this page first published by John Wright, 26 Oct 1997
last update 1 August 2009
vintage@jabw.demon.co.uk
Films featuring American Jazz or Dance Bands 1927-1947
As well as on records, jazz and dance band music was recorded for films during the 78 rpm era.
This page is the first part of a list of American films known to feature bands, seen and heard, some not identified. Note: Bands may also appear in films listed in the Entertainers and Popular Song film lists.
If you can add to this list, can fill in any of the gaps or if you know of websites or books
dealing with old movies that might have useful information
then please e-mail me.
Recent updates to listing:
Updates from 'Who Sang What On The Screen' by Alan Warner (1984)
| Updates from 'Black Beauty, White Heat' by Frank Driggs, Harris Lewine (1982)
| Updates from 'Halliwell's Film Guide (1993, Ninth edition)
| Update from Carlos A. Montes de Oca, for 'Close Harmony'
| |
You may find videos of some of the films on the net at Amazon.com. In the list below those with Order Today! can indeed be ordered via their link. For the other films you can use the search link at the foot of this page.
| FILM | DATE | FEATURING | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Around The World | 1943 | Kay Kyser's Band Ish Kabibble Ginny Simms Joan Davis Misha Auer SONGS Don't Believe Everything You Dream, Candleight And Wine, He's Got A Secret Weapon, They Chopped Down The Old Apple Tree, Great News In The Making, Roodle-Ee-Doo, A Moke From Shamokin | |
| Artists And Models | 1937 | Louis Armstrong's Orch, Andre Kostelanetz Orch Yacht Club Boys, Connee Boswell, Martha Raye, Judy Canova SONGS Whispers In The Dark, Pop Goes The Bubble, Stop You're Breaking My Heart, I Have Eyes, Public Melody Number One | |
| Atlantic City | 1944 | Louis Armstrong Orch, Paul Whiteman Orch Belle Baker, Dorothy Dandridge, Buck & Bubbles, Jerry Colonna SONGS Nobody's Sweetheart, Ain't Misbehavin', After You've Gone, I Ain't Got Nobody, Darktown Strutters' Ball, Mister Gallagher And Mr Shean, On A Sunday Afternoon | |
| Ball Of Fire (GB: The Professor And the Burlesque Queen) | 1941 | Gene Krupa Orch Barbara Stanwyck voice may be that of Martha Tilton SONGS Drum Boogie | |
| Bathing Beauty | 1944 | Harry James Orch, Helen Forrest SONGS I Cried For You, Hora Staccato, I'll Take The High Note, Trumpet Blues And Cantabile | |
| Battle Of Paris | 1929 | a band including Miff Mole (tb) Gertrude Lawrence SONGS They All Fall In Love, Here Comes The Bandwagon, What Makes My Baby Blue, Housekeeping For You | |
| Beat The Band | 1947 | Gene Krupa Band, Frances Langford SONGS Beat The Band, Kissin' Well, I'm In Love, I've Got My Fingers Crossed, Shadow Rhapsody | |
| Behind the Eight Ball (GB: Off The Beaten Track) | 1942 | Sonny Dunham Orch Ritz Brothers Carol Bruce Dick Foran SONGS You Don't Know What Love Is, Wasn't It Wonderful, Mr Five By Five, Don't You Think We Ought To Dance?, When My Baby Smiles | |
| Belle Of The Nineties | 1934 | Mae West, Duke Ellington Orch (Gene Austin is NOT in this film) SONGS I've Got To Wash My Sins, Away Before The Morning, My Old Flame, Troubled Waters, My American Beauty, When A St Louis Woman, Comes Down To New Orleans, The Memphis Blues | |
