The Crimson Canary

I've never seen the film either but the Esquire Jazz All-stars sequence is over on you tube, just search for Crimson Canary (the Josh White clip is there too) - see the comment there that the musicians actually playing are not the ones that were filmed (sadly enough) ... N --- PS. I guess I might as well duplicate my comments here since IMDb won't let me post a comment under 10 lines: Unfortunately (according to David Meeker's Jazz in the Movies) the featured musicians are not the ones actually playing! The musicians are: Nick Cochrane - trumpet; Eddie Parkers - lead trumpet; Dale Nichols - trombone; Barney Bigard -clnt; King Guion - tenor; Stan Wrightsman - piano; Budd Hatch - bass; Mel Torme - drums. Why the Esquire all-stars weren't good enough to play their own music one can only guess but I suspect it was a licensing or union thing. BTW, the other musicians pictured there besides Howard McGhee, Oscar Pettiford, and Coleman Hawkins are Sir Charles Thompson on piano and Denzil Best on drums ... N

I first saw "The Crimson Canary" in the early 1970's when I was getting really interested in 1930's and 1940's jazz and swing, and contrary to dadoun-1's review, the sequence featuring the Coleman Hawkins-Oscar Pettiford band on screen DOES include Hawkins, Pettiford and the other musicians in the group (trumpeter Howard McGhee, pianist Sir Charles Thompson and drummer Denzil DaCosta Best) on the soundtrack as well. The musicians dadoun-1 mentions were actually the off-screen doubles for the white actors playing the members of the band at the heart of the film's story. (These are the only recordings I know of by tenor saxophonist King Guion, whom critic George T. Simon predicted would become a star. Too bad he didn't, as he's quite good even if not at Hawkins' level.) I've been in love with this movie ever since and I only wish Universal Home Video would do a proper DVD or Blu-Ray version instead of the lousy splice-ridden copy I just got from a grey-label source that omitted the opening song, "I Never Knew I Could Love Anybody." And I'm amused that the original ads promised a sleazy exploitation movie - "Rhythm Cults Exposed!" - when the film actually treats the jazz world of 1945 with unusual respect and even love.

1945's "The Crimson Canary" was a Universal mystery with a twist, the main suspects are jazz musicians, allowing for about 20 minutes of music to detract from the investigation. Noah Beery Jr. heads the cast as the trumpet playing bandleader, who discovers the body of their flirtatious singer (Claudia Drake), dead from a fractured skull, in the same back room as her unconscious fiancée, the group's drummer. With a young Mel Torme dubbing the drums, the music holds more intrigue than the whodunit angle (the killer's identity is hardly a surprise), but John Litel steals it as the detective with a fine ear. This film aired twice on Pittsburgh's CHILLER THEATER, although it was never included in Universal's popular SHOCK! package of classic horror films first issued to television in the late 50's, which still featured a number of non horror titles. Also shown on CHILLER THEATER was another whodunit with music, 1944's "Murder in the Blue Room" (also with John Litel), but at least that one featured an actual ghost, albeit a comic one. Other non SHOCK! Universals to air on CHILLER THEATER included 1934's "The Crosby Case," "The Man Who Reclaimed His Head," and "Rendezvous at Midnight," 1938's "The Black Doll," "The Crime of Doctor Hallet," and "The Missing Guest," 1939's "The House of Fear," 1940's "The Invisible Woman," 1941's "The Black Cat," 1942's "Invisible Agent," and 1944's "Jungle Woman."

Jazz saxophone pioneer Coleman Hawkins plays in the background of this fun mystery in which a jazz-mad detective secures his dream assignment: investigating a murder in a jazz cabaret. The detective's musical passion is infectious and the film stimulated my interest in jazz of all periods. For me the refreshing depiction of detective as music enthusiast raised the film above the level of most B-mysteries then prevalent.

In the 1940's there were probably 5,000 B movies made that were no better or worse than this one with one big exception.This little film has a scene that contains five truly great jazz artists playing at close to their peak. I think it's now on youtube.

I saw it on a late show in Palo Alto California 42 years ago and in those days there were no tape machines.(it wouldn't have mattered since I was watching it in a motel.) Anyway, the jazz greats are Coleman Hawkins, Howard McGee,Sir Charles Thompson, Denzil Best, and most of all, Oscar Pettiford on the bass. For a young jazz bass player to be able to watch the great Pettiford in action would be worth something of value thats immeasurable. MOST IMPORTANTLY, the other comments are incorrect !! That is definitely Coleman Hawkins and Oscar Pettiford on the sound track. Believe me, I KNOW their playing. It's definitely THEM !! I'm shocked that people haven't heard that. p-s I had just finished playing a concert with the George Shearing Quintet in Concord California opposite Dave Brubeck and came back to the motel and this movie was on t.v. Talk about an unbelievable experience...by the way, I was able later to secure the film.