''New Orleans'' is a 1947 American

musical romance film Romance films or movies involve romantic love stories recorded in visual media for broadcast in theatres or on television that focus on passion, emotion, and the affectionate romantic involvement of the main characters. Typically their journey ...

starring

Arturo de Córdova Arturo García Rodríguez (8 May 1908 – 3 November 1973), known professionally as Arturo de Córdova, was a Mexican actor who appeared in over a hundred films. Biography Career Arturo García Rodríguez was born in Mérida, Yucatán on 8 May 1 ...

and

Dorothy Patrick Dorothy Patrick (born Dorothea Davis; June 3, 1921 – May 31, 1987) was a Canadian-American film actress and a John Robert Powers model. Early life Patrick was born on June 3, 1921, in St. Boniface, Manitoba, Canada, the daughter of Mr. and ...

, and directed by

Arthur Lubin Arthur Lubin (July 25, 1898 – May 11, 1995) was an American film director and producer who directed several ''Abbott & Costello'' films, '' Phantom of the Opera'' (1943), the '' Francis the Talking Mule'' series and created the talking-horse TV ...

. Though it features a rather conventional plot, the film is noteworthy both for casting

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a m ...

legends

Billie Holiday Billie Holiday (born Eleanora Fagan; April 7, 1915 – July 17, 1959) was an American jazz and swing music singer. Nicknamed "Lady Day" by her friend and music partner, Lester Young, Holiday had an innovative influence on jazz music and pop s ...

as a singing maid romantically involved with bandleader

Louis Armstrong Louis Daniel Armstrong (August 4, 1901 – July 6, 1971), nicknamed "Satchmo", "Satch", and "Pops", was an American trumpeter and Singing, vocalist. He was among the most influential figures in jazz. His career spanned five decades and se ...

, and extensive playing of New Orleans-style

Dixieland jazz Dixieland jazz, also referred to as traditional jazz, hot jazz, or simply Dixieland, is a style of jazz based on the music that developed in New Orleans at the start of the 20th century. The 1917 recordings by the Original Dixieland Jass Band ...

: over twenty songs (or versions of songs) are featured in whole or part. Armstrong's band contains a virtual

Who's Who ''Who's Who'' (or ''Who is Who'') is the title of a number of reference publications, generally containing concise biographical information on the prominent people of a country. The title has been adopted as an expression meaning a group of not ...

of classic jazz greats, including trombonist

Kid Ory Edward "Kid" Ory (December 25, 1886 – January 23, 1973) was an American jazz composer, trombonist and bandleader. One of the early users of the glissando technique, he helped establish it as a central element of New Orleans jazz. He was ...

, drummer

Zutty Singleton Arthur James "Zutty" Singleton (May 14, 1898 – July 14, 1975) was an American jazz drummer. Career Singleton was born in Bunkie, Louisiana, United States, and raised in New Orleans. According to his ''Jazz Profiles'' biography, his unusual ...

, clarinetist

Barney Bigard Albany Leon "Barney" Bigard (March 3, 1906 – June 27, 1980) was an American jazz clarinetist known for his 15-year tenure with Duke Ellington. He also played tenor saxophone. Biography Bigard was born in New Orleans to Creole parents, Ale ...

, guitar player Bud Scott, bassist George "Red" Callender, pianist Charlie Beal, and pianist Meade Lux Lewis. Also performing in the film is cornetist

Mutt Carey Thomas "Papa Mutt" Carey (September 17, 1891 – September 3, 1948) was an American jazz trumpeter. Early life Carey was born in Hahnville, Louisiana,Kernfedl, Barry, ed. ''The New Grove Dictionary of Jazz''. Macmillan, 1994. p. 185. and mov ...

and bandleader

Woody Herman Woodrow Charles Herman (May 16, 1913 – October 29, 1987) was an American jazz clarinetist, saxophonist, singer, and big band leader. Leading groups called "The Herd", Herman came to prominence in the late 1930s and was active until his dea ...

. New Orleans'' is Holiday's only feature film appearance.

Plot synopsis

A Storyville casino owner and a high society opera singer fall in love during the birth of the blues in

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans

Cast

as Nick Duquesne *

as Miralee Smith *

Marjorie Lord Marjorie Lord (née Wollenberg; July 26, 1918 – November 28, 2015) was an American television and film actress. She played Kathy "Clancy" O'Hara Williams, opposite Danny Thomas's character on ''The Danny Thomas Show'' (also known as ''Mak ...

as Grace Voiselle *

Irene Rich Irene Rich (born Irene Frances Luther; October 13, 1891 – April 22, 1988) was an American actress who worked in both silent films and talkies, as well as radio. Early life Rich was born in Buffalo, New York. At age 17, she wed Elvo Elc ...

