Product Description

"A Rhapsody in Black and Blue" (1932, with Louis Armstrong), "A Bundle of Blues" (1933, with Duke Ellington and Ivie Anderson), "Cab Calloway's Hi-De-Ho" (1933, with Cab Calloway), "Ain't Misbehavin'" (1941, with Fats Waller), "Symphony in Black" (1935, with Duke Ellington and Billie Holiday), "Jitterbug Party" (1934, with Cab Calloway), "St. Louis Blues" (1929, with Bessie Smith), "Hoagy Carmichael" (1939, with Jack Teagarden), "Ol' King Cotton" (1930, with George Dewey Washington), "Black and Tan Fantasy" (1929, with Duke Ellington, Fredi Washington, Arthur Whetsol), and "Those Blues" (1932, with Vincent Lopez). Bonus Short: Jazz a la Cuba (1933, with Don Aspiazu and His Famous Cuban Orchestra)

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #50759 in DVD
• Brand: Kino Video
• Released on: 2001-02-13
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Formats: Black & White, Compilation, DVD, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 123 minutes

Amazon.com
Hollywood Rhythm: The Best of Jazz & Blues (Vol. 1) is a time capsule from another era, stuffed with tuneful artifacts. With the coming of sound to film, the excitement of hearing recorded music at the movies prompted these shorts, which date from 1929 to 1941. This collection, mostly from the Paramount vaults, begins with the 1932 "Rhapsody in Black and Blue," starring Louis Armstrong (a rather notorious film discussed in Ken Burns's Jazz). Racial stereotyping is rampant in some of these pieces, and this one has Armstrong dressed in leopard skins while playing trumpet in heaven. Absurd, yet Armstrong's performance is over-the-moon exhilarating. Three shorts respectfully showcase the composing genius of Duke Ellington, including 1935's "Symphony in Black," featuring a vocal spot for Billie Holiday.

Hoagy Carmichael is spotlighted in a 1939 short, Fats Waller sings his classic "Ain't Misbehavin'," and the awesome Bessie Smith stars in a very creaky 1929 mini-melodrama, "St. Louis Blues," built around her song. Many of the films create a flimsy story to wrap around the music. In "Cab Calloway's Hi-De-Ho," the irrepressible Mr. Calloway receives a telegram while en route to an engagement at the Cotton Club, and he must improvise a new tune in the sleeping car of his train. A few of the films present scenes at the Cotton Club (complete with saucy dance numbers), and many evoke Harlem as the magical center of black America. The DVD bonus is "Jazz a la Cuba," featuring Don Aspiazu--"The Foremost Exponent of the Rhumba," if you didn't know. --Robert Horton

From the Back Cover
Musical shorts, produced to merely fill out the film program, have in many cases acquired more value than the features they once supported. Filmed at the Paramount Studios in Astoria, Queens, these films offer unparalleled opportunities to see and hear great artists in action--and sometimes present surprisingly gutsy subject matter via truly innovative film technique.

In A Rhapsody in Black and Blue, Louis Armstrong dons outlandish leopard-skin attire to stand knee-deep in soap bubbles, where he trumpets and sings "I'll Be Glad When You're Dead You Rascal You." In Hi-De-Ho, Cab Calloway demonstrates just what scat is all about, with the assistance of a bevy of Cotton Club fan dancers. The legendary "Empress of the Blues," Bessie Smith, stars in her only film, the once-notorious musical drama St. Louis Blues. Teenaged Billie Holiday performs in Symphony in Black, perhaps the greatest of Duke Ellington's shorts. Another Ellington piece, A Bundle of Blues, spotlights his favorite band singer, Ivie Anderson (performing "Stormy Weather"), while Black and Tan Fantasy features the Ellington orchestra imparting a bluesy mood to a surprisingly downbeat tale feature actress-dancer Fredi Washington (who was in Imitation of Life). Meanwhile, George Dewey Washington's powerful baritone transcends some stereotypical situations in Ol' King Cotton.

Also appearing on this DVD--definitely in a lighter vein--are bandleader Vince Lopez (who conducts a bouncy "St. Louis Blues" in Those Blues), composer Hoagy Carmichael (performing "Stardust" with the Jack Teagarden Orchestra), and Fats Waller, who growls a definitive "Ain't Misbehavin'"). --Richard Barrios, author of A Song in the Dark: The Birth of the Musical Film

Customer Reviews

Excellent, but could have been more complete
This stuff is great for anyone who likes jazz and/or pop music of the '30s and '40s, and perhaps for early film buffs as well. It's pure show business history, and fascinating to see what these performers, some of whom you might only know from old 78 records, actually looked like in their heyday.

However, those who own the original laserdisc box set of this collection should be aware that its contents is spread over this DVD and its companion, "Hollywood Rhythm Vol. 02 - The Best of Big Bands & Swing." The problem is, 21 shorts from the laserdisc set didn't make it to these DVDs, so they are not really a replacement for the laserdiscs. Unless the missing titles make it to a third DVD, it's necessary for the decicated collector to hold on to that laserdisc set. Considering the huge storage capacity of DVDs, it seems like they could have combined the entire original collection into one release, with double-sided or dual-layer DVDs to hold it all. Their incompleteness is the only reason I don't give it 5 stars, but for those who won't miss the missing titles, this is still a fascinating collection of old musical shorts.

Bessie Belts It Out!
This DVD has (as far as I know) the only performance ever filmed of Bessie Smith-St. Louis Blues. And what a performance! The vehicle is a he-done-her-wrong type melodrama but opera isn't known for its original stories. And, believe me, this is blues opera, with a chorus! I read somewhere that James C. Johnson, the jazz-blues pianist-composer(of the Charleston) was responsible for the arrangement here. Very different from the record version on her Complete Recordings. She really pulls out all the stops here! What a powerful performance! Unfortunately the sound is definitely not hifi. But what would Bessie have produced had she lived!

The other performances are mostly notable. Louis Armstrong, Cab Calloway, Fats Waller, Duke Ellington, and an unknown at the time, Billie Holiday.

One warning! The racial stereotyping in some areas of the DVD is enough to make you take a second breath. The greatness of the performances and the chance to see these performers is what makes this DVD great.

An Absolute Must Have
Just read the names of the folks in this dvd. That alone got me this dvd. I don't know about everyone else, but my image of Louis Armstrong has been an older man, sort of laid back. I've heard alot of his recordings from his earlier years, but never had much of image to fix to him in his younger years. He's still the allmighty "Satchmo", full of youth and going wild. His stance while playing is like he's telling the world... "Yes.... indeed I am the allmighty Satchmo". The dude is awsome.And Cab Callaway.... the boy goes wild with his hair flying and singing. I've never seen him in any films, except the Blues Brothers. Again it's good to see him as well as "Satchmo" in their youthful wild and rowdy days.I could go on and on. Again just look at the names featured on this dvd. It just don't get no better. Do yourself a favor and get this dvd.