Rambling 'Round Radio Row #2

I recently got a hold of the multi-disk set "Warner Brothers Big Band, Jazz & Swing Short Subject Collection". It's made up of over 11 hours of Vitaphone musical shorts. Disk 1 is a bit different in style, as it consists mostly of the "Ramblin' Round Radio Row" shorts. These mostly star Jerry Wald. Wald apparently was famous for a newspaper column on radio programs and this was parlayed into him getting the chance to produce these shorts.

In this second installment, a group of performers see each other on a cruise ship and decide to get together to sing and have a good time. This is a very thin plot for what really is just a typical Vitaphone musical short with a story line running it all together. However, this plot didn't seem all that important after a while and it came off more like a talent show than anything else. And, only at the end does Wald make an appearance.

So is it any good? Well, it's hard to say today because times have changed and so have tastes. It all seemed rather lame to me, but it's easy to feel this way almost 80 years later. In addition, some of these celebrities were well-known at the time but are all but forgotten today. I got very little out of the short and wish it had least offered a nice chance to see Kate Smith perform like the previous short in the series.

A quick little look at early radio performers. very transitional picture as the roster is made up of former vaudevillians who wouldn't make it in Radio or the film industry. For example there is a tenor, once the kings of show business in vaudeville, burlesque and especially Broadway shows. The introduction of the electronic microphone and amplified sound systems, electronically recorded records etc. meant that baritones like Gene Austin and Bing Crosby - the so called 'crooners', would dominate and virtually doom the tenor from popular show business.

They were dead in 1932 only nobody knew it yet. Yet here it is in this package and a very early credit (writing, producing and directing) for Jerry Wald. One wonders if and from whom Wald stole the idea from. A rare visit from classic songwriter/show tune composer Burton Lane is slightly interesting but obviously this series didn't last too long and Wald soon graduated from this and by 1935 was getting writing credits on features. Today it has very little entertainment value and is merely of curiosity value and as an artifact of the more mundane levels of the show business of the era.

Rambling 'Round Radio Row #2 (1932)

** (out of 4)

The second film in Vitaphone's series has a group of people coming back from an ocean voyage and of course various songs break out. Once again we're left with an interesting film when viewed today because for the most part many of the acts appearing here were probably on their way out even back in 1932. We do get a brief appearance by composer Burton Lane but director Wald doesn't spend too much time with him instead going back to those who are now forgotten. I must admit that I find most of the music in these shorts to be good but that's not the case here and especially with the young lady wearing the tie and standing by the piano. Her voice was bad enough to really make a dog bark and at first I thought this was a comic bit but it turns out it was part of the musical act. This here is certainly only recommended to those who want to see the lesser side of some of the great music out there in the day.

There's not much to talk about here. 'Rambling 'round radio row #2' is a short with no meaningful story or characters to speak of, and the scene writing and dialogue is merely an excuse for the stars to sing, dance, and or play instruments in these short few minutes. For what it's worth, I think everyone involved demonstrates fine skills, and I also appreciate the care given to the sets and costume design. On the other hand, even at only 9 minutes long, this is arguably a little long in the tooth, with the saxophonists' segment being particularly ham-handed. Excepting the very end of the last bit, the only entertainment to be had here is in appreciation of the music - counterbalanced by the feeling that it's all a little too forced and contrived.

This isn't a short to go out of your way to find, but it's passably enjoyable if you come across it. More than anything else, 'Rambling 'round radio row #2' may be most notable simply as a snapshot of cinema in the early 1930s. Take that as you will.

Nothing terribly special about this musical short subject. But I got a face put with a name. Singers Harry Barris, Art Jarrett and Loyce Whitman are on an ocean voyage and get together for a little jam session. Barris had been one of Paul Whiteman's Rhythm Boys and his wife (his first as it turned out) was Loyce Whitman daughter of Paul. Her number was one her husband had composed It Was So Beautiful. I had that on record sung by Harry Richman. But Loyce Whitman was also the first female vocalist that Bing Crosby ever teamed up with on record. It was nice to put a face to her.

This is a must for Crosbyphiles.