as Mrs. Rutledge Smith * John Alexander as Col. McArdle *

Richard Hageman Richard Hageman (9 July 1881 – 6 March 1966) was a Dutch-born American conductor, pianist, composer, and actor. Biography Hageman was born and raised in Leeuwarden, Friesland, Netherlands. He was the son of Maurits Hageman of Zutphen, a vio ...

as Henry Ferber * Jack Lambert as Biff Lewis *Bert Conway as Tommy Lake *Joan Blair as Constance Vigil *John Canady *

as Endie *

and His Orchestra *

on drums *

on clarinet *

on trombone * Bud Scott on guitar * Red Callender on bass *Charlie Beal on piano * Meade Lux Lewis on piano *

on trumpet *

Shelley Winters Shelley Winters (born Shirley Schrift; August 18, 1920 – January 14, 2006) was an American actress whose career spanned seven decades. She appeared in numerous films. She won Academy Awards for ''The Diary of Anne Frank'' (1959) and ''A Patch o ...

as Miss Holmbright (Nick's New York secretary; uncredited)

Production

''New Orleans'' has its origins in an abandoned component of an unfinished

RKO Pictures RKO Radio Pictures Inc., commonly known as RKO Pictures or simply RKO, was an American film production and distribution company, one of the "Big Five" film studios of Hollywood's Golden Age. The business was formed after the Keith-Albee-Orph ...

feature film by

Orson Welles George Orson Welles (May 6, 1915 – October 10, 1985) was an American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter, known for his innovative work in film, radio and theatre. He is considered to be among the greatest and most influential f ...

— "The Story of Jazz" segment of '' It's All True''. A history of jazz alternatively titled "Jam Session", the section of the film was being written by Elliot Paul in 1941 under contract to Welles. The story of Louis Armstrong was to have been central to that segment of ''It's All True''.Benamou, Catherine L., ''It's All True: Orson Welles's Pan-American Odyssey''. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2007 Stowe, David Ware, ''Swing Changes: Big-Band Jazz in New Deal America''. Cambridge, Massachusetts .a. Harvard University Press, 1998, An additional connection to Welles is that several members of the film's Original New Orleans Ragtime Band —

, Bud Scott,

and

— had first been brought together in 1944, for his

CBS Radio CBS Radio was a radio broadcasting company and radio network operator owned by CBS Corporation and founded in 1928, with consolidated radio station groups owned by CBS and Westinghouse Broadcasting/Group W since the 1920s, and Infinity Broad ...

series, ''

The Orson Welles Almanac ''The Orson Welles Almanac'' (also known as ''Radio Almanac'' and ''The Orson Welles Comedy Show'') is a 1944 CBS Radio series directed and hosted by Orson Welles. Broadcast live on the Columbia Pacific Network, the 30-minute variety program was ...

''. ''New Orleans'' is the only feature film made by singer

, and the last film in which writer-producer

Herbert J. Biberman Herbert J. Biberman (March 4, 1900 – June 30, 1971) was an American screenwriter and film director. He was one of the Hollywood Ten and directed '' Salt of the Earth'' (1954), a film barely released in the United States, about a zinc miners' s ...

was involved before he was

blacklisted Blacklisting is the action of a group or authority compiling a blacklist (or black list) of people, countries or other entities to be avoided or distrusted as being deemed unacceptable to those making the list. If someone is on a blacklist, ...

. Producer Jules Levey wanted to make a film about the history of jazz.Elusive Saga of Jazz May Be Found Here: New Orleans' Screens Real Story of How American Folk Music Developed Scheuer, Philip K. Los Angeles Times 27 Oct 1946: B1. Lubin signed to direct in July 1946. Levey's associate was Herbert Biberman who said "we're not archaeologists. We're trying to be accurate with dates and

places Place may refer to: Geography * Place (United States Census Bureau), defined as any concentration of population ** Census-designated place, a populated area lacking its own municipal government * "Place", a type of street or road name ** Ofte ...

, if not names – and still turn out an entertaining picture." In July 1946 Arthur Lubin was scouting for locations in New Orleans. He hoped to feature

Lena Horne Lena Mary Calhoun Horne (June 30, 1917 – May 9, 2010) was an American dancer, actress, singer, and civil rights activist. Horne's career spanned more than seventy years, appearing in film, television, and theatre. Horne joined the chorus of th ...

