This page by Dennis Pereyra: On October 23, 1928, a deal was made with Carl Laemmle and Nat Goldstone of Universal Studios for Paul Whiteman to appear with his band in an upcoming motion picture. Universal assigned Paul Schofield as a writer for the movie.

During the month of November in 1928, Schofield had traveled on the road with the Whiteman Orchestra, meeting with Whiteman to discuss the story on the train between stops. On December 23, 1928, Paul Whiteman gave a concert at Carnegie Hall, with Bee Palmer as an added attraction. This concert was for the benefit of the Northwoods Sanitarium in Saranac Lake, New York, where show business patients were treated for tuberculosis. Universal Pictures filmed the concert for possible use in the motion picture planned with Whiteman in the following year. The film, “King of Jazz”, was finally completed in 1930, but did not include any of the footage from the Carnegie Hall concert.

Among the rejected script ideas for the film:

• A story built around the life of Whiteman
• Paul Whiteman, with Ruth Etting being considered as a leading lady.
• Paul Whiteman as the romantic lead in the story.
• A story that would capture the essence of the life of a band.

Finally, it was agreed that the film would be a revue, along the lines of a vaudeville or stage production. A procedure unique in motion picture technique was followed. The script was written, not before, but after the shooting of each sequence.

Whiteman made arrangements with a local Ford dealer in Hollywood for each musician to pick out a new car, not-to-exceed $900. A total of 24 cars were purchased. Each car had a canvas cover on the spare tire emblazoned with Whiteman’s caricature head. When the Whiteman band went back to New York in August of 1929, the cars were put in storage. When the band returned in October of 1929, the cars were moved out of storage and used by the musicians. As time went on, more and more musicians discarded the spare tire cover to avoid easy identification.

Whiteman had a roadster for his personal use that was brought to California on the Old Gold Special that carried the band across the country. After the script was completed the Paul Whiteman Orchestra left New York on October 22nd, 1929 by train, arrived in Los Angeles on October 25th, 1929 to shoot the film. Filming began shortly after this. Unlike the first trip and its delays, Paul and the band rarely had a day off once filming began.

In November 1929, just after filming began, Bing Crosby was involved in a collision with another automobile, in which his passenger flew out of the car and was injured. A policeman smelled Bing’s breath and booked both drivers for reckless and drunken driving. Bing arrived in court wearing golfing clothes and expecting to pay a fine. However, a strict Prohibition judge sentenced him to 60 days in jail. Bing was transferred to a jail near the studio, and an arrangement was made for Bing to be escorted to and from the studio for filming by a policeman. Bing served about 40 days of his sentence before he was released. However, he lost the lead role in the “Song of the Dawn” production number to John Boles (Bing did the lead vocal on the studio recording of the song). However, Bing did appear with the Rhythm Boys singing “So the Bluebirds and the Blackbirds Got Together”, “A Bench in the Park” and “Happy Feet”, as well as singing for the opening credits and the cartoon.

The musicians on the first trip in late May 1929 included Bix Beiderbecke, the legendary jazz cornetist. From June to late August 1929, the orchestra hung around giving concerts and radio broadcasts (Old Gold/Paul Whiteman Hour) while waiting for an agreement with the studio on an acceptable film script. Negotiations failed, and the orchestra returned to New York in August 1929. On September 13, Bix became ill during a recording session. Two days after this, Paul sent Bix home to Davenport to recover. When the orchestra returned to Hollywood in October of 1929 to film the movie King of Jazz, Bix did not make the trip due to illness, so we do not have a filmed record of Bix playing the cornet in a featured solo in the movie.

The time from the initial planned start of filming on January 15, 1929 to arrival of Paul Whiteman and the Orchestra in Hollywood to film the movie in late June 1929 to the completion of the filming of the movie in early February 1930 is about 11 1/2 months. The initial planned date of filming was delayed until June 1929 since no script was available. The band arrived in late June 1929 to start filming, left in late August 1929 because of a lack of a film script and returned in late October 1929 to start filming. Actual filming took about 3 months of the 11 1/2 months, from November 1929 to early February 1930, with retakes done during two weeks in March 1930.

The Los Angeles premiere of the film was held on April 20th, 1930 at the Criterion Theater. Receipts from the film were below expectations within the first 2 weeks. The grand premiere of the film was held on May 2nd, 1930 at the Roxy Theater in New York. At the Roxy Theater premiere, the Whiteman Orchestra, together with George Gershwin and the 125-piece Roxy Symphony Orchestra, put on a stage show. This show featured the Rhapsody in Blue and Mildred Bailey backed by the Roxy Chorus. This stage show was performed five times a day, between showings of the movie. The stage show ran for only one week, and the movie showings continued at thr Roxy for only one additional week.

