A Few Words About A few words about...™ King of Jazz -- in Blu-ray (1 Viewer)

[Casey62]

No, you're not alone!

I second that - love WHOOPEE!

 

[TJPC]

His Goldwyn musicals, (available as a set from Warner Archive), are hilarious. I used to stay up all hours of the night to catch them before home video. I think he is just as funny as any of the other great comedians or teams of the 1930s.
His obscurity unfortunately is probably because each movie has a black face number. I would be offended certainly if he was a modern performer, but this is the 1930s when these scenes were common. To my eyes, he is never disrespectful and often interacts with genuine black performers (Nicholas Brothers).

 

[Drew Salzan]

His Goldwyn musicals, (available as a set from Warner Archive), are hilarious. I used to stay up all hours of the night to catch them before home video. I think he is just as funny as any of the other great comedians or teams of the 1930s.
His obscurity unfortunately is probably because each movie has a black face number. I would be offended certainly if he was a modern performer, but this is the 1930s when these scenes were common. To my eyes, he is never disrespectful and often interacts with genuine black performers (Nicholas Brothers).

They're especially fun to try to spot a young Lucille Ball.

 

[TJPC]

Watch yourself, for a while all I did was watch the background and ignore Eddie entirely, especially “Roman Scandals”. She certainly must have had dental work after this era.

 

[AnthonyClarke]

Mr Harris was right. Eddie was a veritable cyclone!
My favourite moment is when, while singing 'Making Whoopee', he mimes picking up and speaking into a telephone. Being so very modern, he changes that mime-action from speaking into an old candle-stick two-part phone, into a 'modern' handset. So modern... just like Technicolor and sound!
He was a natural ... over-stated on stage to reach the balcony and back-stalls, but keeping his shtick to a minimum for the camera. Very prescient .. way ahead of his time.

 

[Drew Salzan]

Watch yourself, for a while all I did was watch the background and ignore Eddie entirely, especially “Roman Scandals”. She certainly must have had dental work after this era.

She's especially visible in the Young and Beautiful number. And you're correct in the dental work comment. LOL.

 

[Brian Kidd]

WHOOPEE! used to run on HBO back in the early 80's, which is where I first became aware of Eddie Cantor. I became an instant fan. I haven't seen all of his films, but the ones I have seen have been incredibly enjoyable.

 

[Mike Frezon]

When I was a kid I borrowed and read Cantor's autobiography from my elementary school's very limited library. I remember being captivated by his stories of vaudeville, burlesque and films. I had seen one of his films on TV so I had some idea of who Eddie Cantor was.

For a long time now, I've had the WA DVD release of The Eddie Cantor Story in my Amazon cart but haven't yet pulled the plug. Cantor plays himself in the film. All this talk is making my trigger finger involuntarily constrict.

 

[Matt Hough]

Not true. Keefe Brasselle plays Eddie in the movie though Cantor supplies the singing voice (as Jolson did in his two biographical movies).

 

[TJPC]

When I was a kid I borrowed and read Cantor's autobiography from my elementary school's very limited library. I remember being captivated by his stories of vaudeville, burlesque and films. I had seen one of his films on TV so I had some idea of who Eddie Cantor was.

For a long time now, I've had the WA DVD release of The Eddie Cantor Story in my Amazon cart but haven't yet pulled the plug. Cantor plays himself in the film. All this talk is making my trigger finger involuntarily constrict.

Cantor only had a cameo at the end. Otherwise this is a terrible film with an embarrassing lead actor doing a terrible impression. Much much better to get a real Cantor film, all of which are on disc, even “Ali Baba Goes To Town”, not his best, but one I looked for for 30 years ever since there was a short excerpt in “Day of The Locust”.

 

[Will Krupp]

“Ali Baba Goes To Town”, not his best, but one I looked for for 30 years ever since there was a short excerpt in “Day of The Locust”.

Hahah, yes I think the same thing every time someone brings up Ali Baba! I always expect Karen Black....

 

[Mike Frezon]

Yikes! Sorry everyone. My wires got crossed on that one. I must've seen his name in the cast list and figured incorrectly.

Sincerest apologies. And, thanks for the correction.

 

[Arthur Powell]

Yikes! Sorry everyone. My wires got crossed on that one. I must've seen his name in the cast list and figured incorrectly.

Sincerest apologies. And, thanks for the correction.

