Streamlined Swing (1938)

A group of African-American waiters on a railway believe they have made a deal to secure a railroad dining car that they set up on Wilshire Blvd in Los Angeles as a diner. To bring in ... See full summary »

Director:

Buster Keaton

Writers:

Marion Mack (screenplay), John W. Krafft (dialogue)

Stars:

The Original Sing Band, Richard Cramer, Lester Dorr

Cast

Complete credited cast:
The Original Sing Band	...	Themselves

Storyline

A group of African-American waiters on a railway believe they have made a deal to secure a railroad dining car that they set up on Wilshire Blvd in Los Angeles as a diner. To bring in customers, they sing, their voices providing most of the musical accompaniment as well. At the diner, in front of a crowd of swells, the police deliver the bad news. Do prison work songs await their harmonies?

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Plot Keywords:

diner | african american | harmony | los angeles california | dinner | 

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Genres:

Short | Music

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

10 September 1938 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Louis Lewyn Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

9 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Soundtracks

"Pack Your Grip and Take a Little Trip"
(uncredited)
Written by Leon René
Performed by The Original Sing Band

User Reviews

Streamlined Swing is an entertaining Original Sing Band short directed by Buster Keaton

I just discovered this rare musical short from M-G-M on the TCM site. It's directed by comedian Buster Keaton at a low point in his life when the studio he worked for had no use for his physical talents. The stars are the musical group The Original Sing Band, a group of African-Americans who don't play instruments but instead use their mouths to sound like them while others sing the lyrics of which two of the performed songs were written by Louisiana native Leon Rene. Actually, one of them does play the guitar. The flimsy plot has them getting "sold" a railroad car by a "millionaire" who plans to retire on his "yacht". They take it off the tracks and turn it into a diner called "Dinah" (get the play on words?). While there's some embarrassing dialect here, this was mostly entertaining stuff courtesy of the singing. Since the Original Sing Band appeared in one other short, this was a real find for me. I highly recommend Streamlined Swing.