User Reviews

This is not merely a movie about race, jazz, drug use, love affairs, Parisian scenery, etc. It's a movie about all the aforementioned and then some. Ritt & Co. go deeper than just superficially touching on so-called hip, trendy issues. Each character portrayed has his/her own set of "blues" to contend with and no individual set of "blues" is merely confined to one sole issue, but rather a complex mixture of many factors that comprise each of our character's makeup. It is in the intertwining of each character's individual persona with the other characters' own traits and idiosyncrasies that lets the story unfold and take cohesive shape. Successes and failures are inextricably linked, as in Ram's (Newman) fame as a jazz soloist counterpointed with his rejection as a serious composer/arranger. Eddie (Poitier) also has his own set of personal conflicts that are duly explored here.

Joanne Wodward, Diahann Carrol and Barbara Laage (in a more minor role, albeit soulful and penetrating) all hit their mark with humor, depth and candor. Serge Reggiani's role as the junkie guitar player adds his own set of "blues" to an already spicy mixture of music, love, rejection and pathos. "Satchmo" and company provide a most welcome musical interlude at just the right time to lighten up the plot just a bit!

A timelessly entertaining film.

Within 2 years of "Paris Blues" being released the US involvement in Vietnam began to sour the relationship between America and la rive gauche. French intellectuals affected to disdain the United States and all its works;one of the few aspects of Americana that were permitted to be still admired was jazz music. Even so the myth of the American jazz musician as a god-like figure had faded by the mid sixties.Giants like Louis Armstrong and Duke Ellington were still revered but the journeymen jazzers like Ram Bowen(Newman)no longer filled the clubs just because they were American. The Indian Summer of America's honeymoon with Europe peaked with "Paris Blues".

Beautifully shot in black and white in the quintessentially Parisian parts of the city where the 2 pairs of lovers could stroll hand in hand photogenically it was a love letter to the arondissements beloved of Scott Fitzgerald,Hemingway and Gertrude Stein 30 years after the affair had ended.

Paul Newman was never more charming,Sidney Poitier never more cool and self-effacing;their pairing considered quite daring at the time coming just a few years after the ground-breaking "The Defiant Ones". Duke Ellington wrote the score and his "Mood Indigo" is beautifully played by Murray McCeachern.Louis Armstrong plays himself - why his character is named Wild Man Moore one can only speculate.

I saw "Paris Blues" when I was 20 years old and my love affair with jazz was a its height. Looking at it now it doesn't seem all that special,the characters and situations have all become clichés;but perhaps that's a bit like saying "Hamlet"'s a good play but it's full of quotations.

Paris Blues (1961)

*** (out of 4)

American Jazz musicians Ram (Paul Newman) and Eddie (Sidney Poitier) are living in Paris where they spend all night practicing their music. Americans Lillian (Joanne Woodward) and Connie (Diahann Carroll) find themselves in Paris on vacation and soon they meet the musicians and sparks fly. The two week vacation soon has Lillian having major feelings for Ram but he knows if he decides to go with her it would mean going away from his love of music.

Paris BLUES comes from director Martin Ritt who made a number of films with Newman but this one here has to be the most underrated. I really don't understand why this film isn't better known because it features a terrific cast and has some outstanding music as well as being a lot more sexual and mature than a lot of films made during this period.

The main reason to watch this are for the performances and especially the chemistry of Newman and Woodward. The couple was already married by the time they made this and that chemistry between them just jumps right off the screen and especially the sexual tension between the two. Newman is very good in his rather grumpy role and he nails that part perfectly but he also nails the romantic side. Poitier is basically playing second fiddle here but it's still a lot of fun seeing him and Newman work together. Carroll is excellent in her supporting role and it was a lot of fun seeing Louis Armstrong.

