Charming and brutal

Very good movie overall, highly recommended. Most of the negative reviews don't have any merit and are all pollitically based. Give this movie a chance at least, and it might give you a different perspective.

One of the most extraordinary films you will see this year. Take that as you want.

Blistering performances.

Buster Keaton, at a low point in his career, directed this short subject about a new kind of swing band that plays musical instruments without actually playing them. It's a novelty act that never really caught on and it's easy to understand why.No use discussing the plot. It's merely an excuse to show these "swing singers" doing their thing singing for their supper in a streamlined railroad "Dinah".The black band is talented enough but the script is worthless, Keaton's direction is uninspired and the whole thing falls apart before "The End" is flashed on the screen.Forget about it.

Streamlined Swing (1938) ** 1/2 (out of 4) Buster Keaton directed this MGM short showcasing the original Sing Band. Keaton's direction is a tad bit dated and lazy as he doesn't really do much when filming the musical numbers, which just happen to be the best thing about the film. The story written around the musical numbers is also rather lazy and routine.It's a shame MGM let Buster's acting career go down the drain but I guess we can be happy that he was working at all.Turner Classic Movies shows this every once in a while.

While I was not originally going to watch this musical short since I usually hate musical shorts, I decided to see it when I saw that it was directed by none other than Buster Keaton!! It was obvious looking at Keaton's career that MGM had absolutely no idea how to use his many talents. Starting in the sound era, MGM did practically everything they could to unintentionally waste his talents. The first was pairing the visual comic with the loud, brash and pretty obnoxious Jimmy Durante. Their styles had absolutely nothing in common and Keaton just looked lost in the films--and worst of all, they weren't funny. It was so bad that by the late 1930s, he all but disappeared from the screen except in bit roles. MGM didn't know what to do with this contracted player, so they assigned him to direct some shorts. And the short, overall, is good and achieves what it intended--a short and amiable musical interlude before or between features. However, fans looking for a short that transcends this limited goal (such as Keaton's silent shorts) will be disappointed.In addition, the film is in some ways uncomfortable to watch here in the 21st century and is an important history lesson. The singing group in the film is made up of some talented Black men who, at times, act pretty stereotypical for the time period. Blacks were not often seen in mainstream films of the era, but when they did they were usually servants or child-like "boys" who could sing and dance. The singing is excellent and catchy, but you can't help but feel that the film is patronizing and these men are allowed to act within very prescribed limits--the characters can't have depth or anguish--they must enjoy being exactly who they are and nothing more. However, don't throw away the film because of this--it is a very important time-capsule and important to our history.This film begins with the men working as waiters on a train. They THINK they bought a used train car to convert into a restaurant, but it turns out the owner of the railroad is actually NOT the owner but an insane person! How this is all resolved in kind of cute and at least it's nice to see that in the end the men are rewarded for their decency and hard work--exactly the sort of "good Negro" image that White audiences of the time would accept.Overall, this is an interesting film but is hindered by the age in which it was made. It's a real shame that the singers were unable to do much more with their many talents.

"Streamlined Swing" was directed by Buster Keaton at the lowest point in his career, when he was under contract to MGM but they refused to make proper use of his comedic talents. This film was a showcase vehicle for "The Original Sing Band", an unusual vaudeville act consisting of several young black men who play all the instruments in a band. The gimmick is that, except for one acoustic guitar, there aren't any real instruments in this band: the various bandsmen make unusual mouth noises (almost like scat-singing) to simulate the sounds of a clarinet, a saxophone, a trumpet with a wah-wah mute, and so forth. The mouth noises aren't meant to be funny; we're supposed to be impressed with the Sing Band's genuine ability to simulate the sounds of musical instruments.Our lads in the band have got a snappy new diner but no customers, so they put on a band concert (with their nonexistent instruments) to attract a crowd, and of course there's a happy ending.It's unfortunate that all the members of the Sing Band speak in "Yassuh" dialect, which was probably inflicted on them by some white booking agent who figured they'd be more popular with white audiences if they spoke like illiterate stereotype darkies. Also, the band's front man (the guitarist) is missing one of his front teeth, which really gives him a distressing appearance.MGM were the richest Hollywood studio, but they obviously didn't spend much money or effort promoting the Original Sing Band. A shame, really. Buster Keaton directs this short film with proficiency but no energy. The whole film seems lackadaisical. "Streamlined Swing" deserves maybe one point out of 10, but I can't blame the men in the band for trying.