This is one of the later Vitaphone shorts--known as a "Melody Master". These later musical shorts generally were more straight forward and had simpler sets and no real story to tie it all together--just a famous band of the day doing their stuff.
This is the third Vitaphone appearance for Vincent Lopez and his orchestra. And, their first song is a bit of a parody of their popularity as the band sings a song about why they're sick of playing the band's trademark song! In addition, you have two unusual appearances--Betty Hutton (who became a movie star soon after this) as their vocalist and Fred Lowery--a whistling virtuoso! As for Hutton, I wasn't surprised to see her dancing like a person covered in fire ants! Her style was never subtle and she dances just like she acted in films--intensely and with abandon. I am sure she was a very nice person but I also found her singing to be...well...loud and a bit unpleasant.
Oddly, one of the band's songs was a country western song--much like you'd expect to hear in a Gene Autry film. Seeing them dressed up as cowboys for this number was odd but odder still was seeing them smoking--even the vocalist! Overall, not one of the more pleasant shorts--even with the cute opening number. While you might really like it, I just found Hutton's singing and dancing to be distracting and I am glad she later found her niche in films.
This is the third Vitaphone appearance for Vincent Lopez and his orchestra. And, their first song is a bit of a parody of their popularity as the band sings a song about why they're sick of playing the band's trademark song! In addition, you have two unusual appearances--Betty Hutton (who became a movie star soon after this) as their vocalist and Fred Lowery--a whistling virtuoso! As for Hutton, I wasn't surprised to see her dancing like a person covered in fire ants! Her style was never subtle and she dances just like she acted in films--intensely and with abandon. I am sure she was a very nice person but I also found her singing to be...well...loud and a bit unpleasant.
Oddly, one of the band's songs was a country western song--much like you'd expect to hear in a Gene Autry film. Seeing them dressed up as cowboys for this number was odd but odder still was seeing them smoking--even the vocalist! Overall, not one of the more pleasant shorts--even with the cute opening number. While you might really like it, I just found Hutton's singing and dancing to be distracting and I am glad she later found her niche in films.