Paramount Pictures
Not part of a collection.
Birth of the Blues
Strike Up The Band ! * Here comes happiness . . . in a merry medley of romance . . . and rhythm !
Jeff grows up near Basin Street in New Orleans, playing his clarinet with the dock workers. He puts together a band, the Basin Street Hot-Shots, which includes a cornet player, Memphis. They struggle to get their jazz music accepted by the cafe society of the city. Betty Lou joins their band as a singer and gets Louie to show her how to do scat singing. Memphis and Jeff both fall in love with Betty Lou.
- Original title
- Birth of the Blues
- Language
- EN
- Country
- US
- Budget
- —
- Revenue
- —
CinemaSerf
Jul 27, 2025 · via TMDB
It’s set in the American Deep South in the late 1930s so of course there are going to be unsavoury racial overtones, but in some ways this films strives to suggest that by using jazz music and the wholesomeness of Bing Crosby, there might be some green shoots of desegregation starting to emerge. The young “Jeff” is a pretty prodigious talent, but is regularly strapped by his father for playing with “darkie bands” in New Orleans. Undeterred, he grows up (into Bing Crosby) and establishes his own multi-racial and multi-talented band. They struggle to overcome the prejudicial attitudes on the city, though, and it’s only when they hook up with songstress “Betty Lou” (Mary Martin) that they start to get hired. Somewhat predictably, he falls for her but so does his best mate - their cornet player “Memphis” (Brian Donlevy). This latter love-triangle element is what passes for the plot and we’ve seen that play out loads of times. This thrust of film is really all about the plentiful and varied musical numbers that frequently get the toes tapping, and maybe encourage a 1941 audience to look beyond colour and see talented human beings strutting their stuff to produce a great sound (except for Dunlevy who clearly isn’t playing anything!). The songs themselves are all a bit album-tracky so you might not recall them for long, but they do their job here as the USA starts to look towards a turbulent next few years and the charismatic Bing gets to remind us why he was a star.
User reviews courtesy of TMDB.
Bing Crosby
Jeff Lambert
Mary Martin
Betty Lou Cobb
Brian Donlevy
Memphis
Carolyn Lee
Aunt Phoebe Cobb
Eddie 'Rochester' Anderson
Louey
J. Carrol Naish
Blackie
Warren Hymer
Limpy
Horace McMahon
Wolf
Ruby Elzy
Ruby
Harry Barris
Suds
Minor Watson
Henri Lambert
Harry Rosenthal
Piano Player
Donald Kerr
Skeeter, Barbershop Musician
Barbara Pepper
Maizie
Cecil Kellaway
Granet
Ronnie Cosby
Jeff as a Boy
Duke Ellington
Self (archive footage)
Louis Armstrong
Self (archive footage)
Tommy Dorsey
Self (archive footage)
Jimmy Dorsey
Self (archive footage)
Benny Goodman
Self (archive footage)
Paul Whiteman
Self (archive footage)
Roscoe Ates
Cab Driver (uncredited)
Charles Lane
Wilbur - Bijou Theater Manager (uncredited)
Mantan Moreland
Black Trumpet Player (uncredited)
William C. Mellor
Director of Photography
Edith Head
Costume Design
Victor Schertzinger
Director
Jazz: The Only Way of Life
Glenn Fredly: The Movie
Ray
The Princess and the Frog
Daybreak Express
You, the Living
'Round Midnight
Jezebel
Wild at Heart
Big Night
The Glenn Miller Story
Leningrad Cowboys Go America
American Pop
Baller Blockin'
Sweet and Lowdown
Paris Je T'aime
Bill Evans Time Remembered
Infinity
Paris Blues
Boléro
Elsa & Fred
Der Pastor mit der Jazztrompete
Crazy
After Hours
Assolo
Dizzy Gillespie - Live in Montreal
Playboy Video Magazine, Volume 1
Cold Trumpet
Max Roach Double Quartet Stuttgart 1990
Bailey's Blues
Judith Hill Elbjazz Festival 2024
City of the Winds
The Gospel according to Jazz - Chapter II
Kirk Whalum: The Gospel According to Jazz Chapter III
Avishai Cohen Trio Leverkusener Jazztage 2024
Giuli - It Was A Dream
Phantom
Singular
Oscar Peterson Trio: The Stuttgart Concert
Joe Zawinul & Trilok Gurtu - 25 Festival Jazz Frankfurt
Incognito - Leverkusener Jazztage
Medeski Martin & Wood - Leverkusener Jazztage
John Scofield Uberjam Band Live At The Jazz Fest Sarajevo
Femi Kuti: Live at the Shrine
Les Misérables: 25th Anniversary in Concert
Taylor Swift: Reputation Stadium Tour
My Little Pony: Equestria Girls – Rainbow Rocks
Shawn Mendes: Live in Concert
Monster High: Boo York, Boo York
Runaway
Jesus Christ Superstar - Live Arena Tour
Bratz: Rock Angelz
The Princess and the Frog
Grease Live
Easter Parade
Let It Shine
Summer Stock
Gay Purr-ee
Oklahoma!
Brigadoon
Tom Sawyer
Press Play
Daddy Long Legs
Hellfighters
The 5,000 Fingers of Dr. T.
Mariah Carey's Magical Christmas Special
Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer: The Movie
Annie: A Royal Adventure
Roustabout
Make Mine Music
Nov 7, 1941
