Anyone mathematically challenged might have some trouble locating this title on IMDb; when this program aired on TMC a couple of weeks ago, the cable channel lineup listed it as "Rambling Round Radio Row #4", but if you do a lookup on the title, you get all of numbers one through ten, without the #4! How weird is that? Well via some trial and error, and starting with #1, I finally located this show as the eighth one in the series (or if there's no #4, then the seventh one in the series). Don't let me confuse you, I'm commenting on the right one is all you need to know.
After all that, there's not a lot to recommend here. The format has radio announcer Eddie Bruce introducing a number of singing acts with a goofy skit to wrap things up. First up is Tito Guizar buzzing his way through a quickie Spanish number, believing he's serenading a woman who wanted to meet him. It turns out that the apartment number was inverted on the door, and he wound up waking a guy who wanted to sleep. If I didn't know better, this short might have been the inspiration for the Jimi Hendrix song, "If Six Turned out to be Nine".
Shirley Howard's up next with "Don't Blame Me"; Bruce's comment about Shirley's talent stated that 'when she sings a song, it stays sung'. There's no way anyone can deny that, but isn't that true of any singer? I'll be thinking about that for a while.
The Men About Town Trio offered up "Annie Doesn't Live Here Any More" which was passable, but that's about it. The coup de grace so to speak, had a stuttering Alan Reed attempting to open a bank account with Gene Lockhart, who got so frustrated with the bu-bu-bu-bubba stammer that he gave the guy a quarter to leave. You figure out the ending.
The closing credits stated this was a Vitaphone Pepper Pot, which upon researching, turned out to be a generic name for the series of Vitaphone shorts that were produced around this time in the Thirties.
After all that, there's not a lot to recommend here. The format has radio announcer Eddie Bruce introducing a number of singing acts with a goofy skit to wrap things up. First up is Tito Guizar buzzing his way through a quickie Spanish number, believing he's serenading a woman who wanted to meet him. It turns out that the apartment number was inverted on the door, and he wound up waking a guy who wanted to sleep. If I didn't know better, this short might have been the inspiration for the Jimi Hendrix song, "If Six Turned out to be Nine".
Shirley Howard's up next with "Don't Blame Me"; Bruce's comment about Shirley's talent stated that 'when she sings a song, it stays sung'. There's no way anyone can deny that, but isn't that true of any singer? I'll be thinking about that for a while.
The Men About Town Trio offered up "Annie Doesn't Live Here Any More" which was passable, but that's about it. The coup de grace so to speak, had a stuttering Alan Reed attempting to open a bank account with Gene Lockhart, who got so frustrated with the bu-bu-bu-bubba stammer that he gave the guy a quarter to leave. You figure out the ending.
The closing credits stated this was a Vitaphone Pepper Pot, which upon researching, turned out to be a generic name for the series of Vitaphone shorts that were produced around this time in the Thirties.
