It is nice that many one and two reel shorts have survived film decay and are giving audiences a chance to discover starlets who never went any further or future stars on forgotten works. Josephine Huston falls into the first category, while future Broadway star Phil Silvers is part of the later. Along with such performers as Judy Garland, Deanna Durbin, June Allyson and Betty Hutton, Silvers made his debut in a short, and while much of what he does here is dated, signs of his comic genius are present. Another comic present reminds me of Red Skeleton, but obviously he went no further.
Pretty Josephine Huston is totally forgotten, and perhaps Warner Brothers thought that they might have another Jeanette MacDonald on their hand, but Warners musicals never went high brow. This is a gimmicky musical short with a nice opening production numbers, another one about Hot Tamales and of course, Silver's cheery clowning. A finale involving Huston singing among department store displays is a nice creative set-up. The plot of Huston and Silvers as photographers is slight, but novelty numbers add quality to make it a nice nostalgic visit to what the public got to enjoy in the cinema before television came along. And remember. If you escape from a mental institution, don't go back. People will think that you are crazy!
Pretty Josephine Huston is totally forgotten, and perhaps Warner Brothers thought that they might have another Jeanette MacDonald on their hand, but Warners musicals never went high brow. This is a gimmicky musical short with a nice opening production numbers, another one about Hot Tamales and of course, Silver's cheery clowning. A finale involving Huston singing among department store displays is a nice creative set-up. The plot of Huston and Silvers as photographers is slight, but novelty numbers add quality to make it a nice nostalgic visit to what the public got to enjoy in the cinema before television came along. And remember. If you escape from a mental institution, don't go back. People will think that you are crazy!