The only kind thing that I can say about the film is that the music is well presented. That said, Keefe Brasselle posthumously deserves a lifetime "achievement award" from the Razzies for one of the worst performances in the history of film (that may sound like hyperbole, but it really isn't it). I'm surprised that the director Alfred E. Green who did so well with The Jolson Story (hey Twilight Time, it would sure be swell to get the Jolson biopics on blu) would allow Brasselle to portray Cantor as an infantile and gross caricature of his stage persona with all of the mugging and eye rolling. Something seriously went wrong with the production, and I would love to know how this film got through the studio system without someone in the chain of command saying, "We have a clunker on our hands." Perhaps no one wanted to admit that the emperor had no clothes on.

As for the subject of this thread, I'm eagerly anticipating seeing King of Jazz in all of its restored glory. This may very well be the best representation we have of two-color Technicolor since very little original negative material exists on the films shot in the process. It is ironic that Universal, the studio infamous for purging much of its silent output in the late 1940s to reclaim the silver and shelf space, actually kept and maintained the negative for this film. If the silent films were destroyed for being obsolete, what could be said for an early talkie filmed in an obsolete color system that likely couldn't be printed even if a print was desired?

 

[Casey62]

I'm looking forward to the supplemental material, but admittedly with a little bit of mixed expectations. I understand why reference to 1930's sensibilities is to a certain extent unavoidable, but hopefully there won't be an overall apologetic tone running through the commentaries and documentaries. Keeping things in historical context is vital, and this can be done without calling unfavorable attention each time anything considered today as non-PC pops up. Personally, I find this practice distracting as well as attempting to influence my own reaction to the film. I take such opinionating with a grain of salt, but it can get rather tiresome when it's always being shoved in my face. I'm mature enough to realize tastes and modes change without someone zealously pointing it out for me in a way that's supposed to make me agree to cringe. When I finally watch Criterion's Blu-ray of THE KING OF JAZZ, I don't plan on cringing but only revelling in its newly restored glory.

 

[RichMurphy]

I'm looking forward to the supplemental material, but admittedly with a little bit of mixed expectations. I understand why reference to 1930's sensibilities is to a certain extent unavoidable, but hopefully there won't be an overall apologetic tone running through the commentaries and documentaries. Keeping things in historical context is vital, and this can be done without calling unfavorable attention each time anything considered today as non-PC pops up. Personally, I find this practice distracting as well as attempting to influence my own reaction to the film. I take such opinionating with a grain of salt, but it can get rather tiresome when it's always being shoved in my face. I'm mature enough to realize tastes and modes change without someone zealously pointing it out for me in a way that's supposed to make me agree to cringe. When I finally watch Criterion's Blu-ray of THE KING OF JAZZ, I don't plan on cringing but only revelling in its newly restored glory.

I applaud your viewpoint, and agree with it. But we live in times where there are people whose mission in life is to be, as I call it, "professionally offended". In addition, learning history is seen as irrelevant by an appallingly large percentage of the population (as well as learning FROM history, but that's off-topic).

My latest cringe was the warning that a recent purchase "is intended for the adult collector and may not be suitable for children". The purchase? The Porky Pig 101 collection of cartoons from Warner Archive.

 

[BarryR]

hahahahaha I like that term, "professionally offended." I got into a near argument on Facebook with someone who is too cool for school with GWTW--considering it "unwatchable" for PC reasons. Um, okey doke. Anyway, I really celebrate this bluray release; I saw its re-premiere in Manhattan in 2016 and will never forget the heartfelt wave of applause as the main title appeared.

 

[Will Krupp]

We're veering dangerously close to a political discussion here.....

 

[Mike Frezon]

We're veering dangerously close to a political discussion here.....

I don't think so, Will. Our rule about religion/politics has always had that exception about the discussion of either when it comes to its role in the plot of a particular film. Here, we will usually also give leeway in terms of discussions of a film's place in historical context.

The important thing for everyone to remember is just to be careful that we don't express our own political/religious views (as to what's right/wrong) and disparage others. Most problems are avoided that way.

 

[Casey62]

My taste in entertainment spans a wide historical range, so I can say that I genuinely enjoy the musical numbers and comedic sketches as presented in THE KING OF JAZZ. Call it nostalgic charm if you will, but for me, there's more to it than that. Even almost 90 years on, the film's infectious enthusiasm still sucks me in, and I easily find myself tapping away to "When the Bluebirds and the Blackbirds Get Together" and "Happy Feet", while getting a bit misty-eyed over "Monterey/La Paloma". When a movie gets me involved that way, its age is completely irrelevant. There's a jaded edge to so much of today's entertainment which I find to be absent in a film like THE KING OF JAZZ. It was an innovative era for motion pictures and the recording industry, and I can sense that fun spirit still coming through in this so-called, pop-culture relic. The Great Depression was gripping the nation, but you'd never know it watching this movie.

 

[Gary16]

My “King of Jazz” just arrived from Amazon. Will start screening today!