The Christmas Party

MGM used young Jackie Cooper to hold a party for a big bunch of his friends. Then it paraded more than a dozen of its major stars of the day as wait staff to serve the kids. Cooper appeals to Norma Shearer to help get a place big enough and she says she'll talk to Mr. Mayer (that would be Louie B. - Louis, pronounced as the French do).

Well, about 50 kids, 7-10 years old pack Sound Stage No. 2 for this nine-minute short. Among the stars pitching in for the party are Marie Dressler, Wallace Beery and Polly Moran in chefs hats serving at a long buffet steam table. Clark Gable serves a couple of boys at their table. Charlotte Greenwood serves milk to several girls. Lionel Barrymore serves some boys hot biscuits, and Ramon Navarro takes food requests from a couple of kids. A very young and hardly recognizable Bette Davis serves some girls, and Jimmy Durante is dressed as Santa Clause and passes out goodies.

This was an MGM Christmas card promo that it packaged with one or more feature films it released before the 1931 Christmas season. It's short on script and dialog, but has lots of MGM mugs of the day.