Rambling 'Round Radio Row #9

This musical short starts with Bonnie Poe-at the time, the voice of Betty Boop in her cartoons-singing a song in her most Boopy voice. There are a few more musical acts and then there's a sketch with George Jessel doing his own song and also being asked by Shemp Howard to perform at a benefit. Shemp is basically a straight man as George does some witty lines. So on that note, Rambling 'Round Radio Row # 9 is worth a look.

Rambling 'Round Radio Row (Second Group) #2 (1934)

** (out of 4)

Patsy Flick plays an immigrant who gets a job as a mailman on Radio Row where he gets a chance to meet various stars. This second film in the series once again is rather hit and miss. Bonnie Poe, with an incredibly interesting voice, starts things off with "Puddin' Head Jones", which is mildly catchy but it's mostly due to her strange vocals. "Blue Hours" follows with a nice vocal job by Vera Van who most probably won't realize but she did dub the singing voices in TARZAN'S NEW YORK ADVENTURE. "A Moonlight Memory" is a better staged musical number with Ramon and Rosita doing a pretty good dance number. We end things with George Jessel doing "Molly Darlin". For the highlight I'd probably have to give it to Ramon and Rosita, although this certainly isn't something that would be done on the radio since no one would be able to see it. I guess it goes without saying that this sequence was movie only but the production values aren't too bad on it and the dancing was good. We get a comic sketch here as well but it's not too funny and pretty forgettable in the end.

Unlike the previous installments in the "Rallying 'Round Radio Row" shorts, this one infuses a bit of comedy...a bit. In addition to the usual musical numbers, this one has a routine starring Georgie Jessel (who could sing but was more well-known for comedy). In addition, it was really nice to see a younger Shemp Howard in one of his earliest movie appearance. So is this new style any good? Well, yes...except only one more "Rallying" short was made after this one...and the humor in the next one was simply god-awful! Worth watching but still not exactly approaching 'must-see' status for a rather tiresome series of supposedly impromptu song and dance numbers.

Here's another entry in the Warner Brothers series of shorts. It brings stars usually associated with the radio in this period to the screen, so movie audiences can get a gander at them.

It's one of the many short subjects made to replace the live show that the big movie palaces could afford, with a view towards allowing the nabes -- neighborhood, second-run theaters -- to compete a little better. More than that, it's a clear sign that the war between movies and radio was, if not over, at least operating under a truce. In the 1920s, they competed with each other: see the stars, or listen to them. Talkies allowed audiences to do both, but the downturn in movie-going from 1929 through 1933 made the competition fiercer. Now, with movie-going resurging, they were seeking the audiences who preferred to stay at home.