Ethel Merman burst on the show business scene in the fall of 1930, when she appeared in the Broadway musical Girl Crazy and stopped the show with her energetic rendition of "I Got Rhythm." Almost immediately she was signed to make a series of musical shorts for Paramount, and Her Future was one of the first to go before the cameras. All too often musical shorts of the period would present singers in conventional nightclub settings or in simple (sometimes dull) scenarios, but you have to give the filmmakers responsible for this particular item credit for coming up with an imaginative way to showcase their star performer. It's weird but effective, and makes for a memorable short.
The opening shots reveal that we're in a bizarre, Expressionistic courtroom, like something out of a German horror film of the '20s. There are two lawyers in the foreground standing at a table covered with papers, looking up at a judge who appears to be at least ten feet in the air, sitting at a perfectly smooth, tower-like judicial bench. A shaft of light shines into the room at a jagged angle. There is a woman on the witness stand, which takes the form of a smooth niche within the wall. She's wearing a hat and is turned toward the judge, and initially her face is not visible. It's established that this woman has already been found guilty, and is now awaiting her sentence. The judge notes that because this is her first offense he's inclined to be lenient, so the woman's lawyer invites her to express in her own way why she's there.
The woman is Ethel Merman, of course, and therefore she chooses to express herself in song. In an uncharacteristically demure fashion she launches into a bluesy rendition of "My Future Just Passed," a lament of lost love. (The first time I saw this film I expected to hear something specific in the lyrics about her crime, something along the lines of Frankie and Johnny, but all we hear is that her man left her.) The song builds in intensity towards the end, and we're given to understand that this performance convinces the judge to suspend Ethel's sentence. He releases her from custody and asks where she'll go from here. Ethel happily replies, in song, that she's heading for Dixie, and launches into a rendition of the hot gospel tune "Sing You Sinners." She really cuts loose on this number, ending the short on a rousing note.
And that's all she wrote! This film isn't going to satisfy anyone expecting a plot, but it's a must for fans of Merman, viewers interested in Broadway musical history, and buffs who enjoy offbeat novelty shorts.
The opening shots reveal that we're in a bizarre, Expressionistic courtroom, like something out of a German horror film of the '20s. There are two lawyers in the foreground standing at a table covered with papers, looking up at a judge who appears to be at least ten feet in the air, sitting at a perfectly smooth, tower-like judicial bench. A shaft of light shines into the room at a jagged angle. There is a woman on the witness stand, which takes the form of a smooth niche within the wall. She's wearing a hat and is turned toward the judge, and initially her face is not visible. It's established that this woman has already been found guilty, and is now awaiting her sentence. The judge notes that because this is her first offense he's inclined to be lenient, so the woman's lawyer invites her to express in her own way why she's there.
The woman is Ethel Merman, of course, and therefore she chooses to express herself in song. In an uncharacteristically demure fashion she launches into a bluesy rendition of "My Future Just Passed," a lament of lost love. (The first time I saw this film I expected to hear something specific in the lyrics about her crime, something along the lines of Frankie and Johnny, but all we hear is that her man left her.) The song builds in intensity towards the end, and we're given to understand that this performance convinces the judge to suspend Ethel's sentence. He releases her from custody and asks where she'll go from here. Ethel happily replies, in song, that she's heading for Dixie, and launches into a rendition of the hot gospel tune "Sing You Sinners." She really cuts loose on this number, ending the short on a rousing note.
And that's all she wrote! This film isn't going to satisfy anyone expecting a plot, but it's a must for fans of Merman, viewers interested in Broadway musical history, and buffs who enjoy offbeat novelty shorts.