King of Jazz

"A NEW ERA in sound and color entertainment!"

1930 1h 40m EN

😐

6.4

MID

⭐

6.7

IMDB

★6.4TMDB · 40★6.7IMDB · 1,675

Music

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

A large-scale revue musical built around Paul Whiteman and his orchestra, presenting a series of musical performances, sketches, and staged tableaux in early two-color Technicolor, emblematic of Hollywood’s early sound-era “all-star” musical productions.

“A NEW ERA in sound and color entertainment!”

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Cast

Paul Whiteman
Paul Whiteman
John Boles
Vocalist ('Song of the Dawn' / 'It Happened in Monterey')
Jeanie Lang
Vocalist ('I'd Like To Do Things For You' / 'Ragamuffin Romeo')
Laura La Plante
Editor ('Ladies of the Press') / Stenographer ('In Conference') / Quartet Member, 'Nellie'
Jeanette Loff
Vocalist ('It Happened in Monterey' / 'Bridal Veil' / 'A Bench in the Park')
Glenn Tryon
Executive ('In Conference') / Unmarried Husband
William Kent
General ('All Noisy on the Eastern Front') / Goldfish Owner ('Oh! Forevermore!') / Unmarried Couple's Offspring / Vocal ('Do Things For You')
Slim Summerville
Automobile Owner ('Springtime') / Rear End of Horse / Charles

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: John Murray Anderson
Writers: Edward T. Lowe Jr., Harry Ruskin
Languages: English
Countries: United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Shot for just $2.0M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

ERA

Did you know

96 years old — a genuine piece of film history.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by John Murray Anderson, shot by Jerome Ash. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Robert Carlisle shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Paul Whiteman and John Boles and Jeanie Lang carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

ERA

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "A NEW ERA in sound and color entertainment!".

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

WILD

Did you know

IMDB entry: tt0021025 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

WILD

Did you know

Only 40 TMDB ratings — you're getting ahead of the curve on this one.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

John Murray Anderson directs. Jerome Ash behind the camera. Robert Carlisle cuts. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Shot for just $2.0M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.
296 years old — a genuine piece of film history.
3Directed by John Murray Anderson, shot by Jerome Ash. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
4Editor Robert Carlisle shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
5Paul Whiteman and John Boles and Jeanie Lang carry the top of the cast.
6Marketing tagline: "A NEW ERA in sound and color entertainment!".
7IMDB entry: tt0021025 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
8Only 40 TMDB ratings — you're getting ahead of the curve on this one.

The technical file

Cinematography: Jerome Ash
Editing: Robert Carlisle
Costume design: Herman Rosse
Makeup / hair: Jack Pierce
Runtime: 100 min · 1h 40m
Status: Released
Budget: $2,000,000
Original language: EN
IMDB: King of Jazz (1930)
IMDB rating: 6.7/10 · 1,675 votes
MPAA: Approved

Awards

Won 1 Oscar. 2 wins total

Academy Award for Best Production Design

Individual records documented via Wikidata; the summary above may count more.

Trailers & featurettes

Watch the pieces

Community reviews

What people are saying

CinemaSerf2024-02-12
★ 6/10
The title of this film is a touch misleading. I was expecting much more of a jazz-based musical revue but instead got pretty much a whole gamut of colourful and precisely staged repertoire. Paul Whiteman and his accomplished orchestra provide the conduit, as it were, as a variety of performers sing, dance and make us laugh (or cringe) for the next hundred minutes. There's a bit of Bing Crosby's first screen appearance with the "Rhythm Boys" doing a lively version of "Happy Feet" and probably my favourite staging of George Gershwin's "Rhapsody in Blue" - featuring an orchestra within the belly of the grandest of pianos. What this illustrates really effectively is the huge variety of musical skills that audiences in 1930 could expect to see, and at just how versatile the orchestra was when it came to playing themes from just about every genre. Whoever thought about playing some patriotic Souza on a bicycle pump? It looks great and it sounds good but for me, not being an American, too many of the acts - especially the comedy - didn't really travel. The production itself, though probably impractical to deliver, needed a live audience to breathe some life into it. The skills there are superb, but the whole thing is just a bit sterile and lifeless. As an history of what engaged the American people in the 1920s, this in still an interesting piece of entertainment nostalgia, though - and it is worth a watch.

Production companies