The Incomparable Nicholas Brothers, 1940

Had the pleasure of watching Harold Nicholas skillfully transport a willing audience to uptempo oooh bop sh-bam scat singing land with Jon Hendricks in San Francisco's North Beach a little over 40 years after this production number was filmed for Down Argentine Way, an epic Betty Grable - Carmen Miranda musical produced by 20th Century Fox.

Little did I know that the swingin', scattin', dancin' machine entertaining the lucky audience that day was indeed the same guy who, with his brother Fayard, was responsible for jaw-droppingly unbelievable acrobatic dance routines in a slew of 1930's and 1940's musicals.

So here, check it out, is the real deal - what entertainment is all about.


Harold and Fayard, thankfully, enjoyed a lengthy career, even turning up on The Jackson 5's TV show in 1977; I would have posted that clip if the picture quality had been better.