User Reviews

Vaudeville Reel #3 (1934)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

Vitaphone/Warner short once again tries to put on a vaudeville act to remind people of the old days. As with the first two entries in the series, the quality is mixed overall but the short remains worth watching. The first act is Ray and Sunshine, a acrobatic dance act who are quite impressive to watch because of all the hard work they're doing but I can't say I was entertained. Chaz Chase is up next and easily steals the film playing a hobo. The "act" involves him lighting up a cigarette on both ends, smoking it through the middle and then eating it. He then goes on to eat the matches and countless other items. This act wasn't really what I'd call funny but it was strange enough to be very entertaining. The Holman Sisters are the third act and their trick is that they play two pianos with their backs towards one another and during the song they'll turn around to switch pianos without missing a beat. The final act is Al Trahan who is on the piano making jokes at a woman trying to sing. Again, all the acts are quite mixed but this is something you'd expect going to see a vaudeville show. For the most part I think it's entertaining enough to waste 9-minutes on and if you're not familiar with these old shows then this would be a fine place to start.

This is the third of four Vaudeville shorts from Vitaphone and in my opinion it's the best--mostly because Chaz Chase's routine was very enjoyable...though not unique!

Like the other three shorts, this one consists of four acts introduced by a lady carrying cards telling you who each act is. The first is an enjoyable duo of acrobats. These ladies are VERY high energy and very limber--and it was a very good act. Next, is Chase...a comic whose shtick is eating almost anything. Vitaphone did another short before this one with a guy who art practically everything (including a violin) but the TCM hosts insist the other guy actually packed the stuff in his cheeks. Chase, on the other hand, does seem to eat everything but some of the props are probably edible (such as the fake dickey and ukulele) but he is very entertaining and outshines the other acts. This is followed by two amazing lady pianists who played together and often switched pianos without missing a beat and finally a VERY annoying musical comedy act. The less said about this, the better.

The bottom line is that three of these acts were terrific...better than the stuff in the other Vaudeville shots. Well worth seeing for the WOW factor!