trw3332000

Legendary Ed Sullivan was a very popular newspaper columnist in New York in the 1930s and due to his cavorting with Broadway and Vaudeville stars, made this short for Universal Pictures. "Ed Sullivan's Headliners" (of 1934)is a great 20 minute short! Hosted by a young Ed Sullivan, we hear popular vocalist Sid Gary (Garry) see husband/wife comedy team Jesse Block and Eve Sully (by a fluke they missed out on an audition that Burns & Allen later got and the rest was history) Dialogue comedian George Givot is the owner of a Greek Restaurant who mangles the English language. Also on hand are some strange Vaudeville Acts: a diva vocalizing and a young female contortionist. This film was reissued by Realart/Universal back in the late 40s/early 50s and is believed to still be extant.

Air Parade, made by the Al Christie Comedy unit and released by Educational(Fox Distributed)Pictures, is a delightful mix of comedy, music, gorgeous deco sets, radio station locale and the beautiful Neila Goodelle. Look for a very early screen appearance of Robert Shayne, later Warners bit player whose claim to fame was the role of Inspector Henderson on the 1950s Superman TV series.

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They may be trite, but these behind-the-scenes getting into movies stories are a lot of fun--especially when we see a typical 1935 Fox soundstage, a 30s laundry plant, a typical 30s neighborhood theatre and a long streetcar sequence played by Mitchell & Durant.

Ray Walker later appeared on various 50s TV shows, but never made it big in Hollywood. Great supporting cast includes Hattie McDaniel, Bebe Daniels in her last US picture and Rosina Lawrence, who was working at Hal Roach Studios at the time as the Little Rascals school teacher.

Am I imagining things, or do I see the Nicholas Brothers dance briefly in the finale?