Film clips from Jazz Ball: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

Film clips from the musical documentary Jazz Ball. It consists of a single reel of positive, black-and-white, 16mm acetate film with bilateral variable-area optical sound. It consists of archival footage of numerous jazz and vaudeville performers and opens with actress Betty Hutton singing and dancing to "The Dipsy Doodle" as Vincent Lopez's band plays behind her. In another scene, Isham Jones and his band performs "Second Hungarian Rhapsody." Other acts in the documentary include Henry Busse performing "Hot Lips," couples dance in a ballroom as he and his band performs; Bob Chester and his band performing "Boogie Woogie;" Hal Kemp and His Orchestra performing "Swamp Fire;" Johnnie 'Scat' Davis singing "Praise the Lord and Pass the Ammunition;" Gene Krupa and his band performing "Jungle Madness" some of his bandmates are Charlie Ventura and Roy Eldridge; singer Peggy Lee singing "It's a Good Day;" Lawrence Welk performing "Ain't She Sweet;" and Buddy Rich and Artie Shaw performing. In the final clip of the compilation, The Will Mastin Trio performs "Boogie Woogie Piggy." As they perform, the narrator comments that, "This rendition of 'Boogie Woogie Piggie' marks Sammy Davis Jr.'s debut some years ago," before the closing credits role.

Materials, dates and provenance

• Date: 1956
• Directed by: Leslie Roush, American, 1901 - 1977
• Narrated by: Ben Grauer, American, 1908 - 1977
• Subject of: Betty Hutton, American, 1921 - 2007
• Subject of: Henry Busse, German American, 1894 - 1955
• Subject of: Isham Jones, American, 1894 - 1956
• Subject of: Bob Chester, American, 1908 - 1977
• Subject of: Gene Krupa, American, 1909 - 1973
• Subject of: Peggy Lee, American, 1920 - 2002
• Type: sound films
• Type: black-and-white films (visual works)
• Type: 16mm (photographic film size)
• Medium: acetate film
• Dimensions: Duration (digital file): 00:26:22
• Dimensions: Physical extent (film): 1000 ft
• Place filmed: United States, North and Central America
• Topic: African American
• Topic: Dance
• Topic: Documentary films
• Topic: Film
• Topic: Jazz (Music)
• Object number: 2015.275.38.1a
• Credit Line: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Anonymous Gift in memory of Ernest (Ernie) R. Smith, Jazz Historian
• Data Source: National Museum of African American History and Culture

Sources and reuse

Catalogue descriptions and facts adapted from National Museum of African American History and Culture through the Smithsonian's official Open Access dataset. This record explicitly marks its metadata CC0 1.0; formatting and selection have been changed. The underlying object's rights statement is: © Republic Pictures Corporation Permission required for use. Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.