Good Morning, Eve!

The color film begins in the Garden of Eden and Adam is played by Leon Errol. Soon, the two dopes eat an apple and they are tossed out. Then, they take a walk through history (??) and decide to go to ancient Rome--to the time of Nero. Here, there is a Vaudeville-style show and Adam makes time with all the beauties. Eve is NOT happy and takes him forward to the time of the knights of old. They meet the Black Knight, Lancelot and other fictional characters from King Arthur's court--with even more hot ladies. Then, they make their way to the 20th century. There, they take an airplane ride and arrive at the beach where they meet a guy who is about to marry wife #5. And, once again, lots of very pretty ladies appear and they sing...like the other time periods. As for the ending...well, I won't say more but it does tie this all together very well and was quite funny.

Is this a must-see film? No...but it is quite enjoyable and is one of the few existing Technicolor Vitaphone shorts. The condition of the print is near-perfect--and the over-saturation of color is actually normal for films of the period. The color was indeed VERY vivid. The jokes are hit and miss and the songs just okay...but the fact they never take themselves seriously makes this a cute little picture...and a bit racy considering it's Post- Code.

Pioneer Pictures followed with its own Technicolor short film a month later in August 31, 1934's "La Cucaracha." The small Pioneer studio, affiliated with RKO, was formed to produce color movies. Two Whitney-family members, large stockholders in Technicolor, believed in the company's technology. At first having ambitions to produce the first color feature film using the new process, the Whitneys, along with Merian C. Cooper ("King Kong") as the studio's vice president of production, opted for the shorter musical. In "La Cucaracha," Steffi Duma stars as a jealous singer who hears a famous theatre owner is looking to audition her dancer boyfriend in a Mexican cafe. Her attempts to derail his chances are an excuse to display Technicolor's vibrant colors to the viewing public.

"La Cucaracha" gained fame as the Academy Award winner as the Best Short Subject in a Comedy. Its success at the box office spurred interest towards financing expensive feature films. Pilgrim had spent $65,000 on the 20-minute color short, far more than the normal $15,000 black and white movie at the time.

Good Morning, Eve! (1934)

*** 1/2 (out of 4)

This Warner short is best known for being the second three-strip Technicolor film in history. It has Adam (Leon Errol) and Eve (June MacCloy) eating the forbidden apple and then taking a walk through history where they do a dance and music number with Nero in Rome and King Arthur in England. The main reason to watch this movie is for its beautiful Technicolor, which looks downright amazing. Just take a look at all the leaves covering Adam and Eve's bodies as the green nature of them just leaps off the screen and punches the viewer in the eyes. The colors are so extremely well here that I'd say this might be the best looking color film of the decade. The music numbers are fairly good and overall the film is charming but another big key is the pre-code elements. Seeing Eve in her fig leaves hardly covering any of her body certainly stands out. The mechanical snake in the garden was pretty funny as well.

Warner Bros. must have been gearing up for producing their first full-length feature in Technicolor when they made this experimental short starring LEON ERROL as Adam and JUNE MacCLOY as Eve, both wearing abbreviated costumes covered with leaves. The only real asset is the Technicolor which looks fine.

Story has the two of them dreaming about frolicking through the centuries with various famous people--beginning in Nero's garden in Ancient Rome, King Arthur's court, and ending in the 19th Century at the beach where a bevy of bathing beauties do a routine dance number at the beach. Says Adam: "It's a nice century you have here." That's a good sample of the wit.

All of the gags are lame, full of flat one-liners, and the musical interludes are downright dumb. MAXINE DOYLE sings a forgettable tune in a very thin voice that the soundtrack makes sound even tinnier.

The big surprise is that this was 1934, a few years before Warners made THE ADVENTURES OF ROBIN HOOD, their most acclaimed Technicolor feature at that time. The color photography looks fine but the short is weak on wit and the cast fumbles through some bad material.

Whhhoooaaaaaooohhhhh! this 1934 chorus girl and costume test musical short is a sensation! and hilarious! and in eye-popping flawless 3 strip Technicolor! and from Warner Bros with delirious songs and fantastic clunky zippy Vitaphone sound. For me this is a musical short that is genuine Technicolor movie musical paradise for 18 minutes.... as nutty as a Bugs bunny cartoon of the 40s and as pre code rude as we could wish for... with hilarious skits of Adam (in spats) and Eve wandering through time chatting to anyone they meet and being waylaid by bevies of gorgeous creatures and hilarious musical sequences. The madness of the whole production is only enhanced by the incredibly beautiful costumes... and especially in the beach-side finale with modern 1934 bathing beauties both men and women frolicking on the beach. From Ancient Rome to modern 1934 Hollywood GOOD MORNING EVE is just about the best cornucopia of Technicolor comedy gorgeousness imaginable. Yes I know I am in hysterics about this but so will you when you see it. ... and deliciously pre code.. you have never seen such tight tiny shorts on these girls! Even today it makes my 20 year old friends gasp. No bras in history at WB either. Hilarious! Even the aeroplane they fly in is enough to make you want to see THE ROCKETEER again.