Sinfonia Bárbara

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.

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.

Jazz lovers, go out and rent Birth of the Blues; even if you don't like old movies, it might become one of your favorites. Loosely based on real events, Bing Crosby plays someone who, despite his classical training, has jazz in his veins and insists on playing a new kind of music. When no one wants to listen to it, he forms a band with Brian Donlevy and Mary Martin and starts touring, forcing everyone to listen to it!

Cute little tidbits included in the screenplay will make jazz historians chuckle, like when one band member breaks his bow and is forced to improvise by plucking the bass fiddle with his fingers. Fans of the original jazz and blues movement will enjoy seeing Jack Teagarden perform, as well as Eddie "Rochester" Anderson enjoying a pretty big part as Bing's loyal friend.

I'm not the biggest fan of jazz, but I thought this movie was adorable. It's light and fluffy, with only a little smidge of drama, unlike some musical biopics. With "Melancholy Baby", "After the Ball" and the title song, there are tons of toe-tapping numbers to get immersed in. A new song was written for the film, "The Waiter, the Porter, and the Upstairs Maid", and for me, it was particularly fun to watch. I'd heard the song a million times on my Bing Crosby Greatest Hits CD but never knew what movie it came from!

Birth of the Blues was a labor of love for Bing Crosby and it showed. Coming up with Paul Whiteman, Bing met and worked with some of the greatest musicians in history. He enjoyed their company, he enjoyed working with them, just couldn't get enough. The plot is a fictionalization of the creation of the first all white jazz combo, the Original Dixieland Band.

This is Mary Martin's second of two films she did with Crosby and at the same time this was being shot, she was doubling as the girl singer on his Kraft Music Hall. As in Rhythm on the River, for once he's given a leading lady who matches him vocally. Why movie audiences didn't take to her is still a mystery.

Brian Donlevy was at the height of his career where he usually played villains. He's no villain here, but he's Bing's rival for Mary Martin. He plays a hot cornet player named Memphis and I do love the scene where Crosby's band engages in an impromptu jam session on the street in front of the new Orleans Jail where Donlevy is residing and Crosby's trying to get him out. In a radio broadcast dramatization of this film, Phil Harris played Donlevy's part and Dinah Shore played the Mary Martin role.

Usually Crosby's films have original material written for them, this is an exception. A whole lot of old standards are used, the only original song for Birth of the Blues is The Waiter and The Porter and The Upstairs Maid, written by Bing's good pal Johnny Mercer. It's nice, catchy, novelty number with the waiter and upstairs maid done by Crosby and Martin. The porter is jazz trombone great Jack Teagarden who's really into the spirit of the thing.

One of the standards is Wait Till The Sun Shines Nellie, this time done with a jazz inflection. Crosby and Martin duet it and it became a big seller Decca recording.

J. Carroll Naish plays a good gangster villain assisted by henchmen Horace McMahon and Warren Hymer. Hymer had a specialty in playing schlemiel henchmen and this is a typical Warren Hymer part.

Eddie Anderson is in the film, playing a Rochester like part for Bing Crosby as he did for Jack Benny. In many ways he played the typical servile black person and some would say he does it here. Personally I found his Rochester character very good, he often got the best of Jack Benny. He acquits himself well here.

Ruby Elzy plays Anderson's wife and she gets a good vocal opportunity to sing St. Louis Blues as Anderson is unconscious and the band thinks he's checking out.

No one should pass on an opportunity to see Bing and Mary Martin together.

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.