| Best Foot Forward | 1943 | Harry James Orch Lucille Ball William Gaxton June Allyson Gloria De Haven SONGS Wish I May, Three Men On A Date, Ev'ry Time, >The Three B's, Buckle Down Winsocki, Alive And Kicking, Two O'Clock Jump, The Flight Of The Bumble Bee | |
| Betty Co-Ed (GB:The Melting Pot) | 1946 | Jan Savitt Orch Jean Porter SONGS Put The Blame On Mame, You Gotta Do What You Gotta Do | |
| Big Broadcast | 1932 | Cab Calloway Orch, Vincent Lopez Orch, Eddie Lang, Bing Crosby, Kate Smith, Arthur Tracy, Mills Bros, Boswell Sisters, Donald Novis SONGS Please(BC,EL), Where The Blue Of The Night Meets, The Gold Of The Day(BC), Here Lies Love(BC,AT,VLO), Tiger Rag(MB), Goodbye Blues(MB), Kicking The Gong Around(CCO), Minnie The Moocher(CCO), Hot Toddy(CCO), Crazy People(BS), Shout Sister Shout(BS), Dinah(BC), The Boswell Weeps(BS), When The Moon Comes Over The Mountain(KS), It Was So Beautiful(KS), Marta(AT), Nola(VLO), Trees(DN) | |
| Big Broadcast of 1936 | 1935 | Ray Noble and his American Band, Ina Ray Hutton Orch, Bing Crosby, Ethel Merman, Richard Tauber, Lyda Roberti, Nicholas Bros., Vienna Boys Choir SONGS I Wished On The Moon(BC), It's The Animal In Me(EM), Miss Brown To You, Through The Doorway Of Dreams, Double Trouble, Why Dream?, Amargura, Crooner's Lullaby, Goodnight Sweetheart, Through The Doorway Of Dreams I Saw You, Why Stars Come Out At Night | |
| Big Broadcast of 1937 | 1936 | Benny Goodman's Orch Martha Raye, Benny Fields, Larry Adler, Shirley Ross, Leopold Stokowski SONGS Here's Love In Your Eye, You Came To My Rescue, >Cross Patch, Bugle Call Rag, I'm Talking Through My Heart, Vote For Mr Rhythm, Hi Ho The Radio, La Bomba, Night In Manhattan, Here Comes The Bride | |
| Big Broadcast of 1938 Click and order the video Today!  (NTSC format) | 1937 | Shep Fields and His Rippling Rhythm Orch, Bob Hope, Martha Raye, Dorothy Lamour, Tito Guizar, Kirsten Flagstad SONGS Thanks For The Memory, Don't Tell A Secret To A Rose, You Took The Words Right Out Of My Heart, Mama That Moon Is Here Again, This Little Ripple Has Rhythm, The Waltz Lives On, Zuni Zuni, Sawing A Woman In Half | |
| Big Show-Off | 1945 | Anson Weeks Orch SONGS >Cleo From Rio, Hoops My Dear | |
| The Big Street | 1942 | Ozzie Nelson Orch Lucille Ball (dubbed by Martha Mears) Henry Fonda Eugene Pallette SONGS Who Knows? | |
| Birth Of The Blues You can order the video of Birth Of The Blues Today! (NTSC format) | 1941 | Bing Crosby, Jack Teagarden Orch, Mary Martin (Danny Polo dubbed Bing's clarinet) SONGS >The Birth Of The Blues, St Louis Blues, Tiger Rag, Cuddle Up A Little Closer, The Waiter And The Porter And The Upstairs Maid, Gotta Go To The Jailhouse, Wait Till The Sun Shines Nellie, Memphis Blues, By The Light Of The Silvery Moon, My Melancholy Baby, St James Infirmary, At A Georgia Camp Meeting, Waiting At The Church | |
| Blockbusters | 1944 | Jimmy Noone band SONGS Apex Blues, aka Bump It | |
| Blues In The Night | 1941 | Jimmy Lunceford Orch, uncredited singer Will Osbourne Orch Priscilla Lane PSONGS Blues In The Night, This Time The Dream's On Me, Hang On To Your Lids Kids, Says Who, Says You, Says I | |
| Breakfast In Hollywood (GB: The Mad Hatter) | 1946 | Nat King Cole Trio, Spike Jones & His City Slickers SONGS Solid Potato Salad (NKCT), Better To Be By Yourself (NKCT), Hat For Hedda Hopper (SJCS), Glow Worm (SJCS) | |
