Birth of the Blues is a 1941 American musical film directed by Victor Schertzinger and starring Bing Crosby, Mary Martin and Brian Donlevy.

Moving ahead, we find Jeff (Crosby) in his late twenties, and he and his boys have been unable to secure a job at any of the classier New Orleans cabarets and have been forced to limit their playing to street corners and to one-night stands in some of the dingier nightclubs.

At the same time, Jeff notices a young lady called Betty Lou (Mary Martin) being overcharged by a horse-cab driver.

The reviews were positive with Bosley Crowther of The New York Times commenting: "The Paramount has got a nice picture to greet the holidays... On the basis of story alone, 'Birth of the Blues' rates a less-than-passing grade.

But as a series of illustrated jam sessions and nifty presentations of songs and jokes it is as pleasant an hour-and-a-half killer as the musically inclined could wish.

Not only does feckless Bing Crosby play the clarinetist in his best unpremeditated vein, but he also has Mary Martin, Brian Donlevy, Eddie (Rochester) Anderson and Jack Teagarden with his orchestra to abet him.

For sweet and fancy singing that makes your muscles twitch, there is Mr. Crosby and Miss Martin doing truly delightful things with 'Wait Till the Sun Shines, Nellie' and a new number, 'The Waiter, the Porter and the Upstairs Maid.'

It’ll sing plenty of black ink at the b. o... Crosby bings personally with solo vocals, ensemble clowning and kidding-on-the-square crooning, the most legit being ‘Melancholy Baby’ (with Carolyn Lee): ‘By the Light of the Silvery Moon’ in a tiptop illustrated song slide routine in one of those early picture-houses: and thematically does ‘Birth of the Blues’ as the credits unreel..."[4] Bing Crosby recorded a number of the songs for Decca Records.