The Jazz music score is perfect and I thought the film did a terrific job at playing up the Paris nightlife and the life of two musicians who are up all night. I thought the four stars had an excellent chemistry together and it makes for their journey to be quite entertaining. It also doesn't hurt that the film also deals with race relations without beating the viewing over the head. Paris BLUES really deserves to be seen by more people as it's certainly a nice little gem.

The American in Paris theme has been done very often in American cinema. The tradition is huge splashy technicolor with Gene Kelly, Fred Astaire, Jane Powell, Audrey Hepburn cavorting around the well known streets and landmarks. Those are nice films, but that ain't what you get here.

No Louvre, no Arc de Triomphe, no Eiffel Tower, a brief shot of Notre Dame from a distance; that's about it from the well known Paris. The Paris we see here in this black and white film is of the jazz clubs of the Left Bank where two expatriate musicians, Paul Newman and Sidney Poitier, eke out a living doing what they love.

Newman has ambitions though, he'd like to be a serious composer not a trombonist all his life. Poitier has come to Paris for reasons of the race problems in the USA.

Into their lives two American tourists come, Joanne Woodward and Diahann Carroll. A couple of dual romances commence.

Carroll and Poitier have a spirited debate over civil rights. The movement is getting into high gear in America and Carroll wants him to return and be part of it. No thanks, says Poitier, he just wants to do his jazz thing where his skin color isn't anyone's problem least of all his own.

Interestingly Carroll was doing a kind of warm up for another part of a black woman in Paris on Broadway the following year in Richard Rodgers, No Strings. In that play she falls for an expatriate writer played by Richard Kiley. An interracial romance, one of the first shown on the Broadway stage, still a lot of the same issues were in that show.

Paris Blues is a different slice of Parisian life for an American film to explore. All four leads do just fine, though the film probably doesn't rank in the top work of any of them.

Lots of jazz music for the aficionado. And of course the presence of the incomparable Louis Armstrong. The highlight of the film is the jam session with those two ersatz musicians Newman and Poitier.

The way Satchmo is received by the public only proves the truth of that line he sang in High Society about the way the French love American jazz.

If you're looking for a film on the level of Godard's "Breathless" , which was made in the same year (1961), forget it. Belmondo and Seberg coolly ride the crest of the New Wave in some other Paris. But there's never a good reason not to see Louis Armstrong, who is wonderful, so if nothing, see it for him. And where else are you going to get Paul Newman and Sidney Poitier hanging out in a jazz cave with hipsters looking like they just flew in from planet square, but in the process looking a lot cooler than the people trying to look cool.

The love scenes are as melodramatic and corny as they can be, bordering on camp, with a lot of hand wringing and flinging about and running, but c'mon! Newman and Woodward and Poitier and gorgeous Diahann Carroll? Rent this with Diva or Charade or both and it can be a Paris street scene night., although Diva and Charade are far superior. You can definitely do a lot worse.

I read all the other comments regarding this movie, and especially the commentator from Toronto, who stated that the trite clichés of American movies abound in this one; then Green Card and French Kiss were mentioned (Yes, those films WERE awful); The music is excellent; Duke Ellington's music is the backdrop; and Louis Armstrong appears in the film. Sidney Poitier is always right on the mark, sensitive and real; a superb actor. Joanne Woodward and Paul Newman play the ill-fated couple; and do quite well, as has already been mentioned in several reviews. While the story itself is not original, the cinematography is; you will see the street markets; walking along the Seine, Montmartre, Notre Dame, etc. (Compare this to the last big Hollywood film "Moulin Rouge", and I would prefer this film any day!).

This film is to be appreciated for the era it depicts; I have traveled to Europe, and always find that each person's impression is different; Americans who have never traveled unfortunately perpetuate the stereotype; That is sheer ignorance, however. I sincerely hope that all Europeans do not see Americans as portrayed by Meg Ryan, an imbecilic blonde American; or for example, "Le Divorce", with Kate Hudson and Naomi Watts; Please note that Hollywood does NOT represent educated Americans. This is in itself sad, because in the 1960's, when my mother traveled to Europe, I think the world was more friendly; now when even the U.S. is divided into "red" and "blue" states; we are consigned to trash films like "Le Divorce", which Hollywood makes for the lowest common denominator, instead of smaller "art" films which are a pleasant experience.

