Vaudeville

Vitaphone made four Vaudeville shorts--films that essentially give the audience a taste of what a Vaudeville show would have been like. Of course, a true Vaudeville show would have been much longer...but the combination of music, comedy and assorted acts is typical of an old time stage show. The first in the series did not impress me at all and left me thinking that surely the old shows MUST have been better than THAT! Is this second one better? Well, not really. The condensed show consists of a dog act (that goes WAY too fast), three lady tap dancers, Jack Pepper and his sort of Stooge act--with FIVE Stooges playing music and two midgets that sing and dance. None of the acts are great...nor are they bad (though the midget act definitely is not politically correct in this day and age). Worth watching if you love the Vitaphone films...otherwise, you could do better.

Vaudeville Reel #2 (1934)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

The second film in the "Vaudeville Reel" series is another good way to see what type of entertainment people would be watching had they gone to a vaudeville show. This short starts off with the highly entertaining Carl Emmy and His Mad Wags. The "mad wags" are his nine dogs and I must admit that this here was the most entertaining section of the film. The dogs do a wide range of tricks including jumping over one another, going underneath each other and most impressive is one little dog that gets on his hind legs and jumps over three other sets of dogs. The Three Queens are next up with their dance numbers, which are quite impressive from the physical stand point but dull otherwise. Jack Pepper and His Society Pets isn't another animal act but instead they seem to be a lighter version of Ted Healy and His Stooges. The final act features Buster Shaver at the piano with Olive and George Brasno doing a music and dance act. I can't say I was overly impressed with the music here but they two kids were certainly giving it their all. Overall, if you're a fan of these Vitaphone shorts then you should enjoy this one. The acts are certainly hit and miss but the film is still worth watching for Emmy and his dogs.

Actually, I think the old vaudeville saying is "Never follow a dog act with another dog act", but the other version applies here, particularly because it's a corker of a dog act. Mr. Emmy, who appeared in a silent version of this act eighteen years earlier, has a well-trained troupe of canines.

The other acts are good, too: "The Three Aces", a trio of young ladies who do a set of high-energy tap dances; Jack Pepper -- today best remembered for being an early husband of Ginger Rogers -- and a roughhouse musical troupe; and Olive and George Brasno, a pair of singing and dancing midgets. It's just the sort of eccentric and skillful performers that filled out a good vaudeville show for many a decade.