Sunday Night at the Trocadero

In the 1930s, MGM made quite a few short films designed to promote their B-list actors. Ostensibly, the film is set at some sort of nightclub and these lesser known actors and actresses supposedly hang out there and the cameras catch them 'as they really are'...or, at least as the publicity department WANTS them to be perceived. However, unlike many of them, this one is in black & white and there really are very few of the bigger stars of the day (whereas the other films usually had a handful of A-listers in addition to the up and coming B and C-listers). The biggest stars you see in this one are Groucho Marx, Robert Benchley, Chester Morris and Frank Morgan. In addition, like "Starlit Days at the Lido", the leading man in this one is Reginald Denny--who introduces some of the acts.

In addition to the mostly uninteresting cameos, you've got some nightclub performers--several of which really stink (especially the guy who was doing impersonations) or are only passably entertaining...at best. Oddly, there also is a bizarro fashion show featuring some of the strangest outfits I have ever seen! It all comes off as weird...and not especially entertaining. Only of interest to folks who want to see the stars...even if it is all staged.

By the way, the sound quality of this short is rather poor...making there one more reason not to watch.

"Reginald Denny and Galaxy of Stars" is how this is billed in the beginning credits.

Interesting at first to see real-life footage of people at a nightclub, complete with cigarette girls, dress and hairstyles of the period. Then it goes into a corny story of a lowly poor usher-type guy who is ready to break into the talent show business....and he's terrible.

Along the way we get some lame comedic acts and some orchestra numbers, some solo singing efforts, that are "fair to good." Personally, I liked the up-tempo numbers better, like the finale with The Brian Sisters.

It was cool to see stars like Groucho Marx (sans mustache) in the audience, along with Frank Morgan, Robert Benchley, Frank McHugh and others.

The worst part of this was the sound quality. I saw this on a Marx Brothers DVD (" Night At The Opera") in which the movie and the other features all came through sharp and clear....but not in this short. I couldn't decipher about half the dialog, which was very annoying.

This short is one of 34 which are featured on Warner Archives Classical Musical Shorts From The Dream Factory.I am very puzzled by many of the reviews of the shorts.They don't seem to appreciate that in many instances an exhibitor would not be charged for these items which were gimme fillers.The fact that they had no or silly stories is entirely irrelevant.These films were often had one major purpose to promote the studio stars.Yes some of the films were what would now be considered racist or sexist,certainly UN pc.However you can't really project 21st century attitudes on to shorts which are now around 80 years old.If you are easily offended just turn off.These shorts are of their time and should be appreciated accordingly.

MGM short about the Trocadero nightclub, which put on a show every Sunday night where up-and-coming talent could be discovered by the big shots in attendance. The host for the whole thing is Reginald Denny. Some of the guests include Groucho Marx (without his mustache!), Glenda Farrell, Frank McHugh, Robert Benchley, Chester Morris, Frank Morgan, Dick Foran, Eric Blore, and Sally Blane (sister of Loretta Young). Other celebs are name-dropped, such as Jack Benny and Joe E. Brown, but don't appear. The talent hoping to become stars are Connee Boswell, The Brian Sisters, and Peter Lind Hayes as an annoying bellboy doing impersonations (including one in blackface) every few minutes. The orchestra leader is George Hamilton, father of the very tanned actor George Hamilton most of us are more familiar with. It's not funny and the songs are nothing special. There is a fashion show in the middle of it, which is bizarrely amusing in its way. As another reviewer mentioned, the sound quality isn't the greatest. Only worth a look for classic film fans who enjoy curiosities such as this.

Sunday Night at the Trocadero (1937)

*** (out of 4)

MGM short has Reginald Denny hosting three musical acts including Louis & Celeste, The Three Brian Sisters and Medina & Mimosa. The acts are singing inside the Trocadero, which has many famous faces including George Hamilton, Groucho Marx, Frank Morgan, Frank McHugh, Robert Benchley and Dick Foran. If you're a fan of any of these actors then you might want to check this out if you must see everything they've done but there are a lot of weaknesses here. For starters, the sound quality is very poor and I don't think this is an issue with the print shown on TCM. It really appears that the sound was recorded poorly and this leads to the issues. Another problem is that the comedy is just downright bad. The musical numbers are certainly worth listening to as are seeing the famous faces.