Last week, the 1956 film High Society, starring Bing Crosby, Grace Kelly, Frank Sinatra, and Louis Armstrong, was added to the Library of Congress National Film Registry. Since most of the film was shot in January 1956, we thought that it is a perfect time to do a 70th anniversary post on the making of that beloved film.
But there’s another, much lesser-known anniversary lurking right around the corner: on February 6, 1956, after Armstrong finished the filming of High Society, he made a reel-to-reel tape for his friends in France, Hughes Panassie and Madeleine Gautier, a tape that we play excerpts from on every tour of the Louis Armstrong House Museum. High Society is discussed on that tape–and a whole lot more.
Thus, our plan is to publish two posts this week, with this one focusing on High Society and other events in Armstrong’s life from January 1956, all building up to the sharing of the February 6, 1956 tape, which will occur on Friday. Sound good? Let’s begin with a little backstory.
The fall of 1955 was arguably the height of Armstrong’s time as “Ambassador Satch,” as he embarked on a three-month tour of Europe lasting from the beginning of October to the end of December. Part of the tour was filmed for an episode of Edward R. Murrow’s See It Now, while some of it was recorded by George Avakian for Columbia Records’s Ambassador Satch album (we’ll have a 70th anniversary post for that one coming up in May, the time of its initial release). The New York Times published a front-page story on Armstrong in its Sunday edition on November 6, which inspired the State Department to begin its “Jazz Ambassadors” program the following year.
Here’s a wonderful photo of Trummy Young, Barrett Deems, and Louis onstage in Sweden in October 1955:
It was also in October 1955 that columnist Mike Connolly got a scoop, which he printed in his Palm Springs Desert Sun column: “MGM envisions Bing Crosby as co-starring out Culver way with Grace Kelly and Frank Sinatra in ‘High Society,’ formerly ‘The Philadelphia Story.'” One month later, Variety confirmed it with a short story in its November 30 issue:
Armstrong is mentioned as part of “the plan” but he would not be offered a contract until December 9. This two-page contract has been auctioned off multiple times over the years and though we do not know where it resides at the moment, the internet doesn’t forget and still offers a page of it online:
Armstrong didn’t sign it until he was out in California on January 4, but the offer alone was enough for the press to run with news of Armstrong appearing in the film, with Jet running a blurb on December 22. Armstrong returned to the States in time to do a walk-on appearance on Ed Sullivan’s Toast of the Town on New Year’s Day and then headed to California to begin filming.
The MGM studio system was in full swing so just a few months after the announcement, High Society had a script by John Patrick and a score by Cole Porter, while Saul Chaplin wrote the arrangements and Johnny Green (composer of “Body and Soul”) served as Music Director. Charles Walters would direct, Sol C. Siegel would produce and a star-studded cast was lined up, headlined by Crosby, Grace Kelly (the two had already co-starred in 1954’s The Country Girl), Frank Sinatra, Celeste Holm, and more. That’s service!
The film would be a musical remake of The Philadelphia Story, but the new plot would be centered around the Newport Jazz Festival, which launched in 1954 and exploded into a phenomenon in 1955, the year of Armstrong’s first appearance. Clearly the role was written with Armstrong in mind as no one else in the jazz world could have pulled off such a part: a famous jazz musician, headlining Newport, yet one with the charisma to hold his own among such a high-powered cast.
Armstrong’s first order of business was to learn the Cole Porter score and record the soundtrack performances with the All Stars–trombonist Trummy Young, clarinetist Edmond Hall, pianist Billy Kyle, bassist Arvell Shaw, and drummer Barrett Deems. Photos were taken at the sessions, but I’ve never seen good quality prints. Fortunately, the late Jack Bradley was at least able to make photocopies of many of them and though the quality leaves much to be desired, at least it’s something! Here’s some of these session photos courtesy of the Jack Bradley Collection:
The sessions went well and Armstrong was sent copies of the master takes on acetate discs so he could study them before going in front of the camera to film–more on those when we get to the February tape.
