Pretty good movie overall. First half was nothing special but it got better as it went along.

I cannot think of one single thing that I would change about this film. The acting is incomparable, the directing deft, and the writing poignantly brilliant.

The tone of this movie is interesting -- the stakes are both dramatic and high, but it's balanced with a lot of fun, tongue and cheek dialogue.

This movie feels like it was made purely to piss off people who want good shows

In, I think, either Annie Hall or Manhattan, Woody Allen's character noted that in his family the biggest sin was buying retail. In my book it's sloppiness; sloppy writing, sloppy researching and this movie hits one out of the park as early as the opening credits which proclaim: introducing Serge Reggiani. That's breathtaking whichever way you look at it given that Paris Blues was Regiani's 40th - count 'm 40th - movie. Okay, the majority of these were French but they included such titles as La Ronde, Les Amants de Verone, Casque d'Or not forgetting Act Of Love, starring Kirk Douglas. In Paris Blues he plays a jazz guitarist known as the 'gypsy' an oh-so-subtle nod to Django Reindhart, an internationally renowned French jazz guitarist with celebrated gypsy blood. The film, shot in black and white, is about as far from a travelogue/valentine to Paris as you can get, set largely in the small jazz clubs on the Left Bank and although it does introduce themes like racism - Sidney Poitier's character had settled in Paris so that he could be just a musician as opposed to a Black musician; Diahann Carroll, the American tourist who falls in love with him is a committed campaigner for Civil Rights - it fails to address them adequately. If beguiling ninety minutes painlessly is your thing then this should hit the spot.

Imagine. You're schoolteachers on vacation in Paris and meet and fall in love with Paul Newman and Sidney Poitier, and night after night, you sit in a Parisian club listening to them play jazz. Have you died and gone to heaven? Well, if you're Joanne Woodward and Diahann Carroll, you are in heaven, at least until you get a slap of reality. But man, that's the vacation of a lifetime.Woodward and Carroll are Lillian and Connie from the U.S., on vacation in Paris. The first day, Lillian recognizes jazz musician Ram Bowen (Newman), who is trying to pick up Connie. He invites them to see him play at the club some time. Of course they don't waste any time getting over there. There Connie meets Eddie (Poitier), part of the group. They pair up - Ram/Lillian and Eddie/Connie. For Ram, it's an affair; for the straightforward, honest Lillian, she's hoping for more. For Eddie and Connie, it seems to be the real thing.Connie, as a young black woman, is also an activist, and she feels that Eddie has run away to Paris instead facing the conditions for blacks at home and working to make them better. In Paris, of course, he's freer and accepted. He loves the city, but he also loves Connie. Her home is the U.S. Ram is ambitious for his music -- he has written a serious piece and wants to see how far he can go with his talent.This is a wonderful film, far more than a romance, accompanied by some amazing music played by Louis Armstrong and and other musicians and composed by Duke Ellington. The movie beautifully captures the Paris of the early '60s in black and white, its smoky clubs, the people who live in the night, and the love Parisians had for American jazz, which would be fading soon.Poitier and Newman have great chemistry together, as do both male/female couples. Newman is hot, sexy, and egocentric, Carroll is drop-dead gorgeous and intelligent, Poitier is thoughtful and handsome, Woodward forthright and aggressive. They are all wonderful.See this film. It might actually convince you that for a while, like Lillian and Connie, you were in heaven.

Grabbing a bite at lunch time I clicked the remote control to my digital TV (our last kitchen appliance!) the TV was on "gem" channel 90, one of the recent channels added to Australia free to air TV that more or less has grown from 5 to may be 15 such channels... Ah yes Paris Blue! So the TV splashed a black and white movie... Oh well, but then there was that Trombone player with such a familiar face, Paul Newman! One of my favourite actor and one I can't think has done any lousy movie. Then what? at the other end of that shinny saxo, Sydney Potier, and a glimpse of Louis Armstrong! I'd swear I also seen JC Vandam pushing a cart in the market scene. Thank you IMDb for being the vehicle to remind me J Woodward was P Newman real wife, I had forgotten. I'm not a jazz aficionado but enjoy it just the same, I love romance and take racial discrimination at heart. I also found the dilemma career vs love a worthwhile exploration. But being born in Paris and having lived 27 years there, that I really took for granted, gave me a different outlook on what other people see in it.Movies can be criticised to kingdom come for their artistic and professional quality, but often I think they should be evaluated to what they have to offer an audience. In this film I was in the company of elements I liked a lot. Paris, good actors, enjoyable music, I don't know about you but this was good for me!

I tried to comment on this good film when it was on TCM a couple of days ago. I liked all of the comments except the derisive remarks regarding Ellington, and Strayhorn's relationship, but I digress. Queencheryl, You are right to wonder about the love affairs presented to us in the film. I've read (Music Is My Mistress) that Ellington was primarily interested in the project because the film WAS to have Ms. Carroll and Mr. Newman's characters "getting together" as the main story, and was very disappointed to find out after he...and Strayhorn had written and, worked the scoring, the producers chickened out and changed the screenplay. The music and the on screen appearances of Armstrong are the stars for me. Walking in Paris is cliché, but not doing that there, is like not going to Fisherman's wharf when visiting here. AND WHAT CITY TO HAVE WALKED IN!