tadpole-596-918256 Review of The Beau Brummels

The Beau Brummels (1928)

One of the best of the bunch; REALLY funny, even today!!

[8/10 · 20 May 2013]

This is one of the top two or three offerings in the selection of Warner Brothers Vitaphone shorts included in the JAZZ SINGER archive (which consists of 24 vaudeville and musical acts from the late 1920s), ranking just a notch below THE POLICE QUARTET. Like the latter group, THE BEAU BRUMMELS (a vaudeville comedy team comprised of Al Shaw and Sam Lee) have disappeared without a trace even in Wikipedia. This is a real undeserved fate for them, as many of the virtually-talentless performers in the other 22 acts have their vital statistics recorded for all posterity. My friend Tamika from film class said she thinks "Al Shaw" looks a lot like Albert Schultzman (who played the Piano Mover part in Alfred Hitchcock's YOUNG AND BEAUTIFUL, 1934), and that Sam Lee resembles Samuel Levy, whom she saw in Hitchcock's JAMAICA INN (1939). If Tamika is right, Wikipedia still overlooks BOTH Albert Schultzman (June 1, 1902 - - March 13, 1985) AND Samuel Levy (July 12, 1891 - - January 9, 1980), implying only that Sam had to shorten his name to avoid being confused with Manhattan Borough President Samuel Levy (1876 - - 1953), who lived in the same neck of the woods as the future JAMAICA INN cast member.