On January 9, Louis finally took a breath and wrote a letter to his manager, Joe Glaser. He used the stationary provided by the Hollywood Knickerbocker Hotel, but had brought along his personal typewriter, which featured his favorite italicizied ribbon. A warning: the full letter has some adult jokes, which we won’t transcribe, but for the record, they’re there if you look for them! Here’s the letter with a partial transcription to follow:
Armstrong opens the letter by mentioning it’s the first one he’s written in 1956, hoping it is “extra good luck” for “my man Joe Glaser….He’s the greatest.” Armstrong thanks Glaser for sending a photo of his mother and hopes to see her when he plays the Beachcomber in Miami in February.
As promised, the first part that is worth transcribing might seem odd, but it will resurface when we get to the audio of the February 6, 1956 tape: the tale of Louis’s new wardrobe:
“P.S. you see the wonderful break that you’re getting on my present, and the clothes deal…A real light bill, huh?…. With all of those clothes, bought from the great Leo Fox, why, it should have costs, you – ‘Thousands and ‘Thousands of dollars…And on top of that, Sy Devore gave me a reduction on all the things that I bought… Nice huh?….
The main reason that I’m thrilled over the clothes that I choosed at Sy’s, is because, it,s real kicks to be able to go into a store and buy an ordinary suit, ready made and walk on out with it on my back…Other than a few little minor touching up here an there…Thars, because I have lost so much weight… I realize that Leo Fox is the best man for clothes…And I just drools when I get new suits from him, ofcourse with the very good gracious of ‘you my good boss man…But as I said before, it is just the thrill of being a little man now…Then to—it won’t be long before we will be going back over the waves and I was afraid that I wouldn’t have time to get any ‘Vines’ made at Leo Fox…And, right now, I am as raggidy as a – as a bowl of slaw…Ha Ha …I don’t have not one suit that I can wear…I have lost just that much weight… So you see,-?–bird in hand-gathers no moss..Or! Somphn! So Dad if its, alright with you, I am very much pleased with everything that I selected…And thanks again…you are a very fine man…I have loads an loads to be ever so greatful to you for….”
In case you’re not hip to the Los Angeles menswear scene, Sy Devore is still in business in L. A., though the actual Sy Devore passed away in 1966. He seems to have been a good friend of Armstrong’s and would be invited to Louis and Lucille’s wedding anniversary party in Los Angeles later in 1956. He also seemed to have a natural instinct for knowing where the camera was; he’s the one looking right into the lens at said anniversary party as Louis chats with comedian Timmie Rogers and Nat King Cole:
From the same party (which probably deserves an anniversary post of his own later this year), Devore is second from the right in the following photo, which also features actor Jeff Chandler, Lucille and Louis, Peggy Lee, and Louis’s close friend, nightclub owner Stuff Crouch:
So that’s Sy Devore; more on him to come. On the next page, Louis shares with Glaser his first impressions of High Society, predicting it’s “gonna be a gassuh” and “should cut all box office records.” “I recorded with Bing, his two hit tunes in the film,” Armstrong adds, “Oh, they’re so pretty…And he’s singing his ‘ass off.. ‘My man…. ’T’aint’ but the one ‘Bingle……”
After relaying a dirty joke Crosby told on the set, Armstrong offers a bit about the film’s opening number, “High Society Calypso”:
“You’re right about us opening up the picture…we have a Calypso Song, written for me and my band to sing, called High Society Calypso… I mean the tune will actually– open up the picture with a bang…All in all, and so far- things are shaping up real well on the MGM lot….”
One member of the All Stars didn’t make it into the film, and Armstrong was upset about it, writing, “That was too bad about Velma..But, it could’nt be helped I guessed…If [Associated Booking California representative] Bobby Phillips or somebody would have told you just what was happening before one came out here… Anyway, I stopped her from turning her car in, saying that she can’t afford it… I told her that I would pay for the rental of her car the whole time that we’re out here which sort of perked her up a bit…”
Reading between the lines, it appears that High Society came together so quickly, there wasn’t enough time to write a part for Velma. The All Stars had one big show while out in California, at the Pasadena Civic Auditorium on January 20, and instead of sending Velma back, Louis offered to pay for her to at least have a rental car while on the coast. We’ll hear more about how Velma spent her spare time when we get to the actual tape.
