Herbert Moulton's ten-minute musical short 'Hollywood Rhythm (1934)' is plugging the upcoming Paramount picture 'College Rhythm (1934),' starring Jack Oakie and Lyda Roberti, but it does it in an interesting way. Rather than simply giving audiences a overly-flattering theatrical trailer, it instead offers a behind-the-scenes look at the musical-making process. Songwriters Mack Gordon and Harry Revel, usually relegated to unseen duties, are the two main stars of the film, working together (in true Hollywood musical fashion) to spontaneously invent hit song numbers that audiences will fall in love with. Gordon is quite a personality; he acts, sings and dances both confidently and enthusiastically, and I was surprised to learn that his time spent in front of the camera was very limited. He might have made an entertaining performer, and has got an excellent voice. Revel is more conservative with his acting, remaining vigilantly at the piano and playing music as he does best.
Setting the film from the songwriter's perspective is an interesting move, contrasting their relatively unglamorous lifestyle with the extravagant musical numbers later seen on the movie screen. The short largely follows the creation of two songs. Firstly, the title number "College Rhythm," which has already been written but needs to be rehearsed in front of the camera. Roberti and Oakie are seen practising the song, with the director looking on behind the camera. Then Roberti goes to join Gordon and Revel, and the three of them ponder another song that is to appear in the film. "Take a Number from One to Ten" gradually takes shape, and we briefly follow its progress from simple words inside a musician's head to a fully-fledged extravagant set-piece complete with Lyda Roberti, a complete band and a chorus of waving cheerleaders. 'Hollywood Rhythm' is a brief, immaterial piece of advertising, but it's also a suitably pleasant and interesting inside-look into the studio music-making factory.
