The Music Racket

Although neither song in this featurette is memorable, any opportunity to see as well as hear Morse sing is worth the time spent, even though the yodeling and near-yodeling can be annoying. She had one of the most distinctive voices in popular songdom. Let it be noted here that in addition to this Vitaphone short, Morse made other shorts in 1930 for Paramount which as of this posting are NOT listed at IMDb but which are available in crummy copies on YouTube: A MILLION ME'S in which Morse sings the E.Y. Harburg/Jay Gorney composition "What Wouldn't I Do for That Man?" (equalling in her own way Helen Morgan's rendition), and SONG SERVICE in which she sings the long-forgotten "Just Another Dream Gone Wrong" (Harburg/Peter DeRose).

I recent watched a bunch of Vitaphone's experimental films that were included in the 3-disk set for "The Jazz Singer" and found I really liked these old musical shorts. So, I checked online and found a few of them posted and gave them a look. Unlike the ones on the DVDs, the ones floating around the web have pretty horrid sound and picture--like they badly needed restoration. The fact, though, that any exist out there is pretty amazing as the sound was stored separately on a record that tended to degrade fast (only about 20 playings) and the nitrate film was highly combustible and degrades over time. So the condition of THE MUSIC RACKET is certainly understandable. By the way, 1930 was the last year this odd sound system was used by the studio--switching to the easier to use sound-on-film system.

In this case, Lee Morse sings with a very unusual style. Her voice sounds almost like Ethel Waters AND a yodeling cowboy singer combined! The overall effect is unique...though also very unpleasant. She sings a couple numbers--one while a group of black kids dance about. Perhaps this film is important historically but that's about all it has going for it.

Lee Morse had the most exquisite and unusual voice of any female singer. She possessed an extremely powerful voice, despite being 5' tall and weighing under 100 pounds. The story is she developed her deep vocals by imitating her many brothers!!! Her years of great popularity spanned the early 20s to the early 30s. Unfortunately she was an alcoholic and that cost her the lead role in Ziegfeld's "Simple Simon" (1930). She showed up drunk for a last minute rehearsal, she was sacked and Ruth Etting was a last minute replacement. The song Ruth was given - "Ten Cents a Dance" became her signature tune. Lee's career never really recovered. She was extremely shy and drank to rid herself of stage fright. She was also very beautiful and it is a pity that she only appeared in three short films, all released in 1930.

"The Mack Music Co. - where murdering a song is no offence!!!". Lee Donnelly plays a pushy manager and June Clayworth an untalented singer, but it is just an excuse to showcase Lee Morse in a couple of songs to show her different singing styles. "Mail Man Blues" was her signature tune and shows off her distinctive yodelling style. She is shown sitting in front of a little hut with her guitar (which she often used as accompaniment). "In the Middle of the Night" is a beautiful ballad that she first recorded in 1926.

Highly Recommended to see a rare glimpse of a unique vocalist.