After Armstrong thanks Glaser again “for everything” and mentions “the world has gone Swiss Kriss mad,” Armstrong signs off before adding a handwritten postscript:
“P.S. Partaining to THE Tuxedo Vest with the Lace on top– you forget to realize – ‘Satchmo – for ‘Three Generations-has kept up the pace with the ‘Youngsters and there’s no NEED letting them down now. P.S. ‘ya Dig?- What ever they wear or Do–Satchmo’ Dood it too. Tee Hee”
Glaser must have gotten quite a kick out of Louis picking out a “Tuxedo Vest with the Lace on top.” Always aware of the power of publicity, Glaser leaked this tidbit to the powerful gossip columnist Louella Parsons. How fast did this occur in pre-internet days? Armstrong dated his letter January 9, it probably took a few days to make its way across the count, Glaser received it, reached out to Parsons, and, as far as I can tell, the earliest it appeared in her syndicated column was January 17:
This all might seem very trivial, but don’t worry it will pay off! But first, let’s go back to the set of High Society, as once the recordings were finalized, it was time to go before the cameras. Publicity photos from the set are easier to find; these are just a few that Louis himself saved, opening with the “High Society Calpyso” opener:
Joe Glaser turned a bunch of images into Associated Booking Corporation publicity photos, beginning with one of Louis and Bing jamming on the set:
Louis and Grace Kelly:
Here’s a different photo from the same location, this time with Kelly at the piano:
And one more of Louis and the soon-to-be Princess Grace, with Louis in costume from the “High Society Calypsyo” opening scene:
The caption for this next photo says this was for a scene in the film, but it’s actually just another fun publicity shot, with Armstrong duded up and Bing blowing Pops’s horn:
The famous “Now You Has Jazz” number:
Those are the photos Louis saved (plus one more we’re saving for last), but when Jack Bradley came on the scene, he added many more to his collection; here’s a selection, opening with a few more from “Now You Has Jazz”:
Different print of the same image; MGM would make great use of this image of Louis, as we’ll see:
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While on the subject of “Now You Has Jazz,” one of Bradley’s photocopies of another shot from the sequence, with Louis and Bing consulting with Director Charles Walters:
An alternate take from the session with Louis and Bing hamming it up:
I love this shot of the All Stars in full flight, as Bing relaxes and enjoys:
We don’t know who took these publicity photos, but it’s possible some were done by the great Bob Willoughby, as a few famous photos from the set have been licensed and featured in books and retrospectives of Willoughby’s work. These don’t belong to the Louis Armstrong House Museum, but are too good not to share:
I love Bing and Grace’s expressions as they watch Louis in action. Apparently, the reverence towards Louis on the set was common. In 1973, Johnny Green sat down with the BBC’s Steve Allen for an interview about Louis, which included a lengthy discussion on High Society. This unedited conversation hasn’t been published anywhere else and I think it adds some excellent first-hand insight into the atmosphere on the set (there’s an odd break in the middle, due to one reel of tape running out, but it picks right up with more High Society talk):
LAHM 2016.130.138-139
And because he mentioned Danny Kaye, here’s another of those yellowed photocopies of a day when Kaye visited the set, chatting with Louis, Bing, producer Sol Siegal and Saul Chaplin:
By now perhaps you have noticed that Frank Sinatra isn’t in any of these photos; in fact, I’m not certain Armstrong and Sinatra were even on set at the same time. The only photo that exists of the two of them from the film is a bit of pre-Photoshop trickery with the Sinatra image taken from the movie poster, while the Louis image is from one of the “Now You Has Jazz” photos originally with Bing:
And if you don’t know it offhand, here’s one version of the original movie poster, as saved by Jack Bradley:
