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https://www.criterion.com/films/29389-king-of-jazz

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Technicolor

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/King_of_Jazz

Just got Criterion’s Blu-ray of the restored KING OF JAZZ (1930) Starring Paul Whiteman. I wager the picture never looked this good even in first release. Get your copy today. Here are some screenshots:

The producers pushed limitations of the red and green Technicolor process to bring out the blue in Bing Crosby’s eyes. Seeing them on my big screen was electric. All the way through KING OF JAZZ the limitations of the color process are pushed to exciting results. I love watching these films where the processes are still in the experimental stage.

The only Black performer in this Jazz film is this little girl sitting on Pail Whiteman’s lap. In the context of today’s climate this scene would never be allowed. Way too much innuendo. The Disney people wrongly reframed 1940s FANTASIA to eliminate the character Sunflower so they could promote the Theatrical, dvd and Blu-ray releases as uncut. Uncut? Yes. Uncensored? No. Salvador Dali and Pablo Picasso said, “It is good taste not bad taste which is the enemy.” I’m with them. Kudos to this film’s restorers for not “improving” this film to suit current sensibilities.

I first saw Laura La Plante in Paul Leni’s brilliant 1927 horror comedy THE CAT AND THE CANARY. It is great to see and hear her in KING OF JAZZ.

Why not use a Black Man for this first scene from RHAPSODY IN BLUE original written by George Gershwin? I don’t know why. I do know the white man they used had to do a lot of scrubbing after. He does a wicked dance, though. Give him credit for that.

It is amazing what this man could do in those shoes. Films like this give this generation a chance to learn by observing. With the death of vaudeville so much was lost it cannot be measured. Luckily, acts like this preserved on film give today’s generation a chance to learn much that was nearly lost. Buster Keaton grew up in live vaudeville. From the moment he could toddle on stage he watched the great artists of his day do their stuff. Quietly he learned from everyone he observed. The classroom is not where we learn. Life itself is the only school.

My original interest in this film was sparked because it featured this Technicolor segment by Walter Lantz and Bill Nolan.

Despite the limitations of the process KING OF JAZZ’s producers really got exciting results. The film is a feast.

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