Time to relax on a Sunday with some cheesy but super fun musical short subjects, early 1930's style, from none other than Vitaphone!
Kicking this off: excerpts from Vitaphone's teenage dancin' sensations Hal Le Roy and Mitzi Mayfair in TIP TAP TOE (1932) and USE YOUR IMAGINATION (1933).
Later in the 1930's, the Vitaphones teamed Hal with Toby Wing and June Allyson, but, alas, neither could match Mitzi Mayfair's formidable terpsichorean mojo. Too bad she didn't make more movies in addition to these Vitaphone short subjects and the WW2 musical Four Jills In A Jeep.
Hal's breakthrough was in the Ziegfeld Follies and, all these decades later, his rubber-legged moves and tap dancing remain amazing. He was a heckuva entertainer.
Hoofin' Hal continued working well into the television era and tapped his way through The Ed Sullivan Show. Here he is doing a spirited throwdown with fellow tap guru Clayton "Peg Leg" Bates.
Next up: Phil Spitalny & His Musical Queens (a top-notch group)! There weren't nearly enough symphony orchestra and big band jobs for exceptional female musicians during the Great Depression, so Mr. Spitalny (who I first heard about when perennial nogoodnik Boris Badenov made a reference to him in the Rocky & Bullwinkle Wossamatta U series) happily hired them, a few years before the formation of The International Sweethearts Of Rhythm.
A recording artist who starred in terrific musical short subjects in the pre-code era was Ruth Etting a.k.a. The Sweetheart Of Columbia Records.
The excellent Ruth Etting musical short ARTISTIC TEMPER (1932) is distinguished by an extended sequence that takes place in an automat and sets up her subsequent songs.
That clip got me thinking of Lisa Hurwitz' outstanding 2021 documentary THE AUTOMAT. It's a great slice of 20th century history and, naturally, Mel Brooks' appearance is immensely enjoyable. I want some automat coffee, NOW!
Back to splendid songstress Ruth Etting, this film buff wonders if a collection of her musical short subjects produced by Vitaphone and Paramount Pictures is available on DVD or Blu-ray.
If there is, we'll buy it - she was great!
One of our favorite Vitaphones, PLANE CRAZY (1933), stars the pert comedienne Dorothy Lee, key onscreen cohort of RKO Radio Pictures' sprightly comedy team of Bert Wheeler & Robert Woolsey and especially wonderful in PEACH O' RENO (1932), HIPS HIPS HOORAY (1934) and COCKEYED CAVALIERS (1934). Dorothy's megawatt charm, wiseguy comics unconvincingly portraying aviators and (of course) cheesy production numbers rule the day.
In last weekend's KFJC Psychotronix Film Festival we ran a hilariously cheesy and shameless Soundie from the early 1940's about a gas station staffed by showgirls and mostly patronized by unapologetically pervy guys. The budget in the following Vitaphone musical (in glorious Technicolor) about a showgirl service station, Service With A Smile, is significantly higher so the outfits are a lot better.
Better yet, the 1934 gas station customers, unlike their 1940's counterparts, are not leering lechers!
And, as is the case in the Vitaphone Technicolor short subject Good Morning Eve, the celebrated Ziegfeld Follies comedian Leon Errol, veteran of a gazillion RKO 2-reelers (The Jitters) and a memorable appearance with fellow comic and boozehound W.C. Fields in NEVER GIVE A SUCKER AN EVEN BREAK, is on hand.
In another fun Technicolor musical short from this Vitaphone series, Wini Shaw, the super splendid songstress who sang the Lullaby Of Broadway in GOLD DIGGERS OF 1935, co-starred with goofy dialect comedian El Brendel and scantily clad showgirls dressed, barely and implausibly, as Native Americans. I'm not kidding!
In closing, way back on pre-lockdown February 8, 2019, Way Too Damn Lazy To Write A Blog's post was devoted to, in large part due to the untimely passing of the driving force begin The Vitaphone Project, Ron Hutchinson, the rediscovery of the incredible 1920's time capsules known as Vitaphone Varieties. Posted Vitahone Varieties then, but to finish today's Vitaphone-centric post, we shall give 'em an encore. Here are a slew of Vitaphone Varieties - enjoy! And thanks again to the late Ron Hutchinson!
3 comments:
Both "Good Morning, Eve!" and "Service With a Smile" were among the first, if not the first, WB projects to use "three-strip" Technicolor, and Ms. Kalmus made certain that the full palette of colours were on view in both, in the "Rhythm in the Bow" segment in the first short, and a lot of the station attendant designs in the latter short.
Good Morning, Eve! a.k.a. Vernon Dent (as Nero) sings!
Yes, "Service With A Smile" was the first of the series, released theatrically in July 1934, and may well have been the first WB project in glorious three-strip Technicolor. As you know, Walt Disney beat all the competing cartoon producers, including Leon Schlesinger/WB to the punch by buying exclusive rights to the use of three-strip Technicolor from 1932-1935.
Post a Comment