It is a shame that Hollywood portrays Americans as uncultured imbeciles; this is all about the bottom line (profits). I can honestly say that a real person has not been portrayed by American film blockbusters since the 1970's.

See this film for yourself. It is definitely worth it.

Interesting drama with jazz interest (music by Duke Ellington – whose contribution even garnered an Oscar nod – and the appearance of Louis Armstrong) filmed on location (by Christian Matras, cinematographer for Jean Renoir, Max Ophuls and Luis Bunuel, no less).

These two elements prove the film’s mainstay, offsetting the plot’s inherent heaviness (including the perennial struggle between Commerce and Art – popular American trombonist Paul Newman wants to branch out into composition – and its destructive impact on his relationship with tourist/divorcée-with-kids Joanne Woodward, racial intolerance – the reason behind Sidney Poitier’s relocation to Europe, which puts a strain on his affair with Woodward’s companion Diahann Carroll – and drug abuse, which is ruining the career of guitarist Serge Reggiani); two of the film’s best sequences are those in which Newman and Reggiani come across a junkie erratically strumming on his guitar in the marketplace – a man whom Reggiani previously idolized, and the eventual falling-out in public between the two over Reggiani’s continuing intake of drugs. Incidentally, it was amusing to note the epithet “introducing” before the latter’s name during the opening credits since he had already been well established in his native land for about 15 years (with even a couple of moderate profile English-speaking films in his resume')!

I’d say that the film – Newman’s fourth with spouse Woodward and second with frequent director Ritt – is very underrated within the actor’s filmography and is also notable for being the sole collaboration between the late star and fellow Method actor Marlon Brando (this was co-produced by the latter’s company, Pennebaker). Similarly, Newman’s teaming with Poitier here would have ‘repercussions’ two years later when both found themselves competing for the Best Actor Oscar (though the former was the hands-down favorite for one of his best roles in Ritt’s own HUD [1963], it was the latter who emerged the winner with LILIES OF THE FIELD [1963]); this ironic turn-of-events would occur three more times throughout Newman’s long career: he appeared with David Niven in LADY L (1965) – the latter won for SEPARATE TABLES in 1958 when Newman was nominated for CAT ON A HOT TIN ROOF, he appeared with (and directed) Henry Fonda in SOMETIMES A GREAT NOTION (1971) – the latter won for ON GOLDEN POND in 1981 when Newman was nominated for ABSENCE OF MALICE (1981) and, finally, he appeared with Tom Hanks in ROAD TO PERDITION (2002) – the latter won for FORREST GUMP in 1994 when Newman was nominated for NOBODY’S FOOL!!

The title is "Paris Blues", but it's actually jazz that Ram Bowen (Paul Newman) and Eddie Cook (Sidney Poitier) play. They're so into it that even American tourists Lillian Corning (Joanne Woodward) and Connie Lampson (Diahann Carroll) can't drag them back to the States. Louis Armstrong also co-stars.

The plot seems like something that we've seen before, but the music is the movie's strength. Director Martin Ritt of course later directed Newman in what was probably his greatest role: "Hud" (Ritt had already directed Newman and Woodward in "The Long Hot Summer"). "Paris Blues" may be routine, but it's got some great music.

For starters, this is one of those rare movies that would not have been as good if it had been shot in colour. B&W somehow fits the mood, the story and the setting. Yet it's not really a sad or dark story. As in many older B&W films, the lighting is magnificent with highlights and shadows and textures that simply aren't workable in colour. The performances are universally superb. The script is free of the usual clichés. And the music is great. (How could you possibly make a bad movie with the likes of Louis Armstrong, Paul Newman, Joanne Woodward, Sidney Poitier and Diane Carrol?) Nor, in that era (1961), did Hollywood zoom in and linger obsessively on sexual acrobatics. This is a mature, sexy film without any graphic sex. Those were the rules back then and this film is the better for them. A thoroughly enjoyable movie with a great cast that has stood the test of a half century very well indeed.

