Brilliant and touching

As somebody who had not heard any of this before, it became a curious phenomenon to sit and watch a film and slowly have the realities begin to click into place.

The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.

The movie really just wants to entertain people.

" . . . short!" any reasonable viewer would paraphrase "Mr. Rogers'" final exclamation to end THE AUDITION. Theater audiences of the early 1930s would wait with Bated Breath as this nine-minute live-action opening act began, having been promised a treat in store for them with a Royal Arcadians appearance. They'd then suffer through lame musical number after dull act, nervously glancing at their watches (if they had one of those newer models with radium-painted glow-in-the-dark hands and numbers that sent so many French and Swiss ladies to an early grave, since they frequently mouthed the radioactive tips of their tiny paint brushes to keep them adequately precise, not knowing any better). First we suffer through THE AUDITION's third-string Phil Emerton "band," then this sad-sack group accompanies a wailing burlesque queen who bumps and grinds without removing anything. Next, Phil's posse is magically transported on-stage, backing a female trio croaking out some Dixie dirge as Steamboat Days film snippets are back-projected. Finally, two guys tumble out of nowhere onto the stage and start tap-dancing, until the Bad Neighborhood Mr. Rogers says that it's all been a collective nightmare, and the Royal Arcadians will NOT appear in this misbegotten travesty after all.

On a lark, I recently picked up a six DVD set of Vitaphone shorts that feature jazz and big band music. "The Audition" is about average for them but stands out a bit because of the amazing dance routine of Larry & Larry.The super-thin plot involves some musical folks supposedly trying out for some big-wig. The music is provided by Phil Emerton's band. You get to see and hear Hannah Williams sing "Get Happy", a song about showboats (which is okay) by the Three X Sisters as well as watch Larry & Larry dance a number that literally looks like you merged tap-dancing with 1980s break-dancing! Many of their moves surprised me, as this seemed decades too early for such dancing. I also liked how they performed this on a wooden floor covered in dirt, as by the time they were finished, they'd gotten progressively dirtier! Pretty wild stuff.

Wow, a few parts in this short musical were kind of a shock to see. It just shows you how few original things we see, that most things have been done before.Break-dancing in the early 1930s? Yup, they're here in the team of "Larry and Larry," who also reminded me of the famous Nicholas Brothers with all their acrobatic talents mixed in with the tap dancing.Hannah Williams was very, very impressive, too. This woman not only could sing but was a great dancer, too, and part of her "skit" was a marionette-type movie with her legs - something else was "in style" 50 years later! For somebody that isn't well-known, Williams was hot and talented.This short is worth seeing alone just for watching her sing and dance to "Get Happy." This short feature was one of a number back in the '30s that would be played before the feature movie, giving singers and musicians a chance to be heard by a much larger audience. "The Audition" is an apt title, because that's what many of these kind of "shorts" were intended to be.This was a bonus feature on the DVD of the film "The Mayor of Hell," starring James Cagney.

I can't believe there are no comments on this short. This short by far is one of the best that you'll ever see, 9 minutes of non stop entertainment. Hannah Williams steals this short. She's a awesome singer of jazz with a vivacious personality that really makes you watch and listen to her. You can't take your eyes off of her the whole time she's performing. I can't believe she didn't become one of the more popular, remembered singers/performers. I've listen to most of the black and white singers of the 30's and I have to say the ones who are remembered Hannah is as good as and this short alone proves it. Hannah sings one of Judy Garland's famed songs "Get Happy" and I have to say Hannah makes that her song too. Other entertainers in the short are The Three X Sisters and they sing "Here Comes The Showboat" I think their a black female group but not sure but their really good, then Larry Larry, an acrobatic/tap dance team ends this great short with some excellent dancing. Not much of a story in this short, of course like many shorts, just a reason to see great entertainment from a bygone era.One of the reasons I love shorts is because to be honest I get to discover talents that I've never heard of and can't see or hear anywhere else. Many of the talents in these Vitaphone shorts were popular in their time but didn't have longevity fame, most didn't become legends, but thanks to these shorts their talent lives on.