I had never heard of Mel Klee before I found this short, and now I know why. In his only movie appearance, Klee appears in blackface, clearly another performer who had come out of the dying minstrel shows, like Eddie Cantor or Al Jolson. He appears, sings a song, does a five-minute monologue filled with jokes that are as old as the hills, sings a medley, and leaves.
Vitagraph recorded a lot of vaudeville acts in the first few years of sound pictures. They were meant to replace the live shows that the better movie houses had, an outgrowth of the days when vaudeville houses showed a movie or two to fill out their programs. Some of the acts are wonderful. Some are awful. This one is tired, but fairly typical.
Vitagraph recorded a lot of vaudeville acts in the first few years of sound pictures. They were meant to replace the live shows that the better movie houses had, an outgrowth of the days when vaudeville houses showed a movie or two to fill out their programs. Some of the acts are wonderful. Some are awful. This one is tired, but fairly typical.