If you're a fan of either A) Jazz or B) Old Hollywood, this film is certainly one you should check off your list. Featuring great performances by both Paul Newman and Sidney Poitier (at such young ages too!), the story is a solid albeit not legendary one. I wouldn't say the whole is greater than the sum of its parts here (the individual subplots including romance and drug addiction don't come together quite as neatly as they should) but its a beautiful B&W film with a clear love for jazz and the era. Worth checking out for sure!

this movie has been mischaracterized as a fluffy love story, it is not. this film examines racial equality and the differences between France and the us in accepting people of color as more than "help" or as something to fear. this film also touches on the popularity of jazz music, and showcases authentic early jazz as well as painting a picture of the hip jazz subculture, including smoky clubs, late nights and loose women. the film also shows the journey of young musicians trying to find their style and find a place for themselves as jazz composers- not just as musicians. finally, this movie does reflect aspects of a love story- but in examining the film on a deeper level one finds that there really is no love, rather it is a commentary on disconnected, self-indulgent lust. finally - Louis Armstrong appeared and played in the movie- Does it get any better?

I'm sure there are people who will like watching Paris Blues. Paul Newman fans, or Sidney Poitier fans, or those who like Paris or jazz music, but even though I'm 2 for 4, I found too many problems with the movie to enjoy it.

First of all, even though Paul Newman made a career out of playing "the bad boy", he didn't really pull it off this time around. He and Sidney are nightlife jazz musicians. They are supposed to be seedy, bad quality, different-dame-a-night swingers. Then why did both of them look incredibly clean cut, with never a hair out of place? I just didn't buy it when they'd say, "Can you dig it?" It felt like they were in a movie parodying the 1960s and they didn't know what they were talking about.

Second, Joanne Woodward and Diahann Carroll play girlfriends on a two-week Paris vacation. They're not even off the train when Paul hits on Diahann, completely ignoring Joanne, who incidentally looks prettier than she usually does. Joanne is taken with him, so they go the low-life dive nightclub where he works and listen to him play. Once again, Paul hits on Diahann and is incredibly rude to Joanne. He pushes her away repeatedly and tells her to find someone else for what she wants. But Joanne wants to be an incredibly stupid woman. Seriously, what's her problem? She just arrived in Paris! There are nightclubs and seedy musicians everywhere—what's so special about Paul Newman? He's downright mean to her constantly. She knows where he stands. But he's the one for her? Both romances are quite stupid. Diahann and Sidney are awkward at best; it's as if they used one take to say their lines in the worst, most comical way possible, and that's the take the director kept. Joanne and Paul are mismatched; sometimes star-crossed lovers are a good plot point, but in Paris Blues it's just badly written. Throughout the entire movie, she's incredibly stupid, but she comes up with spur-the-moment zingers that don't fit her character.

"I told you from the beginning, I'm not on the market," Paul says. With a look that's supposed to be smoldering, but just comes across as confused, Joanne says, "I wasn't shopping," before leaving the room. I wasn't amused.

PARIS BLUES won't change your life unless you were one of those people (and I count myself one of them) that has been teetering on the verge of Euro-philia and this is the final straw to make you sell off all that crap you've acumulated over the years and live like a peddler just to be in Paris. Even if you are not, this movie could make you think twice. The core of the film is basically by-rote romances that, in themselves, would be non-descipt except for the fact that nothing Paul Newman touches can be bland. It is the elements surrounding these two romances that makes the film worth watching. Generally, to be a watchable film, the sum of the parts have to add up to more than the whole. Here, the film is simply the sum of it's parts...and those parts are wonderful. If I was to tell somebody there was a film out there where Paul Newman romances Joanne Woodward in a fifties jazz club in Paris alongside Sidney Pointier while they compete with Louis Armstrong most would go "What?Where? What movie?" which was exactly my reaction. Paris, Jazz, coffee...Newman. It's a confection with absolutely no nutritional value and yet you feel so much better having tried it.

