Plot: What’s it about?
This is the second installment in Kino’s Hollywood Rhythm series and while the first disc focused on jazz & blues, this one contains big band & swing music. As is the case with the first volume, this disc contains a wealth of musical short films, which usually ran before the feature film. This was a good chance to show the audiences the studio’s new talent, as well as allow some old favorites to entertain the crowds. This means you’ll see a number of faces you’ll recognize, such as Cary Grant, Bing Crosby, Ethel Merman, Ginger Rogers, Rudy Vallee, and many more. After my experiences with the first disc, I knew this disc would be fun and in the end, I liked this second installment also. I still prefer the jazz & blues release overall, but this one is still a solid disc and is well worth a look. If you love these old classic musical shorts or just want the chance to see them, then this disc (as well as the rest of the series) is more than worth the time and effort. Below is a list of the musical shorts included and who is featured within them.
1. Blue Of The Night (1933, Cary Grant)
2. Musical Doctor (1932, Rudy Vallee and Mae Questel)
3. Singapore Sue (1931, Cary Grant and Anna Chang)
4. Office Blues (1930, Ginger Rogers)
5. Artie Shaw’s In Class With Swing (1939, Artie Shaw)
6. Her Future (1930, Ethel Merman)
7. A Lesson In Love (1931, Helen Kane)
8. Favorite Melodies (1929, Ruth Etting)
9. Meet The Boyfriend (1930, Lillian Roth)
10. Dream House (1932, Bing Crosby)
Video: How does it look?
The musical shorts are all presented in their intended form, whether that is full frame or windowboxed. These shorts have some years behind them, so they don’t look pristine, but they look much better than you might expect. I saw a moderate level of debris and such, but none of the shorts look that bad, most are quite clean in fact. The black & white images look solid also, no signs of black level problems, which means detail is usually high. I know some will find fault with these shorts no matter what, but I think they look pretty good, especially given some of the ages involved.
Audio: How does it sound?
The original mono track is limited in range of course, but it seems to be able to handle these musical shorts pretty well. I heard very little in terms of age related problems and while the music is rather flat, it is also clean and well presented, at least as far as mono goes. I had no problems hearing any of the music, lyrics, or normal dialogue here and in the end, this is an adequate track. I suppose the musical subject matter calls for a more advanced audio presentation, but I think this clean mono option is a fine addition to this disc.
Supplements: What are the extras?
This disc includes the bonus musical shorts Sittin’ On Top Of The World (Bob Willis and his Texas Playboys), Used To Be You (Ginger Rogers and Jack Oakie), It Had To Be That Way (Tallulah Bankhead), Here Lies Love (Kate Smith), Love Me Tonight (Jeanette MacDonald), Louise (Maurice Chevalier), and Heebie Jeebies (The Boswell Sisters).
