Karry Best movie of this year hands down!

ShangLuda Admirable film.

Guillelmina The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

Fleur Actress is magnificent and exudes a hypnotic screen presence in this affecting drama.

calvinnme 1930's King of Jazz is the strangest and most surreal of the early sound cycle of movie studio revues. Very few films shot completely in two-strip Technicolor survive - this is one of them. Warner Bros. probably made the most all-Technicolor films in the early sound era, but since most of them were Vitaphone the films have long since been lost in most cases.The 1929 and 1930 early sound revues were made by the studios primarily to showcase their talent in an all-talking setting. MGM's "Hollywood Revue of 1929" started the cycle, and did a pretty good job. However, other studios lost sight of the goal and the revues that followed were often clumsily put together and didn't even showcase talent that belonged to the studio."The King of Jazz" is a surprise not only because it holds up so well with time, but because it is such a non-typical product for Universal Studios of that era. Universal of the 20's and 30's mainly made westerns for rural moviegoers with an occasional prestige picture and they were beginning to dabble in the horror genre for which the studio is most remembered. However, at this time they were also known for their thrift, which went out the window when they made this film. The film starts out with a cartoon showing how Paul Whiteman - who called himself The King of Jazz - discovered Jazz. What follows are a sequence of musical and comedy routines. This film doesn't make the mistake of trying to sew the numbers together with some maudlin backstage melodrama. It simply presents the numbers in sequence. Most of the talent here is not under long-term contract to Universal. Laura LaPlante is one of the rare exceptions to that rule. The musical numbers are a delight and it is great to see Bing Crosby at the very beginning of his career. The Brox Sisters light up this film just as they did MGM's revue with "Singin in the Rain". The whole thing is so lively and done with with such innovation and energy considering the static camera of the early talkie era that I can't believe Universal has never thought to put this on DVD. They made this one great musical and didn't really make another one until 1936's "Showboat".My favorite number is "Song of the Dawn" featuring handsome John Boles with his piercing eyes in close up during most of the number belting out a song with that wonderful tenor voice of his. The most memorable number though has got to be "Happy Feet" with dancing shoes and the Sisters G as singing heads in a shoebox. This number also has the aptly named Al "Rubber Legs" Norman showing us the moon dance 28 years before Michael Jackson was even born. Highly recommended for the fun of it all.

drednm Paul Whiteman was a huge star in the 20s with his terrific jazz band. He might have been the original star band leader. In "The King of Jazz" he also shows himself to be a decent comic actor as well. He's best remembered for his recording of Gershwin's "Rhapsody in Blue," which is featured in this early revue film."King of Jazz" is solid entertainment with some lavish and grand-scale production numbers that boast Bing Crosby, John Boles, Laura LaPlante, the Brox Sisters, Jeanie Lang, and of course Whiteman's band.Best songs are "Happy Feet," "A Bench in the Park," "The Song of the Dawn," and a jazzy "Bluebirds and Blackbirds" number with Crosby as one of the Rhythm Boys (with Harry Barris and Al Rinker).Al Norman does an amazing dance number to "Happy Feet." Jeanette Loff is rather bland in the "bridal veil" number. The Sisters G in their Louise Brooks hairdos are OK in their dance numbers. And there's a lot of short comedy bits that feature Walter Brennan, Slim Summerville, Grace Hayes, Merna Kennedy, William Kent, and others.Although I still prefer "The Hollywood Revue of 1929" this revue is also excellent in its use of lavish production numbers, color, and special effects. For fans of early musicals this one is not to be missed.Whiteman, Crosby, and Boles are all great.

Spuzzlightyear I oh so wanted to see this film desperately after seeing the awesome trailer for it. I mean, a two color musical, the first ever made for Warner Brothers! The King Of Jazz has no plot. Nada. Nil. Instead it's a whole pile of musical numbers and comedic skits. The whole thing is centered around a guy who was popular at the time, Paul Whiteman, and his orchestra. The one thing I really liked about this movie is the set design. THAT was truly gaga, but soon lame musical number after lame musical number envelops what good that does and makes this an AWFULLY uncomfortable sit through. Well, at least we got to see a very very young Bing Crosby. That's about all that makes this watchable.

Jack Chism Unique qualities of this early musical include the fact that it's both in color and sound! I had previously understood that prior to 1935 this was technically or chemically impossible. The two-color Technicolor was not new (Ben-Hur, for example) but it does add richness after you get used to it. Really interesting (to me, at least) to see the VERY young Bing Crosby singing as part of the Rhythm Boys. Whiteman's orchestra does Rhapsody in Blue when it was still a new piece. Comedy acts are corny and quaint. The big production numbers were lavish and very new; some seemed experimental and fresh. They didn't yet know just what to do with a musical-entertainment movie, so they just threw in some of everything that was popular on stage at the time, done by some very talented performers.