You can see this on Youtube ("Lillian Roth Sings Songs from the 1920s and 1930s"). What pleasure you can get from Lillian's singers is marred by boring non-singing interludes.
Reviews
13 Reviews
Martin and Lewis
(2002 TV Movie)
Only remember one good thing
21 June 2020
Saw its TV debut and remember only one thing, and if the whole movie had been as good as this scene the film would be a classic: I refer to Jerry Lewis, standing in front of a theater, sees Dean Martin approaching in slow motion. Jerry could not be more in awe of this stranger than if it had been Moses sashaying down the sidewalk.
When television respected its audience
19 June 2020
I saw this at the age of 16, when I didn't know Samuel Johnson from Hildy Johnson, Walter Johnson, or Howard Johnson's. It was absorbing in a grown-up sophisticated cultural way that was fairly knew to me. Can still picture a few seconds of it over 60 years on. Have scoured the web but cannot find a video, even though there is some old Omnibus material out there. Much price TV studio tapes were dumped or reused, including the first Johnny Carson shows.
The Cotton Club
(1984)
Not to be missed no matter what you thought of the original release
19 May 2020
Hard to believe I could get so emotional over movie editing, but when I was surprised at how little dancing the original release of The Cotton Club had my disappointment was great, and my mood curdled when I read a report that a star had forced the cuts because the sensational dancing was detracting from his role (I never saw corroboration for this claim). Now we have all the great numbers Mr. Coppola shot and the movie is a sensation for those who like the music and dance of the Harlem of the 1920s and 1930s. To coin a phrase, I never thought I'd live to see this restoration. Between this and the restored King of Jazz (1930) people who love the period are in Show Business Heaven (as Lenny Bruce at the Palladium would say).
Happy Days
(1929)
A must for fans of early 20th century show biz
15 May 2020
Fanatics will have to see this. People who just like early show business more or less will find much to enjoy with their finger hovering over the fast forward button.
The black face minstrelsy is probably 100% authentic given how many people involved with it in the 19th century were probably associated with this production. The ad-libbing by the Broadway crowd when the plot is being laid out is kind of dull, but may be an authentic replica of how those guys talked. George Jessel is making it up as he goes along and is not at his wittiest. But you get to see how the guys who seemed to be having all the fun dressed, walked, spoke, emoted, and loved each other.
The familiar now obsolete acts are here: burlesque of "high-class" dancers, heavy-accented "Yiddish" monologist, meek man with much taller over bearing wife, and so on. Come to think of it, this stuff never goes away entirely.
Correction to an earlier reviewer: the sets do make sense because if you listen to the set-up the show is in a theater, not on the show boat (remember, Jessel asks the theater owner if his theater is "dark", meaning is it unoccupied so this fund raiser can be presented in it).
It thankfully ends with the entire company taking a bow, and you silently applaud them up in Show Business Heaven.
The black face minstrelsy is probably 100% authentic given how many people involved with it in the 19th century were probably associated with this production. The ad-libbing by the Broadway crowd when the plot is being laid out is kind of dull, but may be an authentic replica of how those guys talked. George Jessel is making it up as he goes along and is not at his wittiest. But you get to see how the guys who seemed to be having all the fun dressed, walked, spoke, emoted, and loved each other.
The familiar now obsolete acts are here: burlesque of "high-class" dancers, heavy-accented "Yiddish" monologist, meek man with much taller over bearing wife, and so on. Come to think of it, this stuff never goes away entirely.
Correction to an earlier reviewer: the sets do make sense because if you listen to the set-up the show is in a theater, not on the show boat (remember, Jessel asks the theater owner if his theater is "dark", meaning is it unoccupied so this fund raiser can be presented in it).
It thankfully ends with the entire company taking a bow, and you silently applaud them up in Show Business Heaven.
Panique
(1946)
Illogical alibit?
1 September 2019
Warning: Spoilers
SPOILERS
First I note that a reviewer thought the image and sound were poor, maybe as a result of post-war conditions in France. I have seen the Criterion blu-ray (Dec. 2018) and it is excellent in both regards. My question is how can the supposed alibi be logical? Killer says victim's watch broke when he murdered her, and he set the time back half an hour and then went to a cafe -- "air-tight alibi". I don't follow. Wouldn't setting her watch ahead be more to the point so the supposed time of death would be while he was in the cafe?
