paghat

There's nobody named "Peggy" in the cast, that's "Peppy" the tall jitterbug clown-dancer.

Plus, "Peanuts" is not playing "himself" but "herself," she's the tiny jitterbug dancer.

The team were called "Peppy and Peanuts" and they appear in a couple of soundies and two films, very obscure, but were once popular on the burlesque circuit as burlesque included comedy dance teams pretty regularly.

They had a really a charming act, and it's great to see part of it preserved in this little film. How sad they're so forgotten, and even miscredited.

The film also provides a chance to see part of the act of Mike Riley and His Musical Maniacs. The "Crying" routine was one of his best known. It's awful, but it reportedly made audiences hysterical in the burlesque houses.

Riley owned The Madhouse in Hollywood, a tavern never forgotten by anyone who ever saw the inside, designed to be packed with sight gags.

-paghat the ratgirl from the weird wild realm

Greetings & Salutations your own sweet self. I'm glad to see someone praising Mantan. He and similar comics like Stepin Fetchit have been so demeaned for racist caricatures, but Mantan more than any other comic of the type gave rich character performances; he conveyed much more than the stereotype people seem to believe they're seeing when they're just not paying attention. He invented the "Feets don't fail me now" routine but underlying the comedic fear he's subtly brave. If I had to face danger I'd be glad to have Mantan as companion.

Noble Sissle has made this musical short one of the greatest of the 1930s. Cora La Redd's singing is great, but her dance routine just about sets the screen on fire. Imagine being alive during the Harlem Renaissance and being able to go to a club and see her show. Gadzooks!

-paghat the ratgirl