ST. LOUIS BLUES (1958) starts out fine but markedly tires. The direction is all on one level: restrained. Perhaps it was meant to show that blacks were religious, cultured, "civilized," as opposed to the raucous, carousing, loose-living floozies and crapshooters that Hollywood usually portrayed.
The movie cries out for color. But someone probably figured that with a cast that's all black anyway, why waste the more expensive film stock!
There are other contradictory elements as well. The film wants to be "progressive" and promote jazz. But it also does not want to alienate its religious audience. In that respect, the best thing it does is insert Mahalia Jackson periodically to pick up the spirit. But to have it both ways, when W.C. Handy goes blind and returns to the church, the filmmakers restore his sight (as if God approves of his giving up jazz) before turning him loose again to find fame and acceptance with a symphony orchestra playing the title tune (as if God, in the end, has come down on the side of jazz, as long as it's played as classical music). In real life, of course, W.C. Handy died blind.
Nat Cole is admirable, but I suspect that his too low-keyed performance is the fault of the director holding everyone in check. Toward the end of his life, W.C. Handy frequently made guest appearances on TV variety shows. He was polite and mild mannered, almost to the point that you wondered how he could have written such a wide range of songs. In contrast, Eubie Blake at age 100 displayed a far more open and lively personality.
Although the movie is 105 minutes long, a studio power must have misguidedly cut out some musical numbers. Why would Paramount hire Cab Calloway and give him featured billing but no song to sing? His character flimflams Handy out of the rights to "Yellow Dog Blues," so he must have done a lively musical performance of it in his club. And why invent the character of Aunt Hagar for Pearl Bailey if no one is going to play and sing "Aunt Hagar's Blues"?
Meanwhile, where was the greatest proponent of Handy's music (as well as its best interpreter), Louis Armstrong? He does have a role in THE FIVE PENNIES, the Technicolor biopic of "Red" Nichols (Danny Kaye) that Paramount released the following year.
In October 1954 Columbia Records released one of its biggest selling jazz LPs, "Louis Armstrong Plays W. C. Handy."
According to George Avakian's jacket essay, in the Times Square editing studio "a handsome old gentleman (of 75 years) sat listening to the tapes of this record, tears streaming from his sightless eyes.
"'I never thought I'd hear my blues like this,' W. C. Handy said.... 'Nobody could have done it but my boy Louis!'"
At some point, it seems, Paramount decided to studiously avoid truly lively interpretations of the songs. At least they could not completely repress the vivaciousness of Pearl Bailey and Eartha Kitt. Besides Technicolor what this movie needs most is a rousing finale with costumed Katherine Dunham dancers.
Nowadays Hollywood should forget about remaking great movies. Instead it should concentrate on movies that could have been great.
The movie cries out for color. But someone probably figured that with a cast that's all black anyway, why waste the more expensive film stock!
There are other contradictory elements as well. The film wants to be "progressive" and promote jazz. But it also does not want to alienate its religious audience. In that respect, the best thing it does is insert Mahalia Jackson periodically to pick up the spirit. But to have it both ways, when W.C. Handy goes blind and returns to the church, the filmmakers restore his sight (as if God approves of his giving up jazz) before turning him loose again to find fame and acceptance with a symphony orchestra playing the title tune (as if God, in the end, has come down on the side of jazz, as long as it's played as classical music). In real life, of course, W.C. Handy died blind.
Nat Cole is admirable, but I suspect that his too low-keyed performance is the fault of the director holding everyone in check. Toward the end of his life, W.C. Handy frequently made guest appearances on TV variety shows. He was polite and mild mannered, almost to the point that you wondered how he could have written such a wide range of songs. In contrast, Eubie Blake at age 100 displayed a far more open and lively personality.
Although the movie is 105 minutes long, a studio power must have misguidedly cut out some musical numbers. Why would Paramount hire Cab Calloway and give him featured billing but no song to sing? His character flimflams Handy out of the rights to "Yellow Dog Blues," so he must have done a lively musical performance of it in his club. And why invent the character of Aunt Hagar for Pearl Bailey if no one is going to play and sing "Aunt Hagar's Blues"?
Meanwhile, where was the greatest proponent of Handy's music (as well as its best interpreter), Louis Armstrong? He does have a role in THE FIVE PENNIES, the Technicolor biopic of "Red" Nichols (Danny Kaye) that Paramount released the following year.
In October 1954 Columbia Records released one of its biggest selling jazz LPs, "Louis Armstrong Plays W. C. Handy."
According to George Avakian's jacket essay, in the Times Square editing studio "a handsome old gentleman (of 75 years) sat listening to the tapes of this record, tears streaming from his sightless eyes.
"'I never thought I'd hear my blues like this,' W. C. Handy said.... 'Nobody could have done it but my boy Louis!'"
At some point, it seems, Paramount decided to studiously avoid truly lively interpretations of the songs. At least they could not completely repress the vivaciousness of Pearl Bailey and Eartha Kitt. Besides Technicolor what this movie needs most is a rousing finale with costumed Katherine Dunham dancers.
Nowadays Hollywood should forget about remaking great movies. Instead it should concentrate on movies that could have been great.