Musical Merry-Go-Round #4

Musical Merry-Go-Round #4 (1948)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

This fourth entry in the MGM series once again starts off in Martin Block's office as Virginia O'Brien walks in as he's doing his show. The two do some small talk before things switch over to the music with Les Brown and His Orchestra doing four different songs (Leap Frog, Swamp Fire, Meixcan Hat Dance, Sentimental Journey) and then Bruce does Carry Me Back to Old Virginny. As with the other film in the series that I watched, this one here features Block basically sitting around going his job and introducing music that he'd typical play during his show. The only difference is this short gives us a chance to actually see the acts. If you're a fan of this type of music the you'll certainly want to check this out as Brown was clearly one of the more impressive musicians from this period. I've seen some of his other work and he always came off rather good with the band doing great work on some familiar numbers. Sentimental Journey isn't a rare song by any stretch of the imagination but they breathe some fresh life into it. O'Brien isn't too bad either as her voice is in fine shape and she's certainly easy on the eyes.

If you're a fan of old musicals like I am, you'll recognize Virginia O'Brien as the deadpan singer in those MGM movies in the 1940s. Here's she's visiting Martin Block in his short-lived MGM series, and smiles quite naturally. It turns out it was a gag all along.

Block tells her the story of Les Brown and His Band of Renown, as it was still called in the 1960s, when I would see them on the Bob Hope TV specials. His was a popular and well-run band of the era, although largely sustained by the silly earworm of a name; it reached the point where it was parodied as 'Milton Delug and His Band With A Thug' on THE GONG SHOW.

Anyway, we see the musicians -- or perhaps actors playing them -- performing the musical numbers, while Block lounges around .

Apparently, back in the late 1940s Martin Block was a famous disc jockey...though I'd never heard of him until I saw his series of shorts for MGM. They all came out in 1948 and all are called "Musical Merry-Go-Round"...so it's hard to tell them apart and you need to see who the guests are with each one to keep them straight.

This installment of the Block films highlights Les Brown and his Orchestra. However, instead of interviewing Brown, he talks to Virginia O'Brien about the band (I have no idea why). Among the lovely songs you hear, "Sentimental Journey" is a dandy. Originally, the singer was Doris Day, though an unidentified blonde sings it instead, as Day had gone on to a film career shortly after hitting it big with the song.

If you don't know who Virginia O'Brien is, she was an odd singer and made a few films. Her shtick was deliberately singing almost zombie-like--with zero emotion. She had a lovely voice though I have no idea why she did this odd singing style and I am NOT a fan of this sort of thing.

Overall, even with O'Brien's odd song, a very pleasant outing and well worth seeing in order to enjoy the lovely old tunes.