What the Country Needs

Vince Barnett, Jimmie Dodd, and Martha Tilton hang out in the park for this soundie.

Soundies were short films, about three minutes in length. The were meant to be played on a machine called a Mills Panoram, a video jukebox that was typically to be found in bars, lounges, and similar venues. You put a dime in and got a performance from the ten on the machine. The movies would be changed weekly, and from 1940 through 1946, Mills and other companies produced more than two thousand soundies.

A lot of talent made their first appearances in this films, and fading stars sometimes found it a source of a quick buck. Hence Barnett, whose movie career was fading, and Dodd, who would become best known for writing "The Mickey Mouse March."

While the United States was still taking an isolationist stance during World War II, this Soundie appeared on jukeboxes with leading female vocalist Martha Tilton singing-with fellow warblers Vince Barnett and Jimmy Dodd, who would eventually become a leading Original Mouseketeer, and harmonica player Leo Diamond accompanying-that what this country needs is love, kisses, and well, basically more romance! During all this, we see many couplings just sitting on benches listening to Ms. Liltin' Tilton sing in her most soothing voice. Well worth a look for anyone curious about these vintage music videos of a bygone era. Who would have thought they'd become available courtesy of YouTube and other media? So, yes, that's a recommendation...