Best Jazz in a Fictional Jazz Movie
Which movie featuring a fictional jazz musician in a jazz themed backdrop do you like best for the jazz music?
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34 titles
- DirectorMichael CurtizStarsKirk DouglasLauren BacallDoris DayA young trumpet player is torn between an honest singer and a manipulative heiress.
- DirectorSpike LeeStarsDenzel WashingtonSpike LeeWesley SnipesJazz trumpeter Bleek Gilliam makes questionable decisions in his professional and romantic lives.
- DirectorOtto PremingerStarsFrank SinatraKim NovakEleanor ParkerA junkie must face his true self to kick his drug addiction.
- DirectorMartin ScorseseStarsLiza MinnelliRobert De NiroLionel StanderAn egotistical saxophonist and a young lounge singer meet on VJ Day and embark upon a strained and rocky romance, even as their careers begin a long, uphill climb.
- DirectorChris EvansStarsChris EvansAlice EveEmma FitzpatrickTwo strangers stuck in Manhattan for the night grow into each other's most trusted confidants when an evening of unexpected adventure forces them to confront their fears and take control of their lives.
- DirectorBilly WilderStarsMarilyn MonroeTony CurtisJack LemmonAfter two male musicians witness a mob hit, they flee the state in an all-female band disguised as women, but further complications set in.
- DirectorGiuseppe TornatoreStarsTim RothPruitt Taylor VinceMélanie ThierryA baby boy discovered on an ocean liner in 1900 grows into a musical prodigy, never setting foot on land.
- DirectorFrancis Ford CoppolaStarsRichard GereGregory HinesDiane LaneMeet the jazz musicians, dancers, owner, and guests (like gangster Dutch Schultz) of The Cotton Club in 1928-1930s Harlem.
- DirectorCharles WaltersStarsBing CrosbyGrace KellyFrank SinatraWith socialite Tracy Lord about to remarry, her ex-husband - with the help of a sympathetic reporter - has 48 hours to convince her that she really still loves him.
- DirectorWoody AllenStarsSean PennSamantha MortonWoody AllenIn the 1930s, jazz guitarist Emmet Ray idolizes Django Reinhardt, faces gangsters and falls in love with a mute woman.
- DirectorAlexander MackendrickStarsBurt LancasterTony CurtisSusan HarrisonPowerful but unethical Broadway columnist J.J. Hunsecker coerces unscrupulous press agent Sidney Falco into breaking up his sister's romance with a jazz musician.
- DirectorRalph BakshiStarsMews SmallRon ThompsonJerry HollandThe story of four generations of a Russian Jewish immigrant family of musicians whose careers parallel the history of American popular music in the 20th century.
- DirectorHoward HawksStarsGary CooperBarbara StanwyckOscar HomolkaA group of professors working on a new encyclopedia while living in a Manhattan mansion take in a mouthy nightclub singer who is wanted by the police to help bring down her mob boss lover.
- DirectorVictor SchertzingerStarsBing CrosbyMary MartinBrian DonlevyJeff grows up near Basin Street in New Orleans, playing his clarinet with the dock workers. He puts together a band, the Basin Street Hot-Shots, which includes a cornet player, Memphis. They struggle to get their jazz music accepted by the cafe society of the city. Betty Lou joins their band as a singer and gets Louey to show her how to do scat singing. Memphis and Jeff both fall in love with Betty Lou.
- DirectorBlake EdwardsStarsJulie AndrewsJames GarnerRobert PrestonA struggling female soprano in 1934 Paris finally finds work after posing as a female impersonator, but it complicates her personal life when a visiting Chicago gangster finds himself inexplicably attracted to the seemingly male performer.
- DirectorPaul AusterStarsHarvey KeitelMira SorvinoRichard EdsonA famous jazz saxophonist's life is forever changed after he is accidentally shot.
- DirectorBasil DeardenStarsPatrick McGoohanKeith MichellBetsy BlairThis movie, based on William Shakespeare's Othello, is neatly positioned as a vehicle to showcase some of the best jazz musicians of the period, including Dave Brubeck and Charles Mingus.* Fictional movie with living Jazz legends
- DirectorRobert MulliganStarsNatalie WoodSteve McQueenEdie AdamsA salesclerk at Macy's department store finds herself pregnant after a one-night stand with a musician who does not even remember her.
