This was the best of five Universal shorts shown at MOMA on May 15, 2017.
According to co-curator Ron Hutchinson, Jay C. Flippen was a radio star in the 1930's, the host of an amateur hour program to rival that of the better-known Major Edward Bowes. So viewers of this short would have been familiar with his talents as an emcee, which he plays in this film.
The acts are pretty good. Rose Marie (yes, that Rose Marie) sings a couple of songs. The Seiler Brothers, "masters of eccentric dancing," do some splits that seem even more amazing than the Nicholas Brothers. Comic Sid Walker, who looks like an escapee from a Russian silent comedy, gets outwitted in quick succession by the girl singer of a trio and Flippen.
Flippen would be best remembered as a straight actor in the 1950's. Perhaps his signature role was the crooked cop in Stanley Kubrick's "The Killing." He and Rose Marie would be reunited years later on an episode of "The Dick Van Dyke Show."
This short will likely be shown only in museums, but it's worth a look.
According to co-curator Ron Hutchinson, Jay C. Flippen was a radio star in the 1930's, the host of an amateur hour program to rival that of the better-known Major Edward Bowes. So viewers of this short would have been familiar with his talents as an emcee, which he plays in this film.
The acts are pretty good. Rose Marie (yes, that Rose Marie) sings a couple of songs. The Seiler Brothers, "masters of eccentric dancing," do some splits that seem even more amazing than the Nicholas Brothers. Comic Sid Walker, who looks like an escapee from a Russian silent comedy, gets outwitted in quick succession by the girl singer of a trio and Flippen.
Flippen would be best remembered as a straight actor in the 1950's. Perhaps his signature role was the crooked cop in Stanley Kubrick's "The Killing." He and Rose Marie would be reunited years later on an episode of "The Dick Van Dyke Show."
This short will likely be shown only in museums, but it's worth a look.