Line #35 Film/KingOfJazz


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/kingofjazz_blog1_copy.jpeg]]
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3	''King of Jazz'' is a 1930 film directed by John Murray Anderson, starring Paul Whiteman and his orchestra.
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5	Whiteman, who called himself "king of jazz" despite being as white as his name, was a famous American bandleader--the first famous bandleader, in fact (and thus, being also one of the first "stars" of American popular music). ''King of Jazz'' was initially conceived as a Paul Whiteman {{Biopic}}, but that idea was abandoned. Instead, the film is simply a revue, a collection of musical numbers performed by Whiteman and his band, with short comic sketch sequences between the songs. The film took advantage of a lavish budget, with huge sets, lots of dancers, and innovative graphic effects. It was also shot in two-strip Technicolor, making it one of the earliest sound features made entirely in color, a trend that began in 1929. The film however is one of a few of them that have survived completely. Most early color talkies are now lost/incomplete or surviving as made-for-TV black-and-white duplicates.
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7	The film includes an opening cartoon by Creator/BillNolan and Creator/WalterLantz, which was the first-ever cartoon made in the Technicolor process. Music/BingCrosby made his film debut as one of "The Rhythm Boys", a vocal trio also consisting of composer/pianist Harry Barris and Al Rinker. Popular vocalists John Boles and Nell O'Day were featured singing as well, while actress Laura La Plante appears in some of the sketches. The Roxyettes/Rockettes appear in some dance sequences.
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9	Compare ''Film/TheHollywoodRevueOf1929'', a similar plotless revue movie.
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12	!!Tropes:
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14	* BusbyBerkeleyNumber: Lavish ornate musical numbers with many dancers and singers, elaborate sets, even a brief overhead shot of dancers in a geometric pattern in the manner that Berkeley would soon make famous.
15	* TheCameo: WesternAnimation/OswaldTheLuckyRabbit can be seen briefly in the opening cartoon.
16	* ClosetShuffle: One of the sketch comedy bits involves a [[ReallyGetsAround quite promiscuous]] French peasant woman who keeps having soldiers show up at her cottage and ask if she's been true to them. She has to hide three successive soldiers in closets--and then a general shows up.
17	* CranialEruption: How Whiteman gets “crowned” King of Jazz in the cartoon. A monkey hits him over the head [[CoconutMeetsCranium with a coconut]], giving him a crown-shaped lump.
18	* DarkestAfrica: The opening cartoon depicts Whiteman on a safari in "darkest Africa".
19	* EverythingIsAnInstrument: One act features "trick trombonist" Wilbur Hall playing "Stars and Stripes Forever" with ''[[MundaneMadeAwesome a bicycle pump]]''.
20	* GrandFinale: The final number features hordes of foreigners walking into a melting pot, eventually becoming jazz-loving Americans. At the end, Whiteman and his orchestra (while rather large[[note]]Dance bands of the late 20s and early 30s rarely had more than 12 players, Whiteman often used over thirty men[[/note]], it did not feature all its members) appear, all dressed in golden suits.
21	* GreatWhiteHunter: Whiteman in the cartoon.
22	* ImagineSpot: One musical number features Harry Barris playing a piano and singing next to a portrait of a pretty woman (La Plante) in a frilly white dress. The film then cuts to said woman as a live actress, and an ornate musical number kicks off. The number then ends by going back to the man alone at his piano next to the painting.
23	* IncredibleShrinkingMan: Paul Whiteman introduces his band with an impressive special effect for the era. He puts a toolbox on a table next to a tiny bandstand. As Whiteman watches, his tiny bandmembers climb out of the toolbox and take their places.
24	* InkSuitActor: Paul Whiteman is represented with an animated Paul Whiteman in the opening cartoon.
25	* LegFocus: The Rockettes (billed as the Russell Market Girls) do their leg-kicking thing more than once.
26	* TheManInTheMoon: The "Bench in the Park" number ends with a rather disturbing shot of Whiteman's corpulent, pencil-mustached face as that of the man in the moon.
27	* TheMusical: A collection of musical numbers, with some sketch comedy interludes.
28	* MusicSoothesTheSavageBeast: How Whiteman tames the lion that was about to eat him in the opening cartoon.
29	* NonIndicativeName: Subverted. Even though Whiteman called himself the "king of jazz", his music was more in the vein of standard big band numbers rather than what we would call jazz nowadays.
30	* NoPlotNoProblem: A variety show, lots of music numbers, some sketch comedy, no plot.
31	* NotReallyMarriedPlot: In a brief sketch. A husband and wife discover in the newspaper that the minister who married them was a con man and thus they aren't really married. Then we see the baby beside them, played by Paul Whiteman in an unintentionally creepy moment.
32	--> '''Baby''': You know what that makes me.
33	* ObviousStuntDouble: Played for a gag. Whiteman, an overweight man, is asked to dance. After the camera pulls back someone who appears to be Whiteman does an acrobatic dance. Then the movie cuts to another close-up shot in which Whiteman congratulates his stunt double.
34	** [[TruthInTelevision Whiteman was actually]] [[{{Acrofatic}} a rather good dancer]], displaying his talents on stage shows, which makes this something of an in-joke.
35	* OrangeBlueContrast: A function of the two-color Technicolor of the day. But the art and costume design make the most of its limited palette.
36	* RepriseMedley: Right before the end there is a medley that consists of excerpts from all the songs played in the movie.
37	* StorybookOpening: The movie opens with the host standing in front of a giant book titled "Paul Whiteman's Scrapbook." Each segment was then presented as a page from that book.
38	* TokenMinority: The only black person in the movie is a little girl that is sitting on Whiteman's lap in an entirely random moment.

Context Film / KingOfJazz