Projection Room (1939) User Reviews

Variety Short

[boblipton · 6/10 · 20 March 2014]

This Vitaphone short from Warner Brothers' Brooklyn studio -- even though we see a stock shot of the Hollywood stages -- leads off with Gower & Jeanne. They're a ballroom dancing act and Gower is better remembered as Gower Champion, dancer, choreographer and director of movies and stage shows. It's nice to see him early in his career, before he teamed up with wife Marge, doing the same sort of precise work that he would later. Some singing and clowning acts follow.

The short is structured as studio boss Jack Arthur looking at some screen tests. Publicity man Eddie Foy Jr. shows up and the extreme Art Moderne look of the title cards and sets is very pleasant.

In the Projection Room

[Michael_Elliott · 4 July 2012]

Projection Room (1939)

** (out of 4)

Rather bland two-reeler from Warner takes place at a movie studios projection room where at the start of the film a big shot is taking a look at a dancing act. From here enters a publicity guy (Eddie Foy, Jr.) who is going to take a big couple on the radio and throw them into a romantic movie but he's not aware that the couple is fighting and heading towards a divorce. From here we pretty much get a couple more musical acts as well as a couple comedy acts but the truth is that nothing really stands out here. Director Roy Mack would turn out dozens of these without blinking an eye and I think it's pretty clear that this here is one of the weaker ones. That's not to say the film doesn't have a few merits because it does. I thought Foy was pretty good in his role and he was clearly giving it his all as his energy level helps keep the film moving. I also thought Jack Arthur was good in his part. It's just that the comedy was bland and none of the singing really grabbed my attention.