Carl Laemmle made at least 9 different foreign versions of the film, each with a different master of ceremonies (MC), including:

1. English version – Charles Irwin, MC
2. Swedish version – Nils Asther, MC
3. Hungarian version – Bela Lugosi, MC
4. French version (“Le Roi Du Jazz”) with an unknown MC
5. German version (“Der Jazz Konig”) with an unknown MC

Reportedly, the Swedish version has at least some different music.

The movie was originally 105 minutes long, but was shortened to 93 minutes after the following production numbers were cut from the film:

1. A sketch (William Kent ?) about a suicidal flute player, with the Whiteman Orchestra performing “Caprice Viennois” as background music.
2. A specialty number featuring Nell O’Day, with music unknown and set in a cabaret lobby.
3. A sketch featuring Grace Hayes singing “My Lover”.

“King of Jazz” was the second all-talking motion picture filmed entirely in 2-color technicolor (not just color sequences). The first one was the 1929 Warner Brothers motion picture “On With The Show”. At the time, Technicolor was a 2-color process incoporating red and green, with no blue. Lamps with colored projection were used, mainly side lighting through red and green gelatin spots on a white background. For the missing blue color (as in Rhapsody in BLUE), the set director Herman Rosse and director John Murray Anderson came up with an ingeneous solution. Tests were made of various fabrics and pigments, and by using an all gray-and-silver background, arrived at a shade of green which gave the illusion of peacock blue. Also, filters were used to simulate the blue color, resulting in pastel shades rather than bright colors.

The movie included the first Technicolor animated cartoon segment by animators Walter Lantz (later famous for Woody Woodpecker and other characters) and William Nolan. In this cartoon, Whiteman is hunting in darkest Africa when he is chased by a lion, who is soothed with the music from his violin (“Music Hath Charms”, with Joe Venuti and Eddie Lang). After an elephant squirts water on a monkey in a tree, the monkey throws a cocoanut at the elephant, which hits Whiteman on the head. The bump on his head forms into a crown. As Charles Irwin then says, “And that’s how Paul Whiteman was crowned the ‘King of Jazz'”. One of the characters making a brief appearance in the cartoon was Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, the star of the Universal cartoon studio led by Lantz. Additionally a black-and-white sound cartoon featuring Oswald the Lucky Rabbit titled “My Pal Paul”, that was released in 1930 by Universal, promoted the “King of Jazz” movie by including songs from the movie and the cartoon Paul Whiteman character.

“King of Jazz” was the first motion picture to use a pre-recorded soundtrack made independently of the actual filming. Whiteman insisted that the entire soundtrack should be pre-recorded in order to obtain the best sound, and avoiding the poor recording conditions and extraneous noises found in a movie studio. Universal opposed the idea, but Whiteman insisted and prevailed over the reluctant studio executives. After the sound was recorded, the scene was filmed. Later, the film was synchronized to the soundtrack. Also, this allowed the movie to be directed in the same manner as a silent film, with resulting sounds not affecting the completed film.

The movie won an Oscar for Herman Rosse in the category of Best Art Decoration/Set Decoration in 1930 (the only category for which the film was nominated). The Oscar was presented at the Academy Awards ceremony held on November 5, 1930 at 8:00 PM in the Fiesta Room of the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles, California. This ceremony was broadcast on the radio.

The initial budget for the film was $1.5 million dollars. Because of the long delays in developing a script, weekly salaries and living quarters of Whiteman and the band musicians while they waited, expensive sets built and torn down unused, and the lavish expense on the film, about half a million dollars had been spent before the cameras ever rolled! The final cost of the movie was nearly $2 million in 1930. Based on inflation, the cost of the movie would translate into about $21 million in today’s dollars.

During its national release, “King of Jazz” cleared less than $900,000. Around Hollywood, the movie came to be called “Universal’s Rhapsody in the Red”. Overseas, it fared better and eventually made a profit. During the 1930s, the film found its best audience in Cape Town, South Africa, where it played seventeen return engagements. Unfortunately, the delays in obtaining a script resulted in two factors that affected the profitability of the film. First, the public was tiring of the plethora of movie musicals that started with the film “Broadway Melody” in 1929. Also, the Depression resulted in an economic downturn that caused people to focus more on essentials, thereby preventing a more successful run of the movie. In fact, because of poor box office receipts and the Old Gold radio program not being renewed in April 1930, Whiteman had to let 10 bandmembers go and cut salaries by 15% on the remaining bandmembers.

