A Night in a Dormitory

Ginger Rogers made 3 shorts in 1929 and 1930 before breaking into features in 1930's Young Man of Manhattan with Claudette Colbert, Charlie Ruggles, and Norman Foster. This was the last of those short films. She stars as herself in a nightclub revue. She sings two forgettable songs. Thelma White leads the chorus of hoofers. Ruth Hamilton is the Gracie Allen-like college girl. The guy who plays Elmer looks familiar but I can't place him. Of interest only because of Rogers, who looks very strange with her dark hair and pre-Hollywood eye brows. She has plent of zip, and it's a chance to see Rogers as she was when she landed in Hollywood in 1929. She's a raw talent here with loads of potential--as the world was soon to see.

If you are watching this movie on youtube, Ginger comes on and sings a song at 14:30 and another one shortly after. Don't waste your time with what comes before or after--the sub-vaudeville gags or the chorus routines in which some of the girls clearly missed a few rehearsals and one seems to be waving to a friend in the wings.

Ginger is adorable, winsome, and sweet. However, she was not yet the Ginger we know--she sounds too much like Helen Kane, the pouty, boop-boop-a-doop girl. Interesting to see the persona from which she developed and became more spirited, as well as turning into a 1930s platinum blonde.

Just started watching old movies so bear with me on my first review. Watched this because of Ginger Rogers. She had two numbers, singing in a style of voice that was popular at the time. Some of the jokes were so corny I wanted some butter. But there were a few that made me laugh. The chorus line was so fantastically bad. I never thought that I could be a chorus girl but with that kind of talent, I would have fit right in. Watch this if you are a Ginger fan!

...are clearly demonstrated in this musical comedy short filmed right before the stock market crash of 1929. Specifically, not only was the American economy humming at that time, so was the musical film business. Thus every chorus girl in sight was employed. Alas, what was poor Pathe, the maker of this short, to do? What they did is on full display as Thelma White sings and dances while the audience cannot look away from the carnage of the most disorganized chorus line in history going at it full throttle behind her. They are, as Thelma sings, "giving it everything now".

This adorable short starts out in a girls' dormitory as the girls whine to music about how they are not allowed to go out and have fun. The camera pans over each girl and is reminiscent of Busby Berkeley's early work, specifically the opening sequence in "The Kid From Spain". The girls go to sleep, and then one truant girl sneaks in and begins to recount the evening's exploits to one of the other girls about her time at the "Melody Club". This sets up the opportunity for some rather cute but old jokes about not paying the check, as well as the musical numbers which include the fore-mentioned one by Thelma White and two other numbers by Ginger Rogers. Alas, Ginger is also burdened with the uncoordinated chorines, but her performance is good and the tunes catchy.

One thing you'll notice about Ginger here. She is basically doing a Helen Kane imitation just as she does in her early films for Paramount including "Young Man From Manhattan". Flappers were in demand in 1929 and 1930, but the depression era public grew impatient with such fluff, and so Ginger reinvented herself, not wanting to stand in the unemployment line with Alice White. She became the tough chorine we saw in "42nd Street" during the precode years, the light dancing romantic lead in her pictures with Astaire, and then a serious actress after that. She never let trends pass her by.

In summary, this short is lots of fun. Don't let the low current rating fool you if you are a fan of the early musical films and shorts. It is really worth watching.

"A Night in a Dormitory" is a painfully awful film...one that even I had a hard time finishing. There really is nothing good to say about it other than the fact it was short.

The film starts with a bad song and dance number. The scene then switches to one of the dorm rooms where one lady is telling another about her exploits at the night club tonight. Then, in a series of flashbacks, you see some very bad song and dance routines and a long bit about two guys who want to get a free meal there. While you'd think the song and dance numbers would have been exciting since they featured a very young (and brunette) Ginger Rogers playing herself, it was terrible. I know she could sing--but you'd never suspect it here as she just is painfully bad. Overall, a real stinker of a short film.