Paul Newman and Sidney Poitier play Ram Bowen and Eddie Cook who are a couple of American jazz musicians living in Paris. Their lives are full of music, staying up all night playing in a jazz club, and sleeping all day. Their carefree lifestyles are turned upside down with the arrival of two beautiful American tourists, and the men find themselves torn between the music and the women.

By 1961 Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward were probably Hollywood's most famous husband and wife . So much so that the movie studios were looking for films for them to appear in . They turned many down but because of there love of Europe where they spent many vacations , they agreed to make Paris Blues and it definitely feels like a project made for the two of them .

If I'm brutally honest , the plot isn't up to much . It's just a fleeting love story where music wins over the woman .

The whole film has the feel of a Paris tourist board promo. There are many shots of Newman and Poitier with their women , walking past famous landmarks which look great but you long of feel the Director is just killing time in between the music scenes .

There are some interesting moments . Obviously the Louis Armstrong scenes are great and you can tell the cast are in awe of the man. There is also one scene where Eddie Cook is talking about racism in America with Connie and she tells him it's getting better every day back home .

This is just a few years before the civil rights movement and the race riots in America . If only they knew.

This definitely isn't one of Newman's best films considering he was absolutely in his prime in 1961 but as a big fan , I enjoyed it.

Nice and agreeable drama in which Duke de Ellington's superb jazz score and Christian Matras' cinematography enhance the boys-meet-girls story. The action takes place in Paris during the 1960s ; two American expatriate jazz musicians , Ram Bowen (Paul Newman) , Eddie Cook (Sidney Poitier) living in a Bohemian environment meet and fall in love with two lovely American tourist girls : Lillian Corning (Joanne Woodward) and Connie Lampson (Diahann Carroll) . Along the way , the two jazz musicians , one white , one black , strive for success in Paris. The story becomes too melodramatic as our protagonists becomes caught in a thorny decision . A Love So Spectacular, So Personally Exciting, You Feel It Happening To You!. They Live Every Wild and Wonderful Moment of Its Brash Excitement!...so personally exciting, you feel it's happening to you! . A white-hot drama about a red-hot Jazzmen ! Put down yout trumpet , Jazzman, I'm in the mood for love !.

The plot is plain and simple , two musicians become involved with American tourists who want to take them back to the States . This is a melancholic rhapsody in which the starring quartet giving awesome performance as a horn players and the girls who loved them . An engaging and charming film , though tends to be slow-moving at times , concerning a dramatic portrayal of young horn players who fight to fill his need for music , while becomes trapped in a romantic and thunderous web . What the script lacks in originality is amply made up for the extraordinary music and outstanding cast . Score by Duke Ellington and and an enjoyable apperance by Louis Armstrong make it a must-see for Jazz enthusiasts. Featuring the great Paul Newman giving a terrific and intense acting , along with his wife Joanne Woodward , as well as the magnificent couple formed by Sidney Poitier and Diahann Carroll. Accompanying them a lot of wonderful of secondary actors , such as : Louis Armstrong, Barbara Laage , Moustache , Marie Versini and Serge Reggiani .

