6/10
This Hollywood on Parade short was a fascinating obscure item for me
11 May 2008
I recently discovered the Matinée at the Bijou blog which is about the vintage movie theatre programs from the '30s and '40s as presented on a two-hour program uninterrupted by modern commercials as revived on PBS. Among the rare shorts presented there was this Hollywood newsreel from Paramount introduced by singer Cliff Edwards on ukulele warbling the theme song. He's best known now as the voice of Jiminy Cricket on Walt Disney's Pinocchio but was just a song-and-dance man during this time. Among the items: Jean Harlow learns golf, and several stars go to the horse races: William Powell and his then-wife Carole Lombard, the comedy team of Bert Wheeler and Robert Woolsey, Polly Moran, Joan and Constance Bennett, and Mexican star Raquel Torres. Cliff appears in between these segments and gets interrupted by a Mexican band singing the praises of another star of their country-Lupe Velez-as we see a film clip of her dancing with someone. Then they and Edwards join in for the theme finale as the short ends. This was another fascinating obscure item from back in the day that sustained my interest throughout. Well worth seeing for anyone interested in this sort of thing.
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