I caught this musical comedy short on TCM.
A singing Irishman graduates from a cheesy Police School in Ireland and heads to New York City in order to join the NYPD, leaving his fiancée behind. He arrives on St. Patrick's Day, watches the parade, gets into some trouble, gets a couple of big surprises, and yet still finds a happy ending in an unexpected way. The plot is actually fairly thin for a two-reeler because the meat of the short is the singing and dancing numbers.
Morton Downey sings several songs, including two duets with Andrea Marsh and a fantasy production with leggy dancing girls on scooters. In between stock footage shots of the actual St. Patrick's Day parade we get some tap dancing policemen, dancing Irish ladies, and a rather amusing slapstick comedy routine from the little known Vaudeville group Smith, Rogers & Eddie. Most of the comedy in the non-musical sections is good natured fun poked at Irish Policeman stereotypes.
Personally, I'm not a fan of crooners, so I didn't care for the songs, but I thought the dancing and comedy segments were enjoyable. One's enjoyment of this short probably depends a lot on whether or not one likes old musicals in general and crooning in particular.
From the "I Didn't Know That" department... Morton Downey is the father of the late 80's trash TV talk show host Morton Downey Jr., and there's a good facial resemblance.
Overall... mildly entertaining yet forgettable...
A singing Irishman graduates from a cheesy Police School in Ireland and heads to New York City in order to join the NYPD, leaving his fiancée behind. He arrives on St. Patrick's Day, watches the parade, gets into some trouble, gets a couple of big surprises, and yet still finds a happy ending in an unexpected way. The plot is actually fairly thin for a two-reeler because the meat of the short is the singing and dancing numbers.
Morton Downey sings several songs, including two duets with Andrea Marsh and a fantasy production with leggy dancing girls on scooters. In between stock footage shots of the actual St. