I'm Much Obliged

The Mr. Inquisitive column in The Morning Daily newspaper has the tagline "I'm Much Obliged". That's his catch-phrase. His office mate is a grumpy old man writing The Auntie Pru's Recipe column. He calls various telephone numbers and asks what they would like to do. Inevitably, they all do a song and dance.

I don't know how the phone calls work. I don't think we're supposed to, but it does bug me. It occurs to me that this should be a magical phone. He can call any random number and the other side would do a song and dance. This needs to do an exposition on that premise. Aside from that, this is a bit of harmless non-sense.

The Vitaphone division of Warner Brothers was devoted to making short films--most often musical films. And, they tended to showcase acts that were not yet big--many on their way up and many who would probably rise no higher. The format of "I'm Much Obliged" is a bit different from most, though it is essentially a musical showcase.

The film begins with a newspaper columnist, 'Mr. Inquisitive' (George Dobbs) randomly calling people and asking them what they wanted best to do. Not surprisingly, all the people ended up singing!! But because people are talking about their fantasies, the numbers are set on the range or in South America or other places--all which look like they are in a sound stage (particularly the South American dance scene). It's all reasonably pleasant but undistinguished--the sort of thing many younger folks today would find pretty dull, though technically, for the time, they are pretty good. Overall, mildly entertaining but little to make it a must-see, that's for sure.

Newspaper columnist "Mr. Inquisitive" phones various people in an unnamed city and asks them what they would like to be doing. It turns out that they would like to sing (and dance), and do so. Mr Inquisitive then sings back to them "I'm Much Obliged".

This obscure short features two typically obnoxious leads (who can't muster a funny joke between them). Fortunately, though, the musical acts, while not top rank, are good second tier people who keep the short interesting, if you have any liking for the music of the 30s.

Vera Van is a torch singer with a nice alto voice (think Alice Faye with maybe 50% of the talent), who gets in a nice gloom despair and misery number, plus a jazzier tune later on.

Rosita & Fontana do an elegant Latin dance to an elegant Latin number. Nothing terribly interesting, but far better than the comedy from the leads.

Lester Cole (accompanied by a manly male chorus) sings Western tunes in an operetta style. Since the tunes themselves are pretty good, this works OK, though anyone looking for Western Swing will be surprised to find a "hayseed" Nelson Eddy.

The Heat Waves are a little tap dancing/jive singing group. They do rather well with Jimmie Lunceford's Rhythm Is our Business, and the little specialty number they have later on. This a fun group (backed by a decent band) that I wish I knew more about.

This is worth 20 minutes.

Though it is short on both running time and thematic continuity, this is a rather entertaining film. It is a compilation of performances by singers and dancers, some of whom are rather talented. In fact, other than the first song performance, I enjoyed all the acts.

In particular, watch for the tap dancing routine; the lead dancer is terrific. On the other hand, the dancers that surround Vera Van as she sings "Merrily Bound for Nowhere" are a sloppy assemblage, which is typical of troupes of the day.

I still call the John Wayne-Robert Mitchum classic western El Dorado the 'much obliged' movie. So it was with some curiosity that I watched this Warner Brothers short subject I'm Much Obliged. In El Dorado everyone is constantly saying how they're 'much obliged'. The only things that star George Dobbs is obliged for is a punch in the nose delivered by Lester Cole.

Dobbs plays the columnist who writes the Mr. Inquisitor column whose tagline is 'much obliged. He calls around to various entertainers looking for news for his Walter Winchell like column and he gets to hear a bit of everybody's act. The best is singer Vera Van who delivers a rendition of that smoky torch You Let Me Down which Lee Wiley made popular in the Thirties.

I'm Much Obliged is a pleasant 20 minute musical interlude.