KING OF JAZZ

Details

• Release Year: 1930
• Genre: Animation, Comedy, Music
• Plot: Made during the early years of the movie musical, this exuberant revue was one of the most extravagant, eclectic, and technically ambitious Hollywood productions of its day. Starring the bandleader Paul Whiteman, then widely celebrated as the King of Jazz, the film drew from Broadway variety shows to present a spectacular array of sketches, performances by such acts as the Rhythm Boys (featuring a young Bing Crosby), and orchestral numbers—all lavishly staged by veteran theater director John Murray Anderson. Presented here in the most complete form possible and restored to its original early-Technicolor glory, King of Jazz offers a fascinating snapshot of the way mainstream American popular culture viewed itself at the dawn of the 1930s.
• Cast: Paul Whiteman, John Boles, Laura La Plante, Jeanette Loff, Glenn Tryon, William Kent, Slim Summerville, The Rhythm Boys, Kathryn Crawford, Carla Laemmle, Stanley Smith, George Chiles, Jack White, Frank Leslie, Walter Brennan, Churchill Ross, John Arledge, Al Norman, Jacques Cartier, Nell O'Day, Marion Stadler, Don Rose, The Radio City Rockettes, Thomas Atkins, Charlene Aber, Arline Abers, Harry Barris, Brox Sisters, Bobbe Brox, Kathlyn Brox, Lorayne Brox, Lavern Chase, Delbert Cobain, Betty Mae Crane, Beverly Crane, Bing Crosby, Gloria Fisher, Jack Fulton, The Sisters G., Eleanor Gutöhrlein, Karla Gutöhrlein, Wilbur Hall, Otis Harlan, Grace Hayes, Paul Howard, Merna Kennedy, Jeanie Lang, Charles Murray, Al Rinker, George Sidney, Paul Small, R. Smith, Robin Smith, Thelma Woodruff, Ted Bacon, Joan Barclay, Roy Bargy, Richard Cromwell, Yola d'Avril, Geraldine Dvorak, Arthur Gardner, Betty Jane Graham, Charlie Greco, Charles Irwin, Marcia Mae Jones, Otto Landau, Eddie Lang, Bela Lugosi, Roy Maier, Matty Malneck, Joan Marsh, Sunny Jim McKeen, Cecilia Parker, Mike Pingatore, John Peel Quartet, Snowdrop, Nancy Torres, Renee Torres, Florence Turner, Joe Venuti, Pauline Wagner, John Murray Anderson, Harry Ruskin, Edward T. Lowe Jr., Charles MacArthur
• Director: John Murray Anderson
• Runtime: 1:40
• Company: The Criterion Collection, Universal Pictures Home Entertainment
• Media Format: Movie