better, but it constantly strays from the fact that jazz music came from the black community. It begins with black people, one of the rare opportunities in classic films for black actors to shine, but that quickly disappears in favor of the white stars. Noteworthy players are Todd Duncan as trumpet-player Rex Tearbone and Jessica Grayson as his mother. The movie becomes a bit of a cliché with the actors struggling against all odds only to inspire the greats like Benny Goodman and Harry James. Unfortunately black musicians like Louis Armstrong, Fats Waller, and Duke Ellington are left out of the grand finale.

As it stands, Syncopation is an entertaining movie with lots of great music, but it is simply average overall. It never sticks to a time period, but what it lacks in accuracy, it makes up for with catchy tunes and praise-worthy leading actors. Granville is dazzlingly beautiful throughout the movie and she and real-life boyfriend Cooper work well together on-screen.

This movie definitely gets points for:

1) its general love for the music and mood of New Orleans 2) the great jazz/blues score 3) and most particularly its view of African/Americans as musicians and maids which sounds bad until you consider that, in 1942 in Hollywood, it was pretty much maids period. With an occasional train porter thrown in for variety.

The movie gets points taken away for:

1) The flat, corny, pseudo poetic dialogue (expected more from Phil Yordan who penned the noir classic ,"The Big Combo" and the fine, dark western, "Day Of The Outlaw") 2) The general saccharininity (how's that for a new word?) of Bonita Granville 3) most especially that horrible final montage of jazz/blues immortals all of whom are white (what? Satchmo didn't make the cut? In a film about friggin New Orleans? Shameful)

When the dust settles, give it a C plus.

The 1942 Syncopation is somewhat outdated, but, aaaah, the incredible music makes this film watching and wanting for more.