tennen-asso Louis Armstrong and his band (African American), along with Billie Holiday (African American and she plays a maid who just happens to also be a singer!) originate "jass" (later in the plot renamed jazz) in this film. The (white) club owner sponsors them--until he becomes a music manager and lo and behold--his big jazz act becomes Woody Herman and his band (all white). By the end, Billie Holiday, Satchmo, and the rest are replaced as crusaders for this new music by the blonde heroine of the movie (white), a full symphony orchestra (all white), and the Woody Herman band as symbols of the acceptance of jazz into proper American music circles. The movie ends with the latter crew triumphantly and oh-so-blandly performing a song they learned from Satch and the gang, although we never do find out what happened to them! That said, the movie is an important jazz history artifact--Satchmo and Lady Day and their fellow musicians are incredible.

evbaby Do not watch this movie in real time. Rather, tape it or get the DVD so you can fast forward through every scene with just white people in it. That will leave you with about 15 minutes or so of performances by Louis Armstrong and his combo and Billie Holiday. Although heavily lip-synched, they are still worth watching at least for historical interest, especially the scenes with Billie and Louie performing together. Also, Louie's personality and joy of performance still shine through and are genuine pleasures. The only other point of interest is Billie Holiday's 'performance' (to be generous) as an obsequious maid! It is the saddest spectacle ever offered up by American popular culture!!! True, many great black performers had to humble themselves to get into the movies but Billie didn't need the movies and she was otherwise quite vocal about being nobody's fool (except, tragically, her own). Watching her in these scenes, I couldn't help but think about her criticism of Louie Armstrong ("Louie 'Tom's from the heart"). Sad, sad, sad. I watched it as if it were a road-side accident...I felt guilty for gawking but I couldn't look away, either. Everything else is just filler (much like 'Cuban Pete', a turgid little romantic comedy whose only excuse for existence is to showcase the hot, new (1946) Cuban sensation, Desi Arnaz and his Orchestra. For that reason, I recommend it highly with the same caveat...skip everything that isn't music).

TxMike In most ways this 1947 movie, "New Orleans", is a tribute to old New Orleans and Louis Armstrong for popularizing Dixieland Jazz. However, Nick Larocca and "The original Dixieland Jazz Band" actually preceded Armstrong's band, but the great popularity of Dixieland music can arguably be credited to Armstrong and the musicians around him. Armstrong (46) is featured prominently here, as both an actor and as a musician. The musical part of the story highlights the conflict between the old music and this new form, Jazz, that some many felt threatened by.The movie is set in 1917, right about the time that the 20-year experiment of Storyville, with its casinos and houses of prostitution, came to an end as directed by the government. In this movie they even have a funeral-type Jazz parade as the Storyville residents move out. Just after that, 1919 through 1922, is when the young Louis Armstrong began making his own mark in New Orleans and later in Chicago.All this history is the setting for a love story. Dorothy Patrick (25) plays Miralee Smith, a soprano who moves with her mother to New Orleans from Maryland. She meets and falls for Nick Duquesne (Arturo de Córdova, 38) who was known as the "King of Basin Street." Mother does not approve, has "other plans" for her daughter. Nick leaves New Orleans, goes to Chicago, and eventually makes a name for himself running a coast to coast entertainment enterprise. Meanwhile Miralee is successfully touring the USA and Europe as a singer. And the Armstrong band is touring all over the world also.The movie has a happy ending, as Miralee and Nick find each other again, and musicians like Louis Armstrong and Woody Herman are winning over the crowds with this music.

hanson-8 A fellow-jazz-fan in the US recently sent me this on video. I enjoyed it immensely. I can't pretend it's a good film. The story and its treatment are reminiscent of the straight bits in Marx Brothers films (the ones that had straight bits, that is). But instead of Groucho and Harpo, Louis Armstrong and Billie Holiday do their stuff, and bring the film to life.Plus points for jazz fans are that several of the numbers are seen and heard complete, rather than faded out; both Billie and Louis were still near their best; the other musicians, including Kid Ory and Barney Bigard, get to solo, and you hear -- and see - an early version of the Armstrong All-Stars really swinging. There's also a rare sight of the great (and now disappeared) Lucky Thompson behind Louis in one sequence.A personal note: one of my very first records (78 rpm, early 1950s) was Louis' "Where the Blues Was Born". I guess I had the studio, not the soundtrack version, but both are terrific. It was amazing to SEE that long-treasured performance."New Orleans" would not go down well with latter-day jazz musicians because Billie's shown as a maid, and Woody Herman (white) comes into the story for no earthly reason beyond the fact that he was a big name in 1947. But if you can see and hear past all that, the music makes it worthwhile.OK, it's not a good film. But how many jazz films are? "Jammin' the Blues," "Pete Kelly's Blues," "Sven Klang's Combo," "Round Midnight," and that's it. Only three of those are feature-length, and two are European. For anyone who loves the music, "New Orleans" is well worth viewing.