First I note that a reviewer thought the image and sound were poor, maybe as a result of post-war conditions in France. I have seen the Criterion blu-ray (Dec. 2018) and it is excellent in both regards. My question is how can the supposed alibi be logical? Killer says victim's watch broke when he murdered her, and he set the time back half an hour and then went to a cafe -- "air-tight alibi". I don't follow. Wouldn't setting her watch ahead be more to the point so the supposed time of death would be while he was in the cafe?
Lash of the Penitentes
(1936)
In search of hot stuff back in the day
28 February 2019
In 1960, I believe it was, we took the subway from Manhattan to Queens to catch this dreck at a grind house in the sticks. Can't recall what in particular was the attraction but I'm sure advertised salaciousness was the hook. Quite a bore, I don't think I recall anything about it except some pseudo-gothic religious mortification of the flesh framed by narrative nonsense. The real mortification of the flesh was that long round-trip subway ride to the wilds of Queens.
Startup.com
(2001)
Weird re-watching this in light of conviction
8 September 2018
Saw it first maybe ten years ago, found it reasonably entertaining. Decided to watch it again but out of curiosity googled Kaleil to see how he's doing. Here's how he's doing: convicted of heavy fraud crimes in federal court in Manhattan December 2017, sentence now scheduled for October 2018 (he can appeal once he's been sentenced). Sort of like re-watching Smokey and the Bandit, which I did the other day, now that Burt has passed.
Dance Charlie Dance
(1937)
Some fun things to watch for
22 October 2016
Warning: Spoilers
Stu Irwin had a popular TV sitcom in the early 50s which held my youthful attention, but what was a mildly humorous bumbling, hesitant portrayal of a milquetoast then was amped up a few notches in this movie enough to be cringeworthy. He's just so slow, in all senses of the word, that you may be yelling at the screen "get on with it, Doofus!".
The plot is reminiscent of, or rather anticipates, Mel Brooks's The Producers, which I assume was inspired by this film or at least Charlie's descendants.
Here's what to watch for: even if you can't stand sitting through it, hang on through the first third to see the hilarious out of town tryout for the eponymous show. Well done, with a funny audience too.
Goofs: early on a sugar daddy of a chorine sits in the rehearsal theater next to a producer of the show. After a few cuts they've unaccountably switched seat with each other.
But wait, there's more: at least once "Charlie" is spelled "Charley" on a sign advertising the show. Who was watching the store?
The plot is reminiscent of, or rather anticipates, Mel Brooks's The Producers, which I assume was inspired by this film or at least Charlie's descendants.
Here's what to watch for: even if you can't stand sitting through it, hang on through the first third to see the hilarious out of town tryout for the eponymous show. Well done, with a funny audience too.
Goofs: early on a sugar daddy of a chorine sits in the rehearsal theater next to a producer of the show. After a few cuts they've unaccountably switched seat with each other.
But wait, there's more: at least once "Charlie" is spelled "Charley" on a sign advertising the show. Who was watching the store?
Broadway
(1929)
Restored color version
14 May 2016
I just came home from maybe the premier of the restored version with 2-color finale. The screening is part of a terrific series at the Museum of Modern Art in Manhattan going through a dozen or more Universal recently restored films. Last night's King of Jazz was one of the greatest movie going experiences I ever had.
Ol' Man Law of Averages caught up tonight. This movie is cringe-worthy terrible, and if you want to see it for crane shots be my guest. For Historians and obsessives only.
A hackneyed gangster/nightclub story. Acting that was so wooden you wanted to leap into the screen and help out. One standout character. Leading lady apparently recuperating from a recent lobotomy. There was some potential in the nightclub acts but thanks to a blurry shoot and that damn crane (again), the dancers look like mice.
Ol' Man Law of Averages caught up tonight. This movie is cringe-worthy terrible, and if you want to see it for crane shots be my guest. For Historians and obsessives only.
A hackneyed gangster/nightclub story. Acting that was so wooden you wanted to leap into the screen and help out. One standout character. Leading lady apparently recuperating from a recent lobotomy. There was some potential in the nightclub acts but thanks to a blurry shoot and that damn crane (again), the dancers look like mice.
The Cohens and Kellys
(1926)
Especially for those interested in Yiddish theater
21 April 2016
I caught a screening of a good print on April 20, 2016, at Museum of Jewish Heritage in Manhattan. Intertitles for this print originally were in French and Dutch (!) and somewhere along the line English was added at the bottom, although much of the dialogue was unnecessary in this world champion film of acting through mugging. On the stage, not blocking the screen, were about six excellent musicians who must have rehearsed mightily, flavoring their accompaniment when appropriate with Klezmer, and timing sound effects to perfection. A big part of the audience's enjoyment.
