A film I have warm memories of seeing as a youngster, re-watching it recently through grown-up eyes showed up to me its faults to the slight but not complete detriment of my viewing pleasure. I will admit to surprise though that it attracted the attention of the Academy at Oscar time as it does seem undeserving of the highest accolades.
What to like in the first place; well of course the engaging Danny Kaye is always watchable but here, I think, he brings too much of his trick-bag to the table to the extent that you never really believe you're watching an accurate depiction of the real Red Nichols, who I can't imagine goofing off here and tongue-twisting there as Kaye always does. His best scenes, naturally given his history of family entertainment musicals and indeed future as a UNESCO ambassador, are with children, particularly his growing daughter, handicapped from an early age by polio. The scenes requiring acting depth, for example when his marriage is under strain or when he's depressed at having to work in the shipyards, outside of music, expose his range; you know he's happier giving "Ala Kazam Kazam" handshakes to his daughter. Barbara Bel Geddes is pleasant both of voice (assuming she wasn't dubbed by a real singer) and demeanour and gives good support.
As for the music, not really being a Dixieland jazz buff myself, I found it hard to warm to extended improvisations of "Old MacDonald" or "The Battle Hymn of the Republic" and it seems ridiculous to try and dress up late 1950's Louis Armstrong as the young "Hot Band" prototype of 30 years previously. There's also some poor lip-sync-hing by Satchmo in his solo numbers which is too obviously noticeable. I also didn't get the day-glo, in-and-out-of-focus camera-work, which for me jarringly modernised and stylised the supposed recreations of 1920's and 30's jazz clubs.
The film goes for the big sentimental double-whammy climax of Nichols' daughter overcoming her disability just as he confronts his own demons by getting back on stage and blowing his horn, with the support, again naturally, of his stellar fellow-travellers like Tommy Dorsey, Artie Shaw, Gene Krupa et. al. who've all gone onto great success having got their start with Nichols. For me though, a lot of the stuff on view here seems apocryphal and just doesn't ring true, (most critiques I've read do state the film is only "loosely based" on Nichols' story). Of course this is an old Hollywood failing but for me the bowdlerisation was just too blatant.
All that said though, it's certainly a colourful and tuneful, if very old-fashioned and over sentimental entertainment.
What to like in the first place; well of course the engaging Danny Kaye is always watchable but here, I think, he brings too much of his trick-bag to the table to the extent that you never really believe you're watching an accurate depiction of the real Red Nichols, who I can't imagine goofing off here and tongue-twisting there as Kaye always does. His best scenes, naturally given his history of family entertainment musicals and indeed future as a UNESCO ambassador, are with children, particularly his growing daughter, handicapped from an early age by polio. The scenes requiring acting depth, for example when his marriage is under strain or when he's depressed at having to work in the shipyards, outside of music, expose his range; you know he's happier giving "Ala Kazam Kazam" handshakes to his daughter. Barbara Bel Geddes is pleasant both of voice (assuming she wasn't dubbed by a real singer) and demeanour and gives good support.
As for the music, not really being a Dixieland jazz buff myself, I found it hard to warm to extended improvisations of "Old MacDonald" or "The Battle Hymn of the Republic" and it seems ridiculous to try and dress up late 1950's Louis Armstrong as the young "Hot Band" prototype of 30 years previously. There's also some poor lip-sync-hing by Satchmo in his solo numbers which is too obviously noticeable. I also didn't get the day-glo, in-and-out-of-focus camera-work, which for me jarringly modernised and stylised the supposed recreations of 1920's and 30's jazz clubs.
The film goes for the big sentimental double-whammy climax of Nichols' daughter overcoming her disability just as he confronts his own demons by getting back on stage and blowing his horn, with the support, again naturally, of his stellar fellow-travellers like Tommy Dorsey, Artie Shaw, Gene Krupa et. al. who've all gone onto great success having got their start with Nichols. For me though, a lot of the stuff on view here seems apocryphal and just doesn't ring true, (most critiques I've read do state the film is only "loosely based" on Nichols' story). Of course this is an old Hollywood failing but for me the bowdlerisation was just too blatant.
All that said though, it's certainly a colourful and tuneful, if very old-fashioned and over sentimental entertainment.