In the history of cinema, exhibitors have tried many ways to warm up an audience before a film. Nowadays we just get endless ads and trailers, but in the golden days, there were short films, cartoons, information films, short documentaries, news bulletins etc. They usually served the same function as an overture to an opera, but many now are of immense kitsch or nostalgic value.
This short is a fascinating example. I don't know what date it is form (it mentions a 1943 film as past), so I am unable to conjecture as to what its use value was. It's part of a series called Melodies from Memory Lane. Four songs with the word 'moonlight' are sung by barbershop quartets, with hagiographic reconstructions of their genesis. These can be, as one might expect, typically reactionary - one songwriter, an undercover FBI man, lingering in what seems to be an ordinary bar, is said to be seething with discontenet at the seedy environment in which he has to work. The reconstructions are amateurish but sweet.
For me the film's great appeal lies in the gimmick whereby, after the quartet have sung the song, the words appear on the screen, and the audience is encouraged to sing along. If, as I suspect, these are wartime shorts, then the attempt to engender a sense of community is rather crass. But I don't care. I've always found the popular music of the 1940s rather schmaltzy and tacky, especially when compared to the classics of the 20s and 30s, but I had great pleasure belting these songs out, scaring my dogs, and annoying my neighbours. I bet it was as much fun then, and I'd much rather do that today, than suffer another 'wacky' ad for some soft drink.
This short is a fascinating example. I don't know what date it is form (it mentions a 1943 film as past), so I am unable to conjecture as to what its use value was. It's part of a series called Melodies from Memory Lane. Four songs with the word 'moonlight' are sung by barbershop quartets, with hagiographic reconstructions of their genesis. These can be, as one might expect, typically reactionary - one songwriter, an undercover FBI man, lingering in what seems to be an ordinary bar, is said to be seething with discontenet at the seedy environment in which he has to work. The reconstructions are amateurish but sweet.
For me the film's great appeal lies in the gimmick whereby, after the quartet have sung the song, the words appear on the screen, and the audience is encouraged to sing along. If, as I suspect, these are wartime shorts, then the attempt to engender a sense of community is rather crass. But I don't care. I've always found the popular music of the 1940s rather schmaltzy and tacky, especially when compared to the classics of the 20s and 30s, but I had great pleasure belting these songs out, scaring my dogs, and annoying my neighbours. I bet it was as much fun then, and I'd much rather do that today, than suffer another 'wacky' ad for some soft drink.