That bit of “Photoshop” magic is nothing compared to another image MGM released at this time. Louis had lost a lot of weight (take a bow Swiss Kriss) so he decided to spotlight his new slimmed down physique in a series of new publicity photos taken for the film. These have become rather well-known over the years, but they were all originally taken in January 1956:
Well, at some point, someone at MGM thought it might be nice to get a photo of Armstrong and Cole Porter, two titans of 20th century music. So one of the above photos was paired with a photo of Porter at the piano and voila–fakery at its finest! We do have these as yellowed photocopies in our Archives, but a quick Google search turned up a better version:
A Bradley photocopy is the only version I can find of this other attempt, which isn’t quite as smooth:
While on set, Armstrong also made time to do multiple interviews, including one with Philip K. Scheuer that was printed in the Los Angeles Times on January 22. Because of the way it was laid out, it’s a bit messy as a visual, but is chock full of good information:
Here’s a transcript:
High Society Invaded by Louis Armstrong
Louis Armstrong has moved into MGM with his trumpet, his lip, salve, his diet (Lose Weight the Satchmo Way) and his six-man combo, which includes himself. In “High Society,” he and the combo play at a swank Newport (R.I.) jazz festival (“Man, dig that rehearsal hall!”) after being ushered in by a butler who inclines his head and asks, “Will you follow me, Mr. Satchelmouth?”
“That killed me,” says Satchmo, who, with Grace Kelly, Bing Crosby and Frank Sinatra will interpret a new Cole Porter score severally titled “I Love You, Samantha,” “Little One,” “Now You Has Jazz” and “High Society Calypso,” “Well, Did You Evah.”
“Yes, daddy, we’re using studio arrangements and that’s the way we’ll play them when we leave,” Armstrong told me. “It’s almost a whole new repertoire, just from this picture.”
Special Diet
Louis, who is ageless, put away the victuals at our lunch and then followed it with his “diet”-an antacid tablet and a herbal laxative. From behind his dark glasses and an elegant cigarette holder, he proceeded to hold forth on jazz and related topics:
“Has jazz changed? That I don’t know. We just play that music as best we can. There’s a whole lot of stuff they was callin’ bop, but they wasn’t sure of nothin’. Bop is slop, jujitsu musica bunch of notes that come out of a method and squeeze up into the high notes. The low notes is just as good!
“Rock ‘n’ roll? Dixieland with another name.
“Musicians try to knock other musicians out; but people walk up and say, ‘Where’s the melody?’
Do the Work
“We always get right back to playin’ plain music; just serve it up! Never skate, do the work – whether you’re playin’ for four or 400. same numbers that go over in America go over everywhere. We been on a three-month’s tour of Europe includin’ Luxembourg -that’s a country itself. They got hot clubs same as here; know every riff, every note. Russia? I don’t want to see Molotov or none of them boys – just show me that hot club! “The average cat wants to stay at home. I travel, know what ever body’s playin’. And I stay young because my mind is always nice; ailments make you frown. And I have a young wife, too.
“Vacation? This picture is my vacation. I don’t have to work nights.”
************************
So it’s all there: an early Swiss Kriss mention (along with the “Lose Weight the Satchmo Way” diet chart), some knocks on bebop, and lots of personal philosophy, but there’s also a few mentions of the film–and Armstrong using a cigarette holder. He couldn’t have known it at the time but as the days in Hollywood accumulated, the smoke from Armstrong’s cigarette holder began infecting his eyes. By early February, Armstrong would head back to Corona to take a few days off to tend to his weary eyes before heading to an engagement with the All Stars. While convalescing at home, he decided to make the aforementioned reel-to-reel tape for his good friends in France. That tape, the whole inspiration for this post, will be featured on Friday!
Oh, as promised, a postscript: a photo Grace Kelly gave to Louis at the end of the shoot:
And a postscript to the postscript: High Society was released last year in a stunning 4K restoration–grab a copy!