- DirectorAndrew L. StoneStarsLena HorneBill RobinsonCab Calloway and His Cotton Club OrchestraThe relationship between an aspiring dancer and a popular songstress provides a retrospective of the great African-American entertainers of the early 1900s.* Fictional movie with living Jazz legends
- DirectorRob MarshallStarsRenée ZellwegerCatherine Zeta-JonesRichard GereTwo death-row murderesses develop a fierce rivalry while competing for publicity, celebrity, and a sleazy lawyer's attention.
- DirectorJohn CassavetesStarsBobby DarinStella StevensEverett ChambersGhost is an ideological musician who would rather play his blues in the park to the birds than compromise himself. However, when he meets and falls in love with beautiful singer Jess Polanski, she comes between him and his band members, and he leaves his dreams behind in search of fame.
- DirectorBertrand TavernierStarsDexter GordonFrançois CluzetGabrielle HakerA troubled, but talented musician flees the US to escape his problems, finding refuge and support in Paris.
- DirectorAnatole LitvakStarsPriscilla LaneBetty FieldRichard Whorf"Jigger' Pine forms a band that includes singer Ginger 'Character' Powell, wife of the trumpeter Leo Powell, and Nickie Haroyen and Peppi. All of them dedicate themselves to work as a unit and to play blues music. The dedication isn't paying off financially and, while riding the rails in a boxcar, they meet and befriend gangster Del Davis. He offers them a job at a New Jersey roadhouse, where Powell falls in love with Kay Grant, a former 'real good friend' of Davis. But when Powell learns that Character is about to have a baby, he returns to her. Jigger tries to make Kay the band's singer and, after this fails, runs off with her. She leaves him with nothing but a nervous breakdown. Back at the roadhouse, after his recovery, Kay shows up, has a quarrel with Davis, shoots and kills him, and plans to take back up with Jigger, who knows better but just can't help himself. While she is waiting in a car for him, along comes cripple Brad Ames, who she put in that condition, and he gets in and drives the car over a cliff, leaving no survivors in the two-passenger crash. The band is back together at the end, still using boxcars as their transportation, but happy playing the blues.
- DirectorVincente MinnelliBusby BerkeleyStarsEthel WatersEddie 'Rochester' AndersonLena HorneA compulsive gambler dies during a shooting, but he'll receive a second chance to reform himself and to make up with his worried wife.
- DirectorSteve KlovesStarsJeff BridgesMichelle PfeifferBeau BridgesThe lives of two struggling musicians, who happen to be brothers, inevitably change when they team up with a beautiful, up-and-coming singer.
- DirectorAllen ReisnerStarsNat 'King' ColeEartha KittCab CallowayThe story of W. C. Handy, the undisputed father of the blues.
- DirectorDamien ChazelleStarsMiles TellerJ.K. SimmonsMelissa BenoistA promising young drummer enrolls at a cut-throat music conservatory where his dreams of greatness are mentored by an instructor who will stop at nothing to realize a student's potential.
- DirectorMartin RittStarsPaul NewmanJoanne WoodwardSidney PoitierDuring the 1960s, two American expatriate jazz musicians living in Paris meet and fall in love with two American tourist girls.
- DirectorDavid LynchStarsBill PullmanPatricia ArquetteJohn RoseliusAnonymous videotapes presage a musician's murder conviction, and a gangster's girlfriend leads a mechanic astray.
- DirectorJohn CassavetesStarsBen CarruthersLelia GoldoniHugh HurdCassavetes' jazz-scored improvisational film explores interracial friendships and relationships in Beat-Era (1950s) New York City.
- DirectorTom HanksStarsTom HanksLiv TylerCharlize TheronA local Pennsylvania band scores a one-hit wonder in 1964 and rides the star-making machinery as long as they can, with lots of help from their manager.
- DirectorJack WebbStarsJack WebbJanet LeighEdmond O'BrienIn 1927, a Kansas City, Missouri cornet player and his band perform nightly at a seedy speakeasy until a racketeer tries to extort them in exchange for protection.
- DirectorDamien ChazelleStarsRyan GoslingEmma StoneRosemarie DeWittWhile navigating their careers in Los Angeles, a pianist and an actress fall in love while attempting to reconcile their aspirations for the future.Added 27 December 2016
- DirectorPete DocterKemp PowersStarsJamie FoxxTina FeyGraham NortonJoe is a middle-school band teacher whose life hasn't quite gone the way he expected. His true passion is jazz. But when he travels to another realm to help someone find their passion, he soon discovers what it means to have soul.Added 05 April 2021