Mostly humorous,could have been cut here and there. One of the best business sight gags ever. Too repetitive in spots, but the old Yiddish Theatre of early 20th century New York was well-represented in heaping doses of schmaltz. The lead actors were terrific, but also delicious were two sets of minor players: the two family dogs and the two young sons, on the cusp of what was promising to be horrendous puberty. Cohen's rascal is particularly good, the best representative of a "bad boy" I've seen. Deliciously, both boys delight in mocking their own fathers' misfortune -- don't recall having seen that in any other movie. The Cohen boy, Robert Gordon, had a fulsome career as actor and director.
I know I enjoyed a film when it's the first thought in my head upon awakening the next morning. The Cohens and Kellys are firmly lodged in my melon. Brief bonus: a shot of a train running down the old Second Avenue El, torn down in the early 1940s. There were good reasons for tearing down the New York City Els but nostalgia buffs miss them.
Mostly humorous,could have been cut here and there. One of the best business sight gags ever. Too repetitive in spots, but the old Yiddish Theatre of early 20th century New York was well-represented in heaping doses of schmaltz. The lead actors were terrific, but also delicious were two sets of minor players: the two family dogs and the two young sons, on the cusp of what was promising to be horrendous puberty. Cohen's rascal is particularly good, the best representative of a "bad boy" I've seen. Deliciously, both boys delight in mocking their own fathers' misfortune -- don't recall having seen that in any other movie. The Cohen boy, Robert Gordon, had a fulsome career as actor and director.
I know I enjoyed a film when it's the first thought in my head upon awakening the next morning. The Cohens and Kellys are firmly lodged in my melon. Brief bonus: a shot of a train running down the old Second Avenue El, torn down in the early 1940s. There were good reasons for tearing down the New York City Els but nostalgia buffs miss them.
Mad Youth
(1939)
Explosive jitterbugging
20 December 2015
Warning: Spoilers
I can't say much for the film as a whole other than it is a nice time transport to a not- so-innocent age. One of the funniest cuts I've ever seen has the mom saying to a friend her daughter gives her no worries, she's the best behaved....cut to the daughter playing strip poker.
Strip poker -- when did you last think about that?
The dance sequence makes this a must-see for fans of jitterbug, Lindy Hop, East Coast Swing -- I've never understood the need to slice dice and name nice all these dances, which aren't obviously different from each other categorically, although the professionals see the variations clearly.
The best male dancer, he in the striped polo shirt, is the late great Ray Hirsch, a beloved figure in swing dancing for over seventy years. He died in August 2015, age 94. You can find him on the web being interviewed. One of those people we would give anything to be -- just intrinsically happy (to all appearances, anyway).
Here and there a commenter thinks it's weird for a drum majorette in full mufti to suddenly turn up at the party. In fact, she is properly foreshadowed a few minutes earlier when you see her in street clothes at the party saying (low voice -- have to concentrate to understand her) to the stiff in a sports jacket that she has her outfit or costume with her and evidently is going to change into it.
While not as gymnastic as Whitey's Lindy Hoppers in Hellzapoppin' -- which to me is a plus, I get nervous when they start tossing the girls around -- the eccentric steps in Mad Youth's illicit party scene really pop and are pleasurable to watch. In the last few decades there's been a huge reawakening of this kind of dancing. Good!
Strip poker -- when did you last think about that?
The dance sequence makes this a must-see for fans of jitterbug, Lindy Hop, East Coast Swing -- I've never understood the need to slice dice and name nice all these dances, which aren't obviously different from each other categorically, although the professionals see the variations clearly.
The best male dancer, he in the striped polo shirt, is the late great Ray Hirsch, a beloved figure in swing dancing for over seventy years. He died in August 2015, age 94. You can find him on the web being interviewed. One of those people we would give anything to be -- just intrinsically happy (to all appearances, anyway).
Here and there a commenter thinks it's weird for a drum majorette in full mufti to suddenly turn up at the party. In fact, she is properly foreshadowed a few minutes earlier when you see her in street clothes at the party saying (low voice -- have to concentrate to understand her) to the stiff in a sports jacket that she has her outfit or costume with her and evidently is going to change into it.
While not as gymnastic as Whitey's Lindy Hoppers in Hellzapoppin' -- which to me is a plus, I get nervous when they start tossing the girls around -- the eccentric steps in Mad Youth's illicit party scene really pop and are pleasurable to watch. In the last few decades there's been a huge reawakening of this kind of dancing. Good!
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