Went back on the Matinée at the Bijou blog and discovered this rare musical short from Educational Pictures in the '30s simply called Life of the Party that takes place at a big society party waiting for a big opera singer to arrive. Before he comes, a black maid offers her services as she and her three sisters-The Pope Sisters-perform their song on the piano with a white woman dancing up a storm during it. Three of them are named Una, Odele, and Inez. I have no idea who the fourth one is. At this point the scheduled singer enters but since his accompanist hasn't arrived, he won't perform. So now some musical "hillbillys" called The Six Mountain Melodeers perform their fast-paced version of "Dem Golden Slippers" to rousing applause. Then we cut to a kitchen where another black maid is with her children as these kids-The Cabin Kids-perform "Sweet Sue". As this number ends, the man who's been introducing the entertainment gets permission to take these five kids-Ruth, Helen, James, Winifred, and Fred-to the main room where they also perform "This Little Piggy" and "Workin' for the Lord". As they get back to the kitchen, a lady volunteers to play the piano for the singer. She's told she's awful (which she is), she then tells the singer, "You're not so good yourself!" (Though you can't really tell since he only warbles a few bars!) Just then his accompanist arrives drunk with police in tow. The singer fires him, the drunk quits, then the host throws them both out as we fade! This short's entertainment value is mainly in the presentation of three musical acts that rarely got showcased on film though The Cabin Kids did appear in a couple of "Our Gang/Little Rascals" shorts that used to be in heavy syndication in the '70s. (They were Beginner's Luck which marked the first appearance of Carl "Alfalfa" Switzer, and Teacher's Beau which marked the last regular appearance of Matthew "Stymie" Beard and the debut of Dorothy Dandridge as a child.) The opera "singer" and his foibles are lame today but was probably amusing to the audiences of the time. So to anyone who loves to watch and listen to musical acts from "way back when", Life of the Party comes highly recommended.
2 Reviews
Second Rank Acts
boblipton24 July 2023
When a singer cannot perform at the party because his piano player hasn't shown up, various acts fill in.
It's one of those variety shorts that were popular in the 1930s, with a framework of a story to explain why they were appearing. Such shorts were popular in the era, allowing smaller houses to have the sort of acts that in movie palaces would be provided by live entertainment. Here we have the Cabin Kids, five young Black singers performing a couple of songs, as well as the Pope Sisters and the Six Musical Mountaineers with one song each.
If, like me, you have never heard of these groups outside of their appearances in a few of the Educational Pictures shorts, you won't be surprised. They're all right.
It's one of those variety shorts that were popular in the 1930s, with a framework of a story to explain why they were appearing. Such shorts were popular in the era, allowing smaller houses to have the sort of acts that in movie palaces would be provided by live entertainment. Here we have the Cabin Kids, five young Black singers performing a couple of songs, as well as the Pope Sisters and the Six Musical Mountaineers with one song each.
If, like me, you have never heard of these groups outside of their appearances in a few of the Educational Pictures shorts, you won't be surprised. They're all right.
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