"The King Of Jazz" 1930, is a wonderful example of just what the movies could do in the late 20's early 30's if they put their mind to it. The technical achievement is extremely high, for a film of this period, and one wonders at how cinema audiences of 1930 must have been amazed by this picture. It is photographed in a system called "Two Strip Technicolor". (Full 3-strip Technicolor would not be invented until 1932). The 2-strip Technicolor system managed to capture Red and Green, but not blue. To get around this they would use dyes that were a kind of orange/red and aqua-marine/green to trick audiences into thinking there was blue on screen.
In this movie the "Rhapsody in Blue" number is very convincing.
There is no plot to "The King Of Jazz", it is just one mammoth musical number after another, and that adds to its unique charm. My three favourite numbers are "Ragamuffin Romeo", "It Happened In Monterey", and "My Bridal Veil".
The "Bridal Veil" number utilizes one of the biggest indoor sets I have ever seen. A lot of money was spent on this picture, and it shows. The Bridal Veil itself looks to be about 100 feet long and the bride needs about 40 bridesmaids to help hold it up.
The print that is currently in circulation of "The King Of Jazz" is sadly not in 100% excellent condition. It seems to be made up of pristine sections of print, and battered and scratched dupes. Its a real patchwork version that is probably in need of some restoration work. The title sequence, (with vocals over the titles by Bing Crosby singing "Music Hath Charms") is very clear and in good shape, but then halfway through cuts to an extremely battered dupe copy? The same occurrence happens during the "It Happened In Monterey" number, and also "Bench In The Park", we are given a beautiful print with rich colours and rock steady picture stability, only to cut variously to scratched beaten dupes. I cannot understand why certain sections of the film were preserved but others were not.
I am eagerly awaiting the DVD release of this unique and wonderful film and hope it wont be too long before it gets its well deserved release. There don't seem to be any plans as yet and the only way to see this movie is on television or VHS. This is a true lost opportunity to DVD producers because the film has many wonderful Bing Crosby numbers in it and would be very popular with Bing's fans.