To find out more information about the movie, please go to the Internet Movie Database (IMDb) website for the movie. The Internet Archive has a copy of the film’s trailer.

Since the above was written the King of Jazz has been lovingly restored, please read: 1930 King of Jazz Film Restored and King of Jazz: Paul Whiteman’s Technicolor Review

Producer Carl Laemmle, Jr., the son of the founder of Universal Pictures, Carl Laemmle.

Director After the contract was signed in the fall of 1928, Universal Pictures assigned Wesley Ruggles as the director for the movie. As the Whiteman band arrived in Los Angeles to begin filming in June 1929, Paul Fejos was the assigned director of the movie. While the band awaited a script, Paul Fejos witnessed a series of failed attempts in developing a script for the motion picture. Once it was decided that the movie would be a revue, the studio wanted Florenz Ziegfeld to direct the film, but he was not available. The studio hired Broadway stage director John Murray Anderson as director of the film, at the suggestion of Paul Whiteman. This was John Murray Anderson’s first attempt at directing a motion picture. Paul Fejos, the former director, initially stayed with the film, working as an assistant director under Anderson, but left this position soon afterwards, and was replaced by Robert Ross.

Writers After the contract was signed in the fall of 1928, Universal Pictures assigned Paul Schofield as a writer. During 1928, Schofield travelled with the Whiteman and frequently met with Whiteman. After meetings with Whiteman in January 1929, Schofield returned to Hollywood to complete astory line for the picture. After the band came to Hollywood in late June 1929, Schofield and Edward T. Lowe presented a story line to Whiteman based on his life, which he rejected. Once it was decided that the picture would be a revue, along the lines of a vaudeville or stage production, Harry Ruskin and Charles McArthur were assigned to the picture. Edward T. Lowe was kept as a writer for continuity.

Songwriters After the contract was signed in the fall of 1928, Universal Pictures assigned the songwriting team of L. Wolfe Gilbert (words) and Mabel Wayne (music) to write the score. After an unsuccessful attempt to obtain the services of Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart for the picture, Universal brought in the team of Milton Ager and Jack Yellen for much of the score. Other contributors included Mabel Wayne, Billy Rose, James Dietrich, Harry DeCosta, Harry Barris, Billy Moll and George Gershwin.

Music Arranger Arrangements for the songs in the movie were done by Ferde Grofe.

Set Designer/Costume Designer Herman Rosse, John Murray Anderson’s set designer on Broadway, joined him.

Cinematographers Ray Rennahan, Hal Mohr and Jerome Ash. Ray Rennahan provided his expertise on color photography and color projection. Hal Mohr was one of Hollywood’s top all-around cinematographers. Jerome Ash, one of the best trick-camera technicians in the business, provided camera tricks in the movie to make the movie more entertaining, including the Whiteman band musicians climbing out of a suitcase with Whiteman watching, and a picture singing in the close of “It Happened in Monterey”.

Sound Engineer C. Roy Hunter was assigned as the sound recording supervisor. Paul Whiteman brought in E. T. White to oversee the pre-recording of the soundtrack, made separately from the picture.

Choreographer John Murray Anderson brought the Roxy Theater dance director, Russell Markert, and a group of sixteen chorus girls from various Broadway shows.

