Paris Blues

Summary

“Paris is a city to walk in.”

MGM has given Martin Ritt’s 1961 romantic drama Paris Blues a re-release on Blu-ray. It was originally given a release by Kino Lorber in 2013. MGM’s release uses the same transfer as that release, so expectations should be set accordingly. I had never seen Paris Blues but I was happy to check it out given its Duke Ellington score and great cast (Paul Newman, Joanne Woodward, and Sidney Poitier.) Martin Ritt’s adaptation of John Le Carré’s The Spy Who Came in from the Cold remains one of my favorite spy thrillers (and an excellent adaptation,) so I was excited to see what he would make Paris look like in black and white in 1961. I am happy to report that he made Paris look lovely.

Ram Bowen (Paul Newman) is an expat trombone player living above and playing in a jazz club in Paris. Ram aims to become a composer and he has been working on a piece called Paris Blues. Ram is in a jazz band with Eddie Cook (Sidney Poitier) who frequently gives Ram notes on his compositions. Eddie plays the alto sax. Ram has a plan to get his music in front of Wild Man Moore (Louis Armstrong) when he arrives in Paris. They are both acquaintances of Wild Man, so it is not a big leap that he might receive some help from him on furthering his career. Ram occasionally sleeps with the club’s owner Marie (Barbara Laage,) but he is completely noncommittal. He puts himself and his quest for musical success above everything else, even at the cost of hurting those who care for him. He also  has a pretty surly and somewhat selfish personality, despite his obvious talent. When he goes to the train station to meet with Wild Man Moore and deliver his latest composition to him, he sees a black American named Connie Lampson (Diahann Carroll) struggling to communicate with a porter. Ram helps Connie while they wait for her white friend Lillian Corning (Joanne Woodward.) Once introduced, Ram invites the girls to come hear him at the club. That night, Lillian is charmed by Ram’s music, and Connie meets Eddie. As the two couplings have a love affair while the women are on vacation, the question hangs in the balance of whether or not Ram and Eddie will give up their life in Paris to return to the States due to their unexpectedly deep feelings.

Paris Blues is a skindeep melancholic romance that I found myself enjoying quite a bit. While viewers will probably find elements of the picture predictable, and the characters are more sketches than fully realized, I still got swept away in the music and scenery of the movie. First off, the film has a winning cast. Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward are easy to believe as lovers attracted to one another almost immediately because that is exactly what they were in real life. It was an extremely attractive coupling on and offscreen. Sidney Pointier is just as charming in the role of Eddie, who does not want to leave Paris and return to a world where he is judged simply by his skin color. There is not a bad performance amongst those three, which should come as no surprise. Louis Armstrong is even surprisingly good in his role as Wild Man Moore. A twelve minute performance sequence in the film stands out for all that watch the movie. Secondly – Martin Ritt was wonderful at filming cityscapes, and his eyes towards filming Paris (in 1961 no less) leads to great sights to see from the beginning of the film to the end. This is all paired with a truly fantastic jazz score by Duke Ellington at the height of his powers. There is simply a “cool” factor at work here that lifts up a screenplay that would otherwise be somewhat conventional.

As one might expect from a Martin Ritt picture, the film also does not shy away from discussing racial issues and it also presents a fairly liberal view of sexual freedom for a 1961 picture. It even touches on the dangers of cocaine use amongst jazz musicians. All of this adds up to a film that I enjoyed watching. If you haven’t seen it, this is a pretty charming way to spend an evening.

Video

MGM utilizes an older transfer of Paris Blues with an MPEG-4 AVC codec in Black and White. This is the same master that was utilized in 2013 for Kino Lorber’s out of print release. Presented in 1.66:1 ratio, Paris Blues shows some wear and tear some and specking, but the cinematography by Christian Matras still shines through. It is obviously an older master which means there is some softness, but I still was struck by the overall imagery of the picture.

Audio

MGM have provided a DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 track that sounds pretty darn good. As a mono mix front speakers are used for the entire mix. The audio has been cleaned up well, but there is some hiss at times. The dialogue is clear, and the Duke Ellington score sounded pretty darn good coming through my speakers.

Supplements:

• • None

Overall Scores:

Video – 3.5/5

Audio – 4/5

Supplements – 0

Overall – 3.75/5

Paris Blues is by no means a perfect picture, but I found myself wrapped up in the film’s style, music, and scenery. It doesn’t hurt that the film stars Joanne Woodward, Paul Newman, and Sidney Poitier. While the script itself plays to familiar beats and the characters are somewhat underwritten, the overall vibe of Jazz-filled Paris in 1961 is too much for me to resist. Martin Ritt was a great director and he brings Paris to life with his beautiful Black and White cinematography. The Blu-ray release by MGM utilizes the same master as the out-of-print Kino Lorber disc. It’s an older master, with some print damage and other issues, but I am still glad to have the film in my collection. There are no supplements on the disc. If you like this era and like jazz, check it out.

The film can be purchased at www.moviezyng.com.