Time For A Soundie

From 1944, here are the Jeannette Hackett Girls and The Swing Sirens starring a Soundie entitled "Southland Swing."

Produced and directed by William Forest Crouch.

Time For A Soundie!

From 1944, here are The LeDonne Trio performing "Hotsy Totsy."  This short film, meant to be viewed on visual jukeboxes called Panorams, was produced and directed by B. K. Blake.

Take Nurse Martha's Advice

"A Little Jive Is Good For You."  That, ladies and gentlemen, is also the title of this 1941 Soundie with Martha Tilton with The Slate Brothers, with Ben Pollack and his orchestra. 




This short film was produced for Soundies by Minoco Productions and was produced by Sam Coslow and directed by Josef Berne.

Charles In Charge

Here's another Soundie from 1946 with Charles Magnante and his Trio, this time performing "Waltz a la Accordian."  In this one, Charles and the boys are joined by dancer Suzanne Graves.



This brief film, made for Soundies by Filmcraft Productions, was  produced and directed by William Forest Crouch.  

Time For Squeezebox Fun!

Let's go back to 1946 for this performance of "Andalucia" featuring accordionist Charles Magnante and his Trio.

Okay, Charles, go for it! 
 


This Soundie, made by Filmcraft Productions (which later produced the television version of You Bet Your Life with Groucho Marx), was produced and directed by William Forest Crouch.

Time For a Soundie

From 1942, here's Yvonne DeCarlo (from more than two decades before her Lily Munster days) with Russell Mercer in a Soundie, performing "The Lamp Of Memory."

Time For Fats

Here is Fats Waller in a 1941 Soundie, performing his co-penned "Honeysuckle Rose." Solos performed by Al Casey (guitar)and Gene Sedric (saxophone). Fats' "Rose" in this case was Cotton Club dancer Vivian Brown (NOT the same-named meteorologist on The [sometimes] Weather Channel).

Let's "Take The 'A' Train"

Here are the Delta Rhythm Boys with a vocal quartet version of Duke Ellington's theme song in this 1942 Soundie.

Here Comes The Duke

Here is a 1942 Soundie with Duke Ellington and His Orchestra playing "Flamingo," featuring Herb Jeffries on the vocal, with dancing by Janet Collins (who looked smokin' hot) and Talley Beatty.






Mr. Jeffries, who is still with us today, will be 97 years old next Wednesday. He was also a singing cowboy, having sang and starred in a number of grade-B Westerns. He may well be the last of that breed, having outlasted the Gene Autrys, Roy Rogerses, Rex Allens, and Tex Ritters. In this short, he does a great job singing.

Time For Harry The Hipster

Here is Harry Gibson performing "4-F Ferdinand" in a 1944 Soundie.