Film Editing Robert Carlisle

Opening Credits Bing Crosby sings “Music Hath Charms” with band. Opening remarks Charles Irwin (MC of movie) Cartoon Bing Crosby sings “My Lord Delivered Daniel” with band, Joe Venuti and Eddie Lang play “Music Hath Charms” Introducing Paul and the band Charles Irwin, Paul Whiteman Meet the Boys Harry “Goldie” Goldfield plays “Hot Lips”, Joe Venuti and Eddie Lang play “Wildcat”, Roy Maier plays “Piccolo Pete”, six band violinists (Kurt Detierle, Matty Malneck, John Bowman, Joe Venuti, Ted Bacon and Otto Landau) play “Caprice Viennois”, Roy Bargy and Chester Hazlett play “Nola”, Wilbur Hall plays “Nola”, Mike Pingitore plays “Linger Awhile”. Meet the Girls Russell Markert Dancers (sit-down dance number) My Bridal Veil Sung by Jeannette Loff and Stanley Smith The Daily Meows (comedy skit) Laura LaPlante (editor), Jeanie Lang, Merna Kennedy, Grace Hayes and Kathryn Crawford (reporters) The Rhythm Boys Bing Crosby, Al Rinker and Harry Barris sing and patter through “Mississippi Mud” and “So the Bluebirds and the Blackbirds Got Together”, with Al Rinker on piano. (It Happened in) Monterey Sung by John Boles and Jeannette Loff, with Mexican soloist Nancy Torres. Dancing by the Sisters “G” (Eleanor and Karla Gutchrlein), George Chiles and the Russell Markert Dancers. In Conference (comedy skit) Glen Tryon, Merna Kennedy and Laura LaPlante (as stenographer). Jack White (the property man) Sings “Oh, How I’d Love To Own a Fish Store”, and other patter with members of the band, including Bing Crosby, Al Rinker and Harry “Goldie” Goldfield. A Bench in the Park Sung by Glenn Tryon and Laura LaPlante, the Brox Sisters (Bobbe, Kathlyn and Lorraine) and the Rhythm Boys. Band arrangement with guitar accompaniment by Eddie Lang and hot violin by Joe Venuti. Spring Time (blackout) Slim Summerville, Yola d’Avril and Walter Brennan (as judge) All Noisy on the Eastern Front (comedy skit) Yola d’Avril, Paul Whiteman, Slim Summerville, Walter Brennan and others. Willie Hall, One of the Whiteman Boys Wilbur Hall performs some of a routine called “Variations Based On Noises From a Garage” that he performed with the band at that time. Willie played the violin while wearing a pair of shoes mounted on long boards. In this way, he could lean way forward while he continued to play the violin. Then, he played “Pop! Goes the Weasel” with the violin in various positions, including behind his back, over his head and between his knees. Then, his finale was to play “Stars and Stripes Forever” on a bicycle pump. Rhapsody in Blue Introduction by Paul Whiteman, with dancing by Jacques Cartier. Paul Whiteman conducting the orchestra (atop an immense blue piano), piano solo by Roy Bargy, with ballet dancing by Carla Laemmle. Dancing by the Russell Markert Dancers. Oh! Forevermore! (comedy skit) William Kent (as drunk), Walter Brennan (as butler). My Ragamuffin Romeo Sung by Jeanie Lang and George Chiles (on a donkey cart), with dancing by Marion Stattler and Don Rose. Horse Costume (quickie) Walter Brennan (a horse’s neck), Slim Summerville (a horse’s …. well, you know ….). Two parents not married (quickie) Richard Cromwell, Joan Marsh, William Kent (as baby). Happy Feet Sung by Bing Crosby, Al Rinker and Harry Barris, with Al Rinker and Harry Barris on piano. Singing (in both English and German) and dancing by the Sisters “G” (Eleanor and Karla Gutchrlein). Dancing by the Russell Markert Dancers, Al Norman (rubber-legged, snake-hips dancer) and Paul Small (imitating Paul Whiteman). A Meeting With Father (skit) Slim Summerville, Otis Harlan (as father). I Like to Do Things For You Sung by Jeanie Lang (to Paul Whiteman), Grace Hayes and William Kent, and Nell O’Day, with dancing by Nell O’Day and the Tommy Atkins Sextet. Has Anybody Seen Our Nellie? (comic quartet) Sung by Churchill Ross, John Arledge, Frank Leslie and Walter Brennan (with his wriggling ear). The Song of the Dawn Sung by John Boles and male chorus. The Melting Pot of Music Introduced by Charles Irwin, many members of the cast (some as noted) and many extras. 1) Songs and dances representing England, Scotland, Ireland, Spain and Russia. Songs included “A-Hunting We Will Go”, “Rule Brittania”, “John Peel”, “Santa Lucia”, “Funiculi-Funicula”, “Comin’ Through the Rye”, “Wiener Blut”, “Killarney”, “The Irish Washerwoman”, “Ay-yi, ay-yi-yi”, “Song of the Volga Boatman”, and “Otchichornia”. 2) Final movie medley includes “Song of the Dawn”, “Bench in the Park”, “It Happened in Monterey”, ((unknown song)), “Song of the Dawn” (reprise), “Stars and Stripes Forever”, “Happy Feet”, “Song of the Dawn” (reprise with chorus). 3) Last few seconds of “Rhapsody in Blue”, while picture spins and moves in toward Paul Whiteman, then Paul Whiteman ends the music and bows. FINIS.