Four writers have adapted Harold Flender's novel, whose sole asset was the idea they have minimized ...

Despite how square this movie about hepcats seems -- if only from the admittedly unfair vantage point of more than five decades on -- expressions of raw emotion stir Paris Blues to life.

All it lacks is something to pull these parts into a sensible whole.

Whether or not one is interested in jazz music and beyond the acting performances, Paris Blues is worth checking out for Duke Ellington’s Oscar-nominated score.