Moonlight Cocktails
Moonlight Cocktails – 1942
MORE ...A Jazz Etude
In this serendipitously surreal short “A Jazz Etude,” tap dance extraordinaire Billy Burt dances up a storm in top hat, tuxedo tail and cane. Is he floating? And that screwy soundtrack … a mishmash of ‘Flight of the Bumblebee,’ ragtime fills, and 1930’s jazz cliches, is remeniscent of Carl Stalling or Raymond Scott. Still, I […]
MORE ...Tica Ti – Tica Ta
Tica Ti Tica Ta, produced in 1942, stars “dynamite swing singer” Ginger Harmon and vaudeville dancing team the Mercer Brothers. On April 18, 1942 Billboard’s Movie Machine Reviews writes, “Ginger Harmon and the Mercer Brothers don South American garb for Tica Ti – Tica Ta. Ginger sings well and the nimble Mercer boys contribute a […]
MORE ...Hemp For Victory
Hemp for Victory, produced by the US government in 1942, made a case for increasing the domestic cultivation of Cannabis sativa. As WWII ratcheted up and the Japanese controlled the hemp powerhouse of Southeast Asia, a vital resource for the war effort, the filmmakers advocate US farmers focus on the “devil’s weed” as a cash […]
MORE ...Who’s Yehoodi?
An amusing soundie from 1942, Who’s Yehoodi?, was originally composed in 1940 by Bill Seckler and Matt Dennis. Based on a running gag by radio comedian Jerry Colona, this rendition of Who’s Yehoodi? is quite risque for its day. Who’s Yehoodi?
MORE ...
