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.
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.