"Song Writers' Revue"

[Brad from Georgia]

This morning I happened across an MGM short from 1930 on TCM: "Song Writers' Revue." Jack, as MC, introduced a number of well-known songwriters from the era, including Gus Edwards ("School Days, School Days"), Nacio Herb Brown, Arthur Freed, and five or six others. Each played a snippet of one of his famous songs, and at the end, Jack asked them to put a lyric he had "written" to music (it was a melange of cliches). They do so, and the song becomes the closing number.

Jack was in good, though early, form in the role, making sarcastic, snide remarks as he introduced each songwriter. Traces of his later mannerisms--the crossed arms, the fingers to cheek--show up. However, this early Jack is just not as funny as he became later on, once he realized that he functioned better as the recipient of sarcasm rather than the disher-out of sarcasm. I don't know if the short is in rotation on TCM, but you might want to check the listings for it.

[Yhtapmys]

This morning I happened across an MGM short from 1930 on TCM: "Song Writers' Revue." .

Brad, wasn't this on YouTube? We discussed it here before.

Yhtapmys

[Brad from Georgia]

This morning I happened across an MGM short from 1930 on TCM: "Song Writers' Revue." .

Brad, wasn't this on YouTube? We discussed it here before.

Yhtapmys

Possibly. I'm ALWAYS the last to know....

BTW, the print on TCM wasn't very good--very scratchy image, poppy soundtrack.

[comedybrad]

I was able to download the entire short from the TCM website and can play it back only on my computer on Real Player, I believe...
I can't seem to get it to translate to my iPod or anything else.

I saw this on TCM only one time a few years ago and I have been watching the "Shorts" schedule fairly closely for years and they have never re-scheduled it to my knowledge. Turns out TCM is about as stingy with Jack's shorts as Jack was with tipping the Western Union boy...

[Shemp]

It's on DVD, from the Warner Archive...

Classic Musical Shorts From the Dream Factory