The Ham What Am

The Ham What Am (1928)

*** (out of 4)

Jay C. Flippen is the star of this Vitaphone short that clocks in at just 7-minutes. In the film he's basically just standing right close to the camera where he does two songs as well as a variety of jokes. On a technical level this thing is pretty dry as the camera basically just stands still as Flippen does his routine, which I'm sure he performed on a stage countless times. For the most part I thought he had quite a bit of energy even if the overall act was rather bizarre. He's constantly playing around with a cigar that he has throughout the picture and often times he appears to be talking like someone would in a blackface role. I was a little surprised that he wasn't in blackface because the entire act seemed like something someone would do under the make-up. The routine was pretty good as we got a couple nice jokes along the way and the highlight was clearly the singing of "Magnolia," which featured a nice line about mixing Clara Bow and Lillian Gish.

I was very surprised to see Jay C. Flippen starring in one of these early Vitaphone musical shorts. This is because in the 1940s and 50s, Flippen made quite a name for himself as a supporting actor--and quite often this was in John Wayne films. So, he was very familiar and well liked. Little did I know that he was also a vaudeville musical star.

So was he any good here? Well, by today's standards, this is pretty bad. But, compared to most of the Vitaphone films of the day, this is actually better than average.

It begins with Flippen singing a nice little song. Then, he does a stand-up act that is somewhat reminiscent of the sort of stuff Milton Berle was doing (except with a strong Southern accent) at about the same time--but with greater success. It ends with some more singing. I think that Flippen made a very wise choice to switch to straight acting!

Jay C. Flippen finished out his career as a major supporting actor, particularly in westerns, playing the big, bluff hail-fellow-well-met sort of character who turned out to be a bully and a coward in the final reel. But before that he had a long career in vaudeville, and this is a record of his act.

It may be a bit of a shock to see this piece as his roots were clearly in the minstrel show and his pacing clearly reflects this, rolling a cigar back and forth in his fingers, taking the occasional puff -- in mannerism much like George Burns, but in highly mannered language. His timing and jokes are also a bit old-fashioned, but spot on for the era. An excellent record but for specialists only.