St. Louis Blues (1958)

"St Louis Blues", the 1958 biopic of the great W.C Handy, is, though not perfect, very enjoyable to watch and-- more importantly-- listen to.Portraying Handy is Nat King Cole, in his only leading role in a feature-length Hollywood film. He sings a few tunes (all fantastically performed, of course) and his acting is even relatively convincing. Also in the cast is Eartha Kitt (whose role I believe would have been better filled by someone like Lena Horne), Cab Calloway, Pearl Bailey and even Billy Preston as Handy as a child. Ella Fitzgerald joins the cast, too, but it is only a cameo. Nevertheless, her part is very important; she gives a stellar rendition of "Beale Street Blues", one of the many great W.C Handy tunes featured.I would definitely recommend this movie, mostly because of the talent in it-- Nat King Cole, Ella Fitzgerald and the rest of the cast's talent and, of course, W.C Handy's talent.This perfect blend of lightheartedness, drama and music is a great biopic of one of America's-- and the world's-- most talented songwriters is a must-see for any lover of Handy or Cole, or, such as myself, both.

This is a pleasant film about (in some ways) the life of W.C. Handy. Mostly it's watchable because the leading man, Nat King Cole, was very assured in this role and because his voice was heavenly. It also didn't hurt that you get to see performances by great Black performers such as Ertha Kitt, Ella Fitzgerald, Mahalia Jackson, Pearl Bailey and Cab Calloway (though Calloway never gets to sing in the film).Many of the real life incidents in W.C. Handy's life are present in this movie--and many are twisted an misrepresented for the sake of making an entertaining film. On one hand, Handy's father DID protest against his son playing 'devil music' and pushed him to only play church music. But on the other, in a VERY egregious manipulation of the facts, young Handy goes blind--possibly because he defied his father. In real life, while Handy DID go blind, it was at the age of 70 after he fell from a subway platform and hit his head!! In the film, it happens when he's in his 20s and only is restored when he plays church music once again!!! Utter clap-trap!! My advice is DON'T watch the film as history--watch it for its entertainment value. It's quite watchable and it's a shame Cole didn't get other starring roles, as he was very good.By the way, if you do watch this film, I also suggest you watch "The Waterboy" with Adam Sandler as well as "The Jazz Singer"! It's actually very, very funny how much these three films are alike--something you'd never expect!! In particular, it's just about the exact same plot as "The Jazz Singer"--but it's also a lot better!! Seriously. Also, the little kid who plays W.C. at the beginning of the film is Billy Preston--who later went on to some fame as a session musician with such stars as Sam Cooke and the Beatles (some call him the 'fifth Beatle' because of his work on their albums) and ultimately made a name for himself as a solo act.

I really enjoyed this movie. And it was really nice seeing my all-time favorite singer, Mahalia Jackson, use her acting skills. Also, Pearl Bailey was very funny in this film- the protective aunt, as I would call her. Eartha Kitt was great and very believable- she really played the part! Nat "King" Cole, to me, still seemed a little shy on camera, but I was told that he was a shy individual. Young Billy Preston did very well with his acting and he "tore up" that organ- as he is already known for doing. There just aren't any words that I can use to describe my feelings for this video, except for it's awesome, great, and fantastic!I give it an A+++

It's incredible to see all this talent in one place. It's too bad that afro-americans were not supported commercially in the 50's, this film then could have been easy to find. As it is, the big A doesn't carry (or even mention) it. The performances of eartha kitt and nat cole are pretty subdued, for the period of the piece. But ella fitzgerald swings nicely and pearl bailey has a good moment. As for over all film quality, it's a bit stiff ( e.g., nat cole dropping his cane and falling to his kness against the screen door mimics lou pinela tring to convince an umpire he touched home plate), probably a bit more from direction than lack of talent, and the plot , trite. Fortunately, it doesn't dwell very long on the angst between slices of musical venue. A collector's item and an historical document.