Studio Visit

STUDIO VISIT has Dave O'Brien as a director while we take a quick look at the MGM lot where Lena Horne is doing her "Ain't It The Truth?" number while sitting in a bubble bath. The number was eventually cut from CABIN IN THE SKY--not much of a loss judging from the scene shown.

The only "joke" in this Pete Smith Specialty is the end result of hanging a lamp on a small hook, which the prop man is unable to do. So, of course, the impatient director gets his chance to hook the overhead lantern while standing on a ladder--with disastrous results.

In between, there's a three-and-a-half-year-old girl who balances on a thin blade while munching on an apple, with both girl and father showing amazing control over her balancing act.

That's it, for this not-too-memorable Pete Smith short.

Another delightful one-reeler from Pete Smith. We get to watch Lena Horne sing "Ain't It The Truth?" in a bubble bath, watch some close-up sleight of hand exposed and see a three-year-old balance on knives while eating an apple, while Smith makes bemused comments. A lot of fun.

An MGM PETE SMITH SPECIALITY Short Subject

Narrator Pete Smith takes the viewer on a tour of a few of the more unusual things to see during a behind-the-scenes STUDIO VISIT.

What gets to be seen is slight-of-hand master Louis Zingone at work; beautiful Lena Horne singing in a bathtub; and remarkable Helen Sue Goldy, aged three, who exhibits her amazing sense of balance.

Often overlooked or neglected today, the one and two-reel short subjects were useful to the Studios as important training grounds for new or burgeoning talents, both in front & behind the camera. The dynamics for creating a successful short subject was completely different from that of a feature length film, something akin to writing a topnotch short story rather than a novel. Economical to produce in terms of both budget & schedule and capable of portraying a wide range of material, short subjects were the perfect complement to the Studios' feature films.

If you've seen Pete Smith Specialty shorts before, you already have some idea what this one is like. This particular episode has some niftier than usual things going for it, and is my hands down favorite of the many I've seen. Here's why:

To begin with, the underlying story works well. Dave O'Brien, the usual suspect in these shorts, is the 'director' and Smith is the 'producer', and the interaction is amusing in a pleasant, low key and harmless way. Then there are the assets: a performance by a shell game artist, with an interesting perspective that almost works. Next, a very nice performance by Lena Horne. And then, the part that really makes the whole short a real find:

Helen Sue Goldy and her father. This is no ordinary performance. Interesting balancing acts were common in the fifties, but I don't remember anything at all like this. It would seem this girl really has a natural, explainable gift, and it is fascinating. And to make it even better, it's presented with two other virtues: a well designed and interesting set, and a natural, unrehearsed style - no glitter and forced smiles - a flat affect, Keatonesque on a 4-year old who's just doing her job. Refreshing. Remarkable. It's all just great, and makes the whole short more than worth the price of admission.

This Pete Smith Specialties short, Studio Visit, is an extra on the DVD of Cabin in the Sky. In between Louis Zingone displaying his sleight-of-hand peanut shell game and a little girl named Helen Sue Goldy displaying her balancing act with her father while eating an apple, we get a deleted scene from aforementioned movie of Lena Horne, while washing herself in a bathtub filled with bubbles covering her naked body, singing "Ain't It the Truth". While I can guess why it was edited out, I'm now wondering why it managed to get a showing in this short three years later and also why they didn't also show Louis Armstrong performing his own version, that is now lost, in the same film. So on that note, Studio Visit is an interesting curio for Horne fans. P.S. There's also a running gag of a crew member trying to put a kerosene lamp on a hanging wire that provides the short's finish.