New Shoes (1936) User Reviews

Singing Shoes Make Happy Feet

[boblipton · 5/10 · 6 April 2019]

Shoes in a shop window -- ladies' shoes voice by Mae Questal's Betty-Boop voice, men's by Billy Gilbert, chorus of heels by the Andrews Sisters -- help Arthur Lake and Jean Chatburn find romance.

With the shutdown of shorts production by independents like Hal Roach, MGM moved into production itself in a big way -- and big with MGM seemed to mean bizarre, Although stories told by feet alone in the movies had been around for a quarter of a century by this point -- take a look at Marcel Perez' AMOR PEDESTRE for example -- a look at this one gives me the impression there was a foot fetishist involved in this one.

Choreographer Sammy Lee makes the transition to director with this short. MGM used their shorts' department like a baseball team used minor league franchises, to test out their directors.

Weird.

[planktonrules · 5/10 · 7 June 2010]

This is an old MGM musical short that was included on the DVD for "Wife Versus Secretary" and I must admit that it one of the most bizarre shorts I've ever seen--and I have seen a lot of shorts!! The short consists of singing and talking shoes! This is accomplished using real shoes and movie them in some cases like marionettes (with invisible threads) and in other cases manipulating the shoes like puppets. The overall effect is just plain weird!

The opening number involves a shoe store full of shoes. Later, the camera follows a couple (Arthur Lake and Jean Chatburn) as they meet, go on a date and fall in love. The shoes talk and mirror the way the couple feels about each other! So is it good? Absolutely not! It's all pretty silly and I doubt if most people will even last the full 10 minutes of the running time. BUT, if you do, you may just find it's all rather sweet--even if Lake can't sing well and the shoes are just a strange gimmick. Worth a look mostly if you are in the mood for something different or, if you are like me, you'll watch most any short!

By the way, Arthur Lake is famous for playing Dagwood in the Blondie and Dagwood films. Jean Chatburn on the other hand, only appeared in a few films but lived to the ripe old age of 92.

short thang from MGM

[ksf-2 · 7/10 · 8 May 2019]

A man and a woman try on new shoes in a shoe store...Jean Chatburn and Arthur Lake sit next to each other in a show store in this clever shortie from MGM. SO many shoe puns. and a clever bit where the mens and womens' shoes talk and sing to each other. We watch the shoes dance together in a nightclub, as Chatburn and Lake dance the night away. It's a pretty slick bit. Written and directed by Sammy Lee, a dancer director and choreographer. Plain and simple fun, with a couple songs thrown in. Now shown on Turner Classics in between films.

Singing Shoes

[psmarshmallow · 7/10 · 1 March 2022]

An adorable short film about animate shoes that fall in love just as their human counterparts/owners. I was immediately struck by a familiar memory when this short aired on TCM. I'm making an assumption but I can see where the Walt Disney animation team was inspired for their short "Johny Fedora and Alice Bluebonnet", even down to the Andrew Sisters singing appearance. I love both.

Who did it first? I really enjoy discovering old film treasures that prove nothing is new but there are fun and creative ways to retell a story. But I see more and more that narrative - good narrative is often derivative. Maybe that's not a bad thing.

Meet the Andrews Sisters

[evening1 · 4/10 · 4 July 2022]

I found this to be an odd experience until I recognized the glittering girl group at its heart to be the Andrews Sisters, who were just on the cusp of international stardom.

The beyond-silly plotline makes this little more than a showcase for the lovely threesome, the voices behind, yes, a pair of men's shoes and women's heels (Billy Bletcher and the inimitable Mae Questel of Betty Boop and Olive Oyl fame), and a couple at the heart of this tiny tale -- the glamorous Jean Chatburn and Arthur Lake, who went on to become Dagwood in the Blondie movies.

Not a bad little diversion from heartier TCM fare...

Silly short can't equal a good cartoon

[SimonJack · 5/10 · 23 December 2021]

"New Shoes" is a nonsensical short made by MGM in 1936. It probably ran as one of the extra items with a feature length film that was shown at the time. Often times, studios ran cartoons, newsreels (i.e., "Movietone News"), and various little odd subjects with their main features. Most often these were comedies.

This short film has two parts. The one is a live action couple who meet while each is buying a new pair of shoes in a store. They go to dinner, dancing and fall for each other. The second part is the shoes - a male and female pair, that come to life. This might have been a precursor to Claymation.

It's all very silly and likely was done to let some artists have fun by filming some talking and winking shoes. One good aspect of this short is that we get to see the Andrews Sisters singing a song. Otherwiese, a good Tom and Jerry, Bugs Bunny, or Daffy Duck cartoon would suit me fine.

Great short film

[JasonsPrivateLibraryEst2016 · 10/10 · 6 August 2020]

This is one of my favorite nostalgic short films that I've watched back in 2016. I watched this short about 8 to 10 times since then. It is about a guy who buys new shoes and sees this very attractive well groomed blonde women sitting next to him. He then asks her out. Then they go in a limo where the shoes start singing like the beginning. Then the Andrew's sisters sing and then they dine and sing and the shoes talk to each other. Afterwards, the girl then gets a massage by her butler and makes faces and talks to that boy whose feet is in the bucket of water filled with ice. Then they get married. Wonderful nostalgic short film showing the good old art deco buildings and people we will never see again. Glad 1920s to 1940s history happened. Cannot wait to watch it once a year.

Great tabloid musical film

[iamjasonwu · 9/10 · 2 January 2019]

This is a MGM tabloid musical short film. Arthur Lake and Jean Chatburn, the boy and the girl accidently bump into each other while finding new shoes and the boy asks the girl will you like to come to dinner with me? she later accepts it and the shoes start singing and talking. They move even though they are objects. Then while they are dinner, the Andrews sisters start singing with jazz/swing music in the background. Later, the couple sings to each other for about 2-3 minutes and later when they arrive home, the maid massages the girls left foot and the girl laying down comfortably answers the phone. The boy sings on the phone and the girl smiles and looks up. Then the boy moves feet up and down on the ice bucket. Later, they get married with their new shoes that they bought from the store tied together behind the wedding car. This is a great musical, but it is scary at the same time. While watching this, I was shocked that shoes can talk and move by itself when they are just objects. I watched the whole thing about five times in total, I must admit. This short film is great because it has a beautiful blonde in it that also starred in "The Great Ziegfeld" and other MGM short films from the 30s. Also, it is a musical, which I love because of the swing/jazz music in the background. This short consists of that and the singing. It reminds me of the good old days because unlike the world today, the world was normal, no immigrants from third world countries, no terrorists, no baby boomers only if the people that came back after WWII known that they would create a total diaster later in the 1950s/1960s. This short overall is entertaining. I never fallen asleep while watching this. It maybe weird, but it is heart-warming and nostalgic unlike today that is offended by everything.