Product: Birth Of The Blues/Blue Skies - Double Feature (1941)
Rating: 4.0
Blue Skies & Birth of the Blues movies
Blue SkiesThis was the second movie to feature Fred Astaire and Bing Crosby together, the first being Holiday Inn. It was in full colour from 1946 and was little more than a vehicle for a couple of dozen songs by Irving Berlin, many still popular today like the title song, `A pretty girl is like a melody', `How deep is the ocean', `You keep coming back like a song', and `Heat wave'. But there are several less well-known tunes here too. Best moments: Astaire's seemingly effortless dancing in `Putting on the Ritz', and the comedy duo number `A couple of song and dance men' - Crosby and Astaire of course. If you like Berlin's music, you'll like this.Birth of the BluesI guess this is a documentary of sorts about the introduction of Dixieland Jazz music, originally the province of the black slaves, to the white folks; but it's presented as an entertaining black-and-white musical. It stars Bing Crosby, Mary Martin and Brian Donlevy and dates from 1941. Crosby plays an itinerant clarinettist (Jeff Lambert) who finds himself in New Orleans. He's partnered by cornetist Memphis (Donlevy), trombonist Jack Teagarden (in person) and singer Betty Lou Cobb (Martin) and together they form a Dixieland jazz group. The tunes are of their time, circa World War I. They include `By the light of the silvery moon', `Tiger rag', `Cuddle up a little closer', `Melancholy baby' and of course `Birth of the blues'. The movie also introduced Johnny Mercer's `The waiter and the porter and the upstairs maid', which became a big hit for him and Crosby. There's a passionate rendering of the St. Louis Blues composed by W.C. Handy. The movie was directed by Victor Scherzinger who composed a few hit tunes himself - like 'I remember you', 'Sand in my shoes' and 'Tangerine'. Sadly, he died shortly after the film was released.