Toyland Casino (1938)
** (out of 4)
If you're looking for something cute then you really don't have to look any further than this Warner two-reeler. However, if you're looking for something good then you're not going to find it here. What we basically have here is a talent show with kids doing all of the performances. We get dance routines, singing, jump rope and several other "tricks" being done by kids who all appear to be under the age of 12. I'm not going to lie, around the eight minute mark of this thing I was already getting bored out of my mind and that wasn't good because there were still several other acts to follow. I'm not going to go all out and bash the kids because that just wouldn't be right. Yes, some of them have very bad singing voices and some of the acts really weren't all that impressive but they're kids. The acts were at least cute and I guess that's all we could really ask for. While watching this short it reminded me of the talent shows that I used to be a part of in elementary school and looking back on them, we were cute but there wasn't too many good acts. That's the same here, although I noticed a few of the cast members would go onto have careers including Abbe Lane and Bobby Hastings who had credits up to a couple years ago.