Love on Tap

Mary Howard is about to get married to Truman Bradley, but every time they're about to head off, there's a crisis among the chorines of the Merriel Abbott Dancers, and the great day must be postponed.

It's a silly little short, intended to show off the acrobatic dancing troupe, and it does so very nicely under the direction of George Sidney. He had begun directing shorts for MGM in 1936, and in 1941 would switch to features. Although he would turn out the occasional swashbuckler, his specialty was musicals, and he would continue to direct them until the end of the 1960s, including VIVA LAS VEGAS.

Besides directing movies, Mr. Sidney was a co-founder of Hanna-Barbera and from 1957 through 1968, the company's president. He died in 2002, age 85.

Love on Tap (1939)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

MGM short about a man and woman (Truman Bradley, Mary Howard) who are trying to get away so that they can be married but each time they try to leave something comes up at her tap dancing school. That's pretty much the entire story here, which is admittedly pretty weak but there are a few dance sequences here that make this 9-minute film worth sitting through. The Merriel Abbott dancers are the main reason to check this thing out as they do some pretty impressive dance sequences including one where they pretty much hold each other upside down and do cartwheels. The story itself really isn't anything overly special and I think it actually works against the film because the female lead is so unlikeable that you're really hoping the guy will wise up and leave her for good. With that said, if you're a fan of the genre then there's enough here to make it worth viewing at least once.

One of the Tin Pan Alley studios made this short film about the Merriel Abbott Dancers. It has a few routines with this small dance troupe of eight young acrobatic women. A romance of some sort is woven into it. One can't get much in such a short amount of time.

The dancers are so-so. They are entertaining for what they do, mixing in some acrobatic flips and things, but there's nothing exceptional in their talents and routines. The one funny and notable scene in this short film is all eight dancers packed into a police car.

This short came with a DVD of the Thin Man series that I bought.

LOVE ON TAP is basically a short MGM musical designed to showcase the Merriel Abbott dancers, with MARY HOWARD and TRUMAN BRADLEY as a pair of would-be honeymooners whose marriage plans are interrupted by the needy girls (an annoying plot device) and the lady's willingness to put their plans on hold once too often.

It's a brisk, harmless piece of fluff which makes the girls' dancing routines look like "The Rockettes" in rehearsal, with perhaps more acrobatics than usual for high-kicking dancers working out with a swing band, courtesy of GARWOOD VAN and his orchestra.

The whining girls always have a petty problem that needs instant solving but, of course, it's pretty clear that all will end well before their final tap dancing routine.

Summing up: A trifle easily forgotten after one viewing. Mary Howard looks like an even prettier version of Norma Shearer--and whatever happened to Truman Bradley? He had leading man possibilities.

Overall, this short musical feature is pretty bland, but it does have a couple of good moments. The plot is based on a familiar idea, and the characters are one-dimensional, so it relies a lot on the dancing sequences and on an upbeat tone.

The story focuses on an engaged couple (Mary Howard and Truman Bradley) whose wedding plans have already been postponed a number of times. It gives the idea a slightly interesting variation (from, for example, the way that it was used in numerous Bulldog Drummond features) by having the prospective bride be the one whose responsibilities keep getting in the way. But after this setup is established, the rest of the plot is mostly predictable. The couple themselves are likable, but not particularly interesting.

A good part of the screen time is given to some performances by the Merriel Abbott Dancers, and their routines have some good moments. There is also some variety in the musical numbers, with a formal stage number and a more informal outdoor routine. They help to give a little life to an innocuous, but plain, movie.