Mark Kelly Without Louis Armstrong and Billie Holiday and their musical supporting cast, this would be a forgettable melodrama. To me the most interesting aspect of this movie is the contrast of cultures - the stuffy white world symbolized by classical/operatic music (some very excellent), the blues/jazz world of the downtrodden but resilient black population and the white "early adopters" of their music. The music is tremendous. Although this movie would never win an Academy Award except for music, the cast is overall excellent given their material. Anyone who loves Armstrong or Holiday should own this. I saw this on Turner classic movies and I'm going to buy it.

imp-6 I just saw this in January, 2005 so this is a different view. It's difficult to know how professional movie people wouldn't know this is a terribly acted movie. DeCordova reprises his previously cardboard acting although he has something, but it doesn't come out. But the music of Armstrong, Holliday, and Herman etc. is magnificent. It surely is worth the time just to revel in the 1947 jazz. Bad acting doesn't destroy the movie. Wonder what happened to all those actors. It must have been the directing for all to be so bland. I think the attempt is to make this an epic picture showing the intrusion of jazz into classical music. The voice sync with the singer is also poor enough to be disturbing to the viewer. Dorothy Patrick is lovely but apparently not a singer. It's fun to see many old character actors that I knew by looks but couldn't remember their names. I'm sorry DeCordova didn't work out because I liked him in "Frenchman's Creek."

WinterMaiden Anyone who loves blues and Dixieland would want to check out this film for the music alone. Seeing Billie Holliday and Louis Armstrong on the screen together must have made it worth the price of admission for audiences at the time. Reviewers are right that most of the acting is on the bland side, and there's a weird time warp with musicians playing their 30-years-younger selves. (It's like Paul McCartney in 1998 playing himself during his Beatles days.) But the film has a surprising amount of atmosphere, and some enjoyable surprises: There are no villains, for one thing-- All of the characters are surprisingly likable. For another, all of the women are strong-willed decisive characters who know what they want--even the cuddly blonde who plays the female lead. Considering the era, when Rosie the Riveter was relentlessly being herded back to hearth and home and told to be a good little housewife, and when almost the only strong female characters in American films were the evil seductresses of film noir, it's nice to see a nice girl who has a career, makes her own choices, and makes the first move when she's interested in a man. Also, while it may be sad to see Billie Holliday in a maid's uniform, it's good to be able to see her at all, and it's very good that those white characters attracted to Dixieland treat the black characters with respect. I also liked the scene where the heroine sang a Dixieland encore at a classical concert. Some of the audience walked out, and some stayed to enjoy and applaud--a realistic and unshowy way to stage the scene.But it's the music, of course, that you'll remember from this film. There are some great numbers, and they are given their full (deserved( attention, without silly distractions.

hanson-8 A fellow-jazz-fan in the US recently sent me this on video. I enjoyed it immensely. I can't pretend it's a good film. The story and its treatment are reminiscent of the straight bits in Marx Brothers films (the ones that had straight bits, that is). But instead of Groucho and Harpo, Louis Armstrong and Billie Holiday do their stuff, and bring the film to life.Plus points for jazz fans are that several of the numbers are seen and heard complete, rather than faded out; both Billie and Louis were still near their best; the other musicians, including Kid Ory and Barney Bigard, get to solo, and you hear -- and see - an early version of the Armstrong All-Stars really swinging. There's also a rare sight of the great (and now disappeared) Lucky Thompson behind Louis in one sequence.A personal note: one of my very first records (78 rpm, early 1950s) was Louis' "Where the Blues Was Born". I guess I had the studio, not the soundtrack version, but both are terrific. It was amazing to SEE that long-treasured performance."New Orleans" would not go down well with latter-day jazz musicians because Billie's shown as a maid, and Woody Herman (white) comes into the story for no earthly reason beyond the fact that he was a big name in 1947. But if you can see and hear past all that, the music makes it worthwhile.OK, it's not a good film. But how many jazz films are? "Jammin' the Blues," "Pete Kelly's Blues," "Sven Klang's Combo," "Round Midnight," and that's it. Only three of those are feature-length, and two are European. For anyone who loves the music, "New Orleans" is well worth viewing.