The musical drama was competently made by one of the best Golden Hollywood directors , Martin Ritt . This understatement motion picture was well produced and compellingly directed by Martin Ritt, who worked with Paul Newman in two Westerns : ¨Hombre¨ and ¨Outrage¨. Ritt was an expert on dramas such as ¨Stanley and Iris¨ , ¨Nut¨ , ¨Norma Rae¨ , ¨The front¨, ¨The Sound and the Fury¨ , ¨Black orchid¨ , though also directed films of all kind of genres such as : ¨The Spy Who Came in from the Cold¨ , ¨The Great White Hope¨ , ¨Mafia¨ and ¨Molly McGuire¨ . This Paris Blues (1961) film will appeal to drama enthusiasts and Paul Newman/Sidney Poitier fans . Rating : 6.5/10 . Above average, well worth watching ; along with ¨Hud¨and ¨Outrage¨ , being one of Ritt's best movie.

One of the few films I've seen that portrays the culture of jazz musicians fairly accurately, as well as the women attracted to them. I very much enjoyed the performances of Diane Carroll and Joanne Woodward. It was still early in everyone's career, but they stole most of the scenes they were in. WATCH THIS MOVIE!

Adapted rather freely from a late-'50s novel, and boosted by a once-in-a-lifetime cast, this love letter to the Seine captures a moment, and a mood, that matter more than the lackadaisical plotting. Paul Newman and Sidney Poitier, expat jazz musicians, get involved with American tourists Joanne Woodward and Diahann Carroll, and they're such a gorgeous foursome you just want them all to get married and have lots of children. But wait. Woodward does already have two kids, which should be a major grappling point but is treated as a mere divertissement, while Carroll and Poitier squabble about whether he should be in Paris or fighting civil rights battles at home. The movie seems to advocate the latter, but I wonder if that's fair--all the jazz sequences, with the races happily enjoying each other's company and savoring the fabulous Duke Ellington music, look mighty alluring. There's one well-staged jazz romp with the two guys (they mime their instruments well) and Louis Armstrong riffing that's the most joyous thing you'll ever see, and there are lots of moodily photographed strolls through early-'60s Paris, looking glamorous and curiously bereft of cars. Not a whole lot happens, and Newman's character is rather more of a jerk than he has to be, and a couple of subplots (Newman's mistress; the cocaine-addicted guitarist) aren't well resolved. Martin Ritt had already worked well with Newman and Poitier on different projects, and would soon give the world "Hud," but this one isn't as substantial or moving. What it is is gorgeously photographed and scored, and full of beautiful people, and an alluring time capsule.

When the story begins, Ram (Paul Newman) and Eddie (Sidney Poitier) are American musicians who have been living in Paris for some time. They love jazz and spend their evenings performing in various clubs. However, their bohemian lifestyle is about to be challenged in the form of two ladies who are traveling together (Joanne Woodward and Diahann Carroll). When love is in the air, there are problems--can such a lifestyle work with wives AND would these men be willing to return home to the States if need be?

This is a film I really enjoyed for a couple reasons. First, the acting was terrific and the characterizations were very nice. Second, the story is unusual. However, some of it being unusual is because the movie leaves the viewer wondering what will happen next...will they have a happy ending or not? Well, the film doesn't make this clear...which didn't bother me. Worth seeing.

I recommend this movie whole heartedly. Some will say that Paris Blues is about love, but I say it is about living life despite love. The movie made me remember that there was actually a time when people dressed well, gathered in smoke filled rooms, and listened to live music. Living in Paris in the 1920s and 30s must have been great-compared to our shabby times where fun is relative to the size of your TV and the number of people who are NOT there with you! There are many actors and actresses in this movie who did not go on to well deserved greatness, but their message is clear: When feeling forced to forsake yourself for the sake of love, choose yourself and you'll have both. Choose love and have neither.

Filmed in b&w - 1961's "Paris Blues" was shot on location in the city of Paris, France which gave the viewer a really good perspective on how that European urban center looked nearly 60 years ago.

This film also featured some really excellent, mid-20th century jazz music which certainly helped to bolster-up its decidedly shallow story about the petty personal dramas, and the frivolous romantic pursuits of 2 American musicians who were living in Paris at the time.

Without this film's foreign setting and its jazzy music, I'd say that "Paris Blues" would've been, otherwise, a pretty forgettable picture.