TCM has its restored print of King of Jazz back in rotation. Paul Whiteman was as much the King of Jazz as Murray “the K” Kaufman was the Fifth Beatle. Both titles were self-proclaimed and completely untrue.
Nonetheless, Whiteman’s significance can’t be overlooked, and King of Jazz, from 1930, includes his two most significant contributions. He commissioned George Gershwin to write “Rhapsody in Blue,” and he hired Bing Crosby.
The movie is a fascinating time capsule from the early era of sound on film. It opens with a Walter Lantz cartoon with a brief appearance by Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, the character that was stolen from Walt Disney, forcing him to create Mickey Mouse.
https://youtu.be/HDReQ6T-54k