Vaudeville Days (1942)

A narrator provides very brief info on the beginnings and history of Vaudeville while Vaudeville acts are staged by impersonators and contemporary performers.

Director:

LeRoy Prinz

Writer:

George Beatty (original screenplay)

Stars:

Eddie Garr, The Whirling Camerons, The Duffins

Cast

Cast overview:
Eddie Garr	...	Vaudeville Comedian
The Whirling Camerons	...	Vaudeville Acrobatic Troupe
The Duffins	...	Vaudeville Mimes
Rio Brothers	...	Vaudeville Singers / Dancers

Storyline

A narrator provides very brief info on the beginnings and history of Vaudeville, starting with the first off Broadway "straight variety" show in 1881 from which a musical number is recreated. Next, the growth in popularity of Vaudeville is displayed with several classic acts from Vaudeville's early decades being recreated by impersonators. Then, several contemporary (30's-40's) Vaudeville acts perform. And finally, a large contemporary musical stage production with a tropical island theme is performed.

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Plot Keywords:

vaudeville | impersonator | variety show | musical stage production | palace theatre manhattan new york city | 

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Genres:

Short | Comedy | Music | Musical

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Details

Official Sites:

TCM

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

19 December 1942 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Warner Bros

Technical Specs

Runtime:

20 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Vitaphone production reel #1077A.

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Soundtracks

"Waiting at the Church"
(uncredited)
Music by Henry E. Pether
Lyrics by Fred W. Leigh
Performed onstage by "Vesta Victoria"

User Reviews

Very Bland and Lacking Two Reeler about Vaudeville

I watched this two reel short on TCM hoping to learn a bit about Vaudeville and enjoy some good acts, but was sorely disappointed.

The info provided by the narrator is very brief, and although there's a couple of interesting tidbits if you know nothing about Vaudeville, there's not nearly enough information to make this short educational or interesting.

The impersonators who recreated classic acts from the early decades of Vaudeville (imitating Vesta Victoria, Andrew Mack, Eva Tanguay and Pat Rooney Sr.) were bland, forgettable and certainly lacked the qualities that made those acts very popular in their day. As for the contemporary performers, I really enjoyed the two man song and dance team Rio Brothers, but the mimes and acrobats were quite forgettable. And I found comedian Eddie Garr painfully unfunny, which I hate to say because his daughter Teri Garr ("Young Frankenstein", "Mr. Mom") was one of my favorite actresses when I was growing up.

Oddly, the short wraps up with a large theatrical musical comedy production with a tropical island theme which I'm sure is archive footage from something else. And it's not very funny or musically pleasing, is not typical Vaudeville, and seems completely out of place in this short.

I've seen some entertaining Vaudeville acts watching old shorts on TCM, but unfortunately this short is completely lacking. Ironically, this short was probably intended to raise interest in Vaudeville, but the lack of quality will produce the opposite effect.

Skip it.