Ups and Downs

June Allyson May be a Wall Street millionaire's daughter, but what she wants is to tap dance with elevator boy Hal Leroy in his enormous elevator cab.

Well, I think it best to leave the description at that. It's one of the short subjects that Leroy made after his movie career as a dancing juvenile tailed off after HAL TEEN. He was an energetic fellow who looked far younger than his 24 years, but despite being able to tap up a storm, the movies didn't want him, so back to Broadway he went.

Miss Allyson, too, seemed a non-starter. However, after another six years on Broadway. She found herself playing teenagers for MGM at age 26. Goodness knows what went into the chicken soup at the MGM cafeteria; it was based on Louis Mayer's mother's recipe.

Phil Silvers is in this one too. See if you can recognize him with hair on his head.

Rich girl June Daily (June Allyson) is supposed to marry some society guy but has inexplicably fallen for Hal the elevator operator (Hal Le Roy). Surely her father won't approve but Hal tries to impress him...and accidentally nearly bankrupts the guy. However, all works out just fine at the end and so the happy couple do what everyone would do in this situation--dance!

This is a bizarre film because of the very strange dance numbers. One is inside and elevator and the one at the end is a strange extravaganza with lots of elevator men and cute ladies. None of it really makes any sense and it is a bit dopey...but also so weird that it's actually worth seeing. Plus, while the film is about 21 minutes long, unlike most Vitaphone shorts, this one is like an entire movie crammed into this time frame.

By the way, if you do see it, June Allyson is a blonde AND Phil Silvers has a lot of hair!

June Daily (June Allyson) is engaged to her rich daddy stockbroker J. C. Daily's assistant Richard Burton. The problem is that she has a crush on the dancing elevator operator Hal Smith (Hal Le Roy) and they love dancing in the elevator together.

I like the dancing. More could be done inside the elevator. It's the perfect location to do the rotating room. This is not that imaginative. This is a simple song and dance short. There is nothing that special about it. I like both leads. Hal has his goofy smile. It's June's first credited performance. There is also early Phil Silvers. It's all very fine.

This is another weakly plotted vehicle, existing mainly to showcase Hal LeRoy's wonderful legomania tap dancing. If you already like Hal LeRoy then I've said enough; if you've not yet seen him then this isn't a bad place to start (though the numbers here aren't as good as they are in Rhythmyitis or Picture Palace), particularly since it's one of the few Leroy films currently viewable (available as an extra on the DVD of "Stage Door").

This short also marks the first screen appearances of both June Allyson and Phil Silvers. Silvers isn't given much to do, and only shows hints of the zaniness he would eventually develop. June Allyson appears incredibly young, a tad gawky, and already projecting her typical warm charm. Unfortunately she's not in LeRoy's class as a dancer; instead of firing up his energy she somewhat holds him back when they're dancing together.

Still, all in all, well worth renting the DVD just to watch this short.

This short subject a Vitagraph from Warner Brothers features a platinum blonde June Allyson and dancer Hal LeRoy. LeRoy never quite made it to movie stardom. Allyson did with a different studio and a different look.

It was strange seeing girl next door June Allyson made up like Jean Harlow. Harlow died that year and maybe the brothers Warner were looking for their own platinum blonde.

It sure didn't go with the image MGM cultivated for Allyson that made her a star. No wonder it took her several more years to achieve her stardom.

Phil Silvers is also in this short. Fans of his might also want to check it out.