Sunday Night at the Trocadero

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.

Here's one of those "Hollywood stars" shorts. While some studios had specialty series like this -- particularly Columbia with its "Screen Snapshots", most studios dabbled, and when they dabbled in the 1930s, they called Lou Lewyn. He had cut his teeth on "Screen Snapshots", followed through with "The Voice of Hollywood" for Tiffany-Stahl, and then Paramount's "Hollywood on Parade." After that he went independent, with stars and aspiring players from every studio and rank.... and a couple of people of particular interest to fans of old movies, like Gaylord Carter, for decades the dean of silent film organists.

Anyway, it's some good music, some nice production numbers, and some stars in mufti. See if you recognize Groucho Marx without his painted-on eyebrows and mustache.

A vintage short from the 1930's, Sunday Night at the Trocadero is far from anything special. A typical short musical / comedy with no big stars to the cast. A handful of 30's eye candy is showcased at the fictional dinning club called the Trocadero. A group of well to do producers and self made men have dinner and share conversation as the room around them is alive. A group of girls sing and dance throughout the hall to gain attention. A struggling bell boy / wanna-be actor performs every five minutes to get hired on the Big Producer's next movie. Everyone in the cast seems to be working for food, let alone a pay check. For 21 minutes, the short provides beautiful musical numbers and quick "no so funny" one liners that really isn't worth watching for an audience member in the 21st century. To appreciate this movie, you need to be from the generation or know one of the actors in the film. All in all, an interesting vintage short that is like most short musicals of its time. Quick, simple, and worth the price of admission for its time, which was 10 cents.

I can't think of a worse musical short I've seen from Metro, hosted by REGINALD DENNY, the distinguished looking British actor. He's seen at a nightclub called the Trocadero, taking candid photos of the various celebrities enjoying a night out.

The soundtrack is appallingly bad, with none of the dialog understandable for the average viewer and full of name dropping remarks from Denny as he acknowledges the famous faces from the '30s.

Movie buffs will easily recognize some of them: Arthur (Dagwood) Lake, Dick Foran, John Howard, Chester Morris, Robert Benchley, Connie Boswell, Groucho Marx, Frank Morgan, Eric Blore, Glenda Farrell, and Frank McHugh.

The music performances are way below par. A trio of sisters is the worst act of all and the bandwagon of George Hamilton is so-so. Boswell's voice is fine but her choice of numbers is questionable, to say the least.

Pretty bad considering it coasts on its musical talent and it sounds as though it's coming from outer space, so bad is the soundtrack. Picture quality is fine though, but you might as well have a tin ear as far as the music is concerned.

Peter Lind Hayes as a hopeful picture discovery doing some imitations and mugging his way through bad material, at least shows promise as a standup comedian that he became later on.

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.