Artie Shaw and His Orchestra (1939)

User Rating:

7.1/10   

Director:

Roy Mack

Release Date:

29 April 1948 (USA)

Genre:

Short | Music

Plot:

Artie Shaw leads his orchestra in five songs. 'Helen Forrest' and 'Tony Pastor' are featured vocalists...

Plot Keywords:

Orchestra | Singer | Vitaphone Melody Master | Big Band | Character Name In Title

Cast

Artie Shaw	...	Himself
Helen Forrest	...	Herself - a Singer
Tony Pastor	...	Himself - a Singer and Saxophonist

Runtime:

10 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

USA:Approved (PCA #2346)

Company:

Vitaphone Corporation, The

Movie Connections:

Featured in "Broadway: The American Musical" (2004)

Soundtrack:

Let's Stop the Clock

An entertaining musical short

This is one of a multitude of cheapie shorts produced by Warners and other studios in the 1930s and 40s, featuring simple bandstand shots of 15 to 20 piece "swing" bands -- now called "big bands" -- playing 3 to 5 of their standard repertoire numbers. The productions were generally unimaginative, and might now be considered boring if you're unfamiliar with or dislike the music and bands of that era.

As a second-rate, classically oriented high school, college, and military band clarinettist and saxophonist in the 1938-46 era, I disdained the swing band music, though I did play some of it. I'm now a fan of swing and jazz, perhaps from the contrast with all the popular music trends that have followed. In particular, I hated Artie Shaw, no doubt from having seen this or other appearances in shorts and feature movies. Now I recognize that he was a fine performer, in spite of lifting his fingers ridiculously high and having his ligature upside down -- facts that I would not have learned from hearing his records on juke boxes. (Ligature: the clamping strap device that holds the reed on a clarinet or sax.)

This is an interesting and entertaining little movie. I love it -- now.