Paris Blues

"Notable for Duke Ellington’s moody, stimulating jazz score… Along the way there are several full-fledged passages of superior Ellingtonia such as ‘Mood Indigo’ and ‘Sophisticated Lady’, and Louis Armstrong is on hand for one flamboyant interlude of hot jazz.” –Variety

This film is part of Strong Black Leads, a celebration of talented filmmakers and performers who, despite the odds, have made remarkable contributions to cinema through their respective crafts.

Eddie Cook (Sidney Poitier) and Ram Bowen (Paul Newman) and are two expatriate jazz musicians who have made their creative home in Paris. In France, both men find freedom and inspiration, things that they did not experience in America. When the men meet two American women, Lillian (Joanne Woodward) and Connie (Diahann Carroll), who are vacationing in France, Ram and Eddie must decide if their budding romances are reason enough to forsake the city they love. Ram is inspired by Paris, and he hopes that his career as a composer will take off in Europe, and Eddie thrives in the city’s racial tolerance, which he never experienced in troubled America.

In this cinematic ode to Jazz and The City of Light, Louis Armstrong makes a musical appearance. The score, which received an Academy Award nomination, was created by the legendary Duke Ellington.

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