| Bright Lights | 1931 | Frank Fay SONGS | |
| Broadway | 1929 | Gus Arnheim and his Cocoanut Grove Ambassadors SONGS Broadway, Hot Footin' It, Hittin' The Ceiling, Sing A Little Love Song, The Chicken Or The Egg | |
| Broadway Babies | 1929 | . SONGS Broadway Baby Doll, Wishing And Waiting For Love, Jig Jigaloo | |
| Broadway Gondolier | 1935 | Ted Fiorito Band Dick Powell, Mills Brothers SONGS Lulu's Back In Town, The Rose In Her Hair, Lonely Gondolier, Outside Of You, You Can Be Kissed, The Pig And The Cow | |
| Broadway Rhythm | 1943 | Tommy Dorsey Orch Lena Horne Hazel Scott George Murphy Ginny Simms Charles Winnegar SONGS All The Things You Are, Somebody Loves Me(LH), Brazillian Boogie(LH), Milkman Keep Those Bottles Quiet, Manhattan Serenade, Solid Potato Salad, Pretty Baby, Oh You Beautiful Doll, Irresistable You, Ida, Sweet As Apple Cider, What Do You Think I Am? | |
| Broadway Scandals | 1929 | . SONGS What is Life Without Love?, Can You Read In My Eyes?, Love's The Cause Of All My Blues, Would I Love To love You?, Kickin' The Blues Away | |
| By Request | 1935 | Claude Hopkins Band SONGS I Would Do Anything For You, Chasin' All My Blues Away, California Here I Come, Shine, Chinatown, My Chinatown | |
| Cabin In The Cotton | 1932 | Les Hite Orchestra featuring Lionel Hampton George Ordendorf Bette Davis Richard Barthelmess SONGS Willie TheWeeper, She'll Be Comin''Round The Mountain | |
| Cabin In The Sky | 1943 | Louis Armstrong Orch, Duke Ellington Orch, Ethel Waters, Lena Horne, Buck & Bubbles SONGS Cabin In The Sky(EW), Ain't It De Truth, Li'l Black Sheep, Life's Full Of Consequence, Honey In The Honeycomb(LH), Taking A Chance On Love(EW), Going Up(DE), In My Old Virginia Home(DE) | |
| Caldonia | 1945 | Louis Jordan Orch SONGS Caldonia, Buzz Me, Honey Chile | |
| Campus Rhythm | 1943 | . SONGS Walking The Chalk Line, Swing Your Way Through College, It's Great To Be A College Girl, College Sweetheart | |
| Carolina Blues | 1944 | Kay Kyser and his Band Ann Miller Victor Moore SONGS | |
| Check And Double Check | 1930 |  Duke Ellington Orch SONGS Three Little Words, Old Man Blues | |
| Cigarette Girl | 1947 | Russ Morgan Orch SONGS | |
| Close Harmony | 1929 | Jesse Stafford Orch Buddy Rogers SONGS She's So I Dunno, I Want To Go Places And Do Things, I'm All A-Twitter, Twelfth Street Rag, Doin' The Racoon | |
| Convention City | 1933 | orchestra? Dick Powell, Joan Blondell, Adolphe Menjou, Dick PowellThis film is lost | |
| Convention Girl | 1935 | Isham Jones Orch SONGS .... | |
| Coronado | 1935 | Eddy Duchin Orch Jack Haley Leon Errol Johnny Downs SONGS You Took My Breath Away, How Do I Rate With You?, Keep Your Fingers Crossed, Mashed Potatoes, Midsummer Madness | |
| Crazy House | 1943 | Count Basie Band, Thelma Carpenter, Jimmy Rushing, Glenn Miller Singers with Marion Hutton, Delta Rhythm Boys SONGS Pocketful Of Pennies, Tropicana, Get On Board | |
| Crimson Canary | 1945 | Coleman Hawkins, Josh White and others SONGS The Walls Of Jericho, One Meat Ball (And No Spaghetti) | |
| Crooner | 1932 | David Manners (voice dubbed by Brick Holton), Teddy Joyce SONGS |
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