Killer Diller

Even a z grade DVD from a battered 16mm print full of joins can NOT dampen my enthusiasm for this jaw dropping roster of vaudeville talent captured on film from the front row of The Lincoln Theatre Somewheres-ville 1947. Like Boardinghouse Blues the previous year, this film is basically a camera in the front row capturing an all black talent show...but God Almighty! what astonishing talent! The swing music and the orchestrations will keep this on play for days only to pause and gawp at The Clark Bros..two handsome slick young tappers who almost out-tap the Nicholas Bros in two high speed routines I needed to watch 77 times just to stop applauding in the privacy of my own lounge room. See 25 year old Nat King Cole and his trio and a hilarious Flip Wilson style deadpan comedian called Moms Maberly as a dry witted housewife, droll in the extreme (I almost expected her to exclaim "The Devil made Me Do It!") delivering a hilarious and well timed song called "Don't Sit On My Bed". More talent on show than any MGM musical costing a zillion dollars more, KILLER DILLER lives right up to it's name. There is a story there somewhere about a rascally invisible comedian or is that a magician who keeps disappearing with someone's girlfriend....almost like THE NIGHT THEY RAIDED MINSKY'S but gloriously all Negro and wall to wall talent! a real wow!

Continuing to review movies featuring African-Americans in chronological order for Black History Month, we're now at 1948 with a revue presented on film by the All-American News company. What plot there is concerns Dusty "Open the Door, Richard" Fletcher being chased by some bumbling cops because of some ridiculous situation I don't feel like discussing here. The only funny parts of these segments were when one of those policemen said he knows where Dusty went because "I saw this picture before!" not to mention when another of them said "Let's do that again", the film went backward before the same running action ran as before. There was an amusing appearance by Jackie "Moms" Mabley on stage when discussing Old Mother Hubbard's gin or scatting to the song "Don't Sit on My Bed". Otherwise, it was mostly great musical acts like the Big Band-flavored Andy Kirk and His Orchestra, vocalist Beverly White, and The King Cole Trio with Nat himself playing great piano while singing "Ooh, Kickeroonie" and "Now He Tells Me" and then member Johnny Miller doing great bass on the instrumental "Breezy and the Bass". Also, Patterson and Jackson entertainingly impersonate The Ink Spots on "If I Didn't Care" before one of them does a tap dancing routine. Another duo of that sort are The Clark Brothers doing the kind of stuff The Nicholas Brothers had already done in several major shorts and features. And then there's the jitterbugging Four Congaroos which feature a couple of male-female pairs energetically doing what was the dance style of the day. Many of these acts, other than The King Cole Trio, aren't very well known today and appeared in few other films. The same could be said of many of the supporting actors though an exception would be Ken Renard, who plays the The Great Voodoo here, who subsequently appeared in many features and TV shows. In fact, I just watched him in the 1969 True Grit in which he was Yarnell Pointdexter, Mattie Ross's guardian during the hanging sequence when she was played by Kim Darby. Oh, and one more player here who had done many major features but would soon quit since she didn't like the stereotyping she endured was Butterfly McQueen who wasn't funny here. She would appear in Ms. Mabley's last film appearance of Amazing Grace in 1974. Okay, so on that note, I highly recommend Killer Diller if you're a curious enough film buff. P.S. Another player, Augustus Smith, was a native of Jacksonville, FL, which was where I once lived at from 1987-2003.

The plot doesn't matter much, although it is fairly important to understanding the ending (which I failed to pay attention to.) But it isn't necessary in order to enjoy the classic performances from some of the 1940s biggest acts, my favorite being Nat King Cole's silky melodies with his early King Cole Trio. But the Clark Brothers are showstoppers, and their tap routine here is no less entertaining than the Nicholas Brothers in Stormy Weather, another personal favorite. Some of the comedy material may be extremely dated, but I couldn't help but think if "Moms" Mabley's set was performed by my Grandmother...now THAT is what killed me. What surprised me most amidst all the notable performances was that any of the humor survived these 57 years, making it a barely hour-long curiosity for the brave jazz, dance, or history buff.

Hi, Everyone, The best part of this is the dance routine, make that two dance routines by The Clark Brothers. They are gorgeous to watch and they move like boneless puppets on rubber strings. How can they keep smiling when they have to be pooped? Nat Cole is the biggest name here. This was about two years before he became a huge name in the world of show business when he recorded "Mona Lisa." He had a lot of fame already when he appeared here from earlier, but lesser hits like "Sweet Lorraine" and more notably, "The Christmas Song," which eventually would become his biggest seller. He was only 17 years from the end of his career. He would die in 1965.

The songs he sings here are good from a musicianship standpoint, but they suck for the listener. If he had done "Nature Boy" or "Ramblin' Rose" or "Pretend" this movie would have been a real winner. I guess they weren't written yet.

Some of the other musical numbers and comedy entries are just barely acceptable, including "Moms" Mabley, who would become a wonderful comedy actress and act in her later years. It is hard to believe she was past 50 when this was made. Her style was taking shape, but her writing was not there yet.

The twosome that does an impression of The Ink Spots is enjoyable and I would like to have seen them with some great material. Perhaps a script would have helped.

The basic story is OK and it keeps one amused with a Keystone Kops type troupe, but the sets are not quite as grandiose as one might see in Ben Hur or Pee Wee's Big Adventure.

There is a lot to like here. It is wonderful some early footage like this exists to show what vaudeville was and where some of the big names came from.

Nat was more enjoyable in Cat Ballou. I once had the pleasure of watching him perform in person at NBC TV in Hollywood for his TV show. He was great with a live audience. He stayed for about an hour after the show was over to perform for the audience in the theater.

Tom Willett

The chubby bros sing the song "I Believe" - which i believe ive never heard before, except for my dad singing it around the house. Its just amazing for me when i hear some random bits of music that my dad essentially employed as memes when he spoke, which he did a lot. Use verbal memes, i mean.

Also worth watching to see Moms Mabley as a young woman, altho no too different from her as an older woman. And my own personal new theme song is "Aint nobodys business but my own."