Rhapsody In Blue - King of Jazz (1930) - Paul Whiteman - George Gershwin

Here's an abridged version of the George Gershwin masterpiece composed for Paul Whiteman in 1924, from this 1930 2-strip Technicolor revue film.

The segment opens with a completely unrelated "Voodoo Dance" from Africa (?), followed by the opening clarinet solo danced by Jacques Cartier, and then Roy Bargy playing the piano solo.

Danced by Russell Markert Girls and Sisters G.

"King of Jazz" was the first motion picture to use a pre-recorded soundtrack made independently of the actual filming. Whiteman insisted that the entire soundtrack be pre-recorded in order to obtain the best sound, avoiding the poor recording conditions and extraneous noises found in a movie studio. Universal opposed the idea, but Whiteman insisted and prevailed over the reluctant studio executives. After the sound was recorded, the scene was filmed. Later, the film was synchronized to the soundtrack. This allowed the movie to be directed in the same manner as a silent film, with resulting sounds not affecting the completed film.

King of Jazz was the 19th talking picture filmed entirely in two-color Technicolor rather than simply including color sequences. At the time, the process employed red and green dyes, each with a dash of other colors mixed in, but no blue dye. King of Jazz was to showcase a spectacular presentation of "Rhapsody in Blue," so this presented a problem. Fortunately, the green dye Technicolor used can actually appear peacock blue (cyan) under some conditions, but acceptable results in this case would require very careful handling. Art director Herman Rosse and production director John Murray Anderson came up with ingenious solutions. Tests were made of various fabrics and pigments, and by using an all gray-and-silver background the bluish aspect of the dye was set off to best advantage. Filters were also used to inject pale blues into the scene being filmed.

The goal was to produce a finished film with pastel shades rather than bright colors. Nevertheless, as it appears in an original two-color Technicolor print, the sequence might best be described as a "Rhapsody in Turquoise". Later prints made from the original two-component negative, which had survived, make the blues look truer and more saturated than they appeared to audiences in 1930.
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• Category

  Music

[Operaghost93]

Say, that is not George Gershwin at the piano, is it? I mean, I'd recognize him, like.. Everywhere! I'm a big BIG fan. And he kinda looks like him, but I'm not sure, the image is blurry.

[Broadway Classics]

Nope. Read the notes beneath the clip.

[Вячеслав Карелин]

Все впечатление портит не смещение.. звук не соответствует картинке .... неужели нельзя было как то подтянуть ?

[Broadway Classics]

Звук в идеальной синхронизации с изображением.

[dlsofsetx]

This was the first movie filmed in Technicolor.

[Broadway Classics]

Nope. "King of Jazz" was the nineteenth all-talking motion picture filmed entirely in two-color Technicolor rather than simply including color sequences.

[GeoStrum3]

At least he gives credit to Africa for jazz.

[MikeBlitzMag]

Paul Whiteman was an extraordinarily gifted visionary, whose impact continues to resonate nearly a century later. He is greatly missed.

[DSM1G90]

Whiteman did the premiere performance of the Gershwin piece in 1924 and the piece was dedicated to Whiteman. One needs to see this entire film, "the King of Jazz" if possible. One can see where Disney got his inspiration from to create 'Fantasia' from with all the musical sketches in this 1930 film.

[George Strum]

See the clip of The 5,000 Fingers of Dr.T

[PIGADORABLE]

Wonderful picture!

[speedy6105]

Did some more research. Bing did play in this picture. Paul Whitman's Orchestra got the police to let Bing out of jail, during the day, to work on the movie. I found an interview from the '70's with a fellow band member, who went to college with Bing, and he says Bing was out with a girl, had a couple too many, and hit a telephone pole.

[speedy6105]

Bing Crosby would have played drums and sang in this movie, but he was in jail for drunk driving. Who'd a thought it. He was part of Paul Whitefield's group and around 26 at the time (Prohibition was still going on).

[Dona Rodrigue]

Superbe spectacle !

[Rowland107]

Pure Joy!

[UkrainianHistVideo]

Чудово! До речі, батько Гершвіна український єврей)