The film mixes images of water and the city with the performers and audience at the festival. It also features scenes of the 1958 America’s Cup yacht races. The film is largely without dialog or narration (except for periodic announcements by emcee Willis Conover).

Also appearing are Buck Clayton, Jo Jones, Armando Peraza, and Eli’s Chosen Six, the Yale College student ensemble that included later-legendary trombonist Roswell Rudd, shown playing Dixieland as they drive around Newport in a convertible jalopy.

Many performances ran long, so that the last act, Mahalia Jackson, did not appear on stage until after midnight, wowing the audience with The Battle Hymn of the Republic.

The movie was written by Albert D’Annibale and Arnold Perl. It was directed by Aram Avakian, Bert Stern.

In 1999, the film was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant”.