Duke Ellington Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington (April 29, 1899 – May 24, 1974) was an American jazz pianist, composer, and leader of his eponymous jazz orchestra from 1923 through the rest of his life. Born and raised in Washington, D.C., Ellington was bas ...

and other black musicians. Ten days of location filming started on 28 August and cost $110,000. The National Jazz Foundation collaborated with Lubin during filming. De Cordova was borrowed from

Eagle-Lion Films Eagle-Lion Films was a British-American film production company owned by J. Arthur Rank intended to distribute British productions in the United States. In 1947, it acquired Robert R. Young's PRC Pictures, a small American production company, ...

in August. Dorothy Patrick was borrowed from MGM. Levey was so pleased with the performances of Patrick and de Cordova he wanted to reteam them in a film called ''Monterey'' to celebrate California's 100th anniversary, though the picture was never made.

Reception

A 2019 review in ''Diabolique'' magazine stated, "it’s one of those movies where critics generally go “the music’s great but everything else is terrible and isn’t Hollywood racist” which is basically true – but it was 1947, what did people expect? At least there is a lot of music, Louis Armstrong and Dorothy Patrick are charming, it’s fascinating to see Holliday in a movie and I love how in the story her character marries Armstrong’s. Also Lubin seems to have genuine affection for the characters and the music – it’s much better than his previous three features."

Home media

* 2000: Kino Lorber Home Video, Region 1 DVD, April 25, 2000

Soundtrack

Although most of the music created for ''New Orleans'' was truncated in the film's release version,Bergan, Ronald, ''The United Artists Story''. New York: Crown Publishers, Inc., 1986, a soundtrack issued in 1983 made the full versions of the songs available, with additional music cut from the final release. Songs include "

Do You Know What It Means to Miss New Orleans? "Do You Know What It Means to Miss New Orleans" is a song written by Eddie DeLange and Louis Alter, which was first heard in the movie ''New Orleans'' in 1947, where it was performed by Louis Armstrong and sung by Billie Holiday Billie Holida ...

Tracklist

Per AFI, the tracklist is: * A1 Flee As A Bird /

When The Saints Go Marching In "When the Saints Go Marching In", often referred to as simply "The Saints", is a traditional black spiritual. It originated as a Christian hymn and is often played by jazz bands. This song was famously recorded on May 13, 1938, by Louis Armstron ...

* A2

West End Blues "West End Blues" is a multi-strain twelve-bar blues composition by Joe "King" Oliver. It is most commonly performed as an instrumental, although it has lyrics added by Clarence Williams. King Oliver and his Dixie Syncopators made the first rec ...

* A3

Do You Know What It Means To Miss New Orleans? "Do You Know What It Means to Miss New Orleans" is a song written by Eddie DeLange and Louis Alter, which was first heard in the movie ''New Orleans'' in 1947, where it was performed by Louis Armstrong and sung by Billie Holiday Billie Holida ...

* A4 Brahms' Lullaby * A5 Tiger Rag * A6 Buddy Bolden Blues Take #3 * A7 Buddy Bolden Blues Take #4 * A8

Basin St. Blues "Basin Street Blues" is a song often performed by Dixieland jazz bands, written by Spencer Williams in 1928 and recorded that year by Louis Armstrong. The verse with the lyric "Won't you come along with me / To the Mississippi..." was later adde ...

* A9 Raymond St. Blues * A10 Milenberg Joys * A11 Where The Blues Were Born In New Orleans * A12 Farewell To Storyville * B1

Beale Street Stomp Beale is an English surname. At the time of the British Census of 1881, its relative frequency was highest in Dorset (6.3 times the British average), followed by Huntingdonshire, Hampshire, Sussex, Oxfordshire, Wiltshire, Warwickshire, Ke ...

* B2

Dippermouth Blues "Dippermouth Blues" is a song first recorded by King Oliver's Creole Jazz Band for Gennett Records in April 1923 and for Okeh Records in June of that same year. It is most often attributed to Joe "King" Oliver, though some have argued that Louis Ar ...

(Slow Version) * B3 Dippermouth Blues (Fast Version) * B4 Shimme-Sha-Wabble * B5

Ballin' The Jack "Ballin' the Jack" (or sometimes "Balling the Jack") is a popular song from 1913 written by Jim Burris with music by Chris Smith. It introduced a popular dance of the same name with "Folks in Georgia's 'bout to go insane." It became a ragtime, pop ...

* B6 King Porter Stomp * B7 Mahogany Hall Stomp (Slow Version) * B8 Mahogany Hall Stomp (Fast Version) * B9 The Blues Are Brewin' * B10 Endie * B11 Do You Know What It Means To Miss New Orleans?

References

External links

* *
New Orleans
at Letterbox DVD
Complete film
at

Internet Archive The Internet Archive is an American digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It provides free public access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, software applications/games, music, ...

{{Arthur Lubin 1947 films 1940s romantic musical films 1940s English-language films American black-and-white films Films shot in New Orleans Films directed by Arthur Lubin Films set in New Orleans Louis Armstrong Billie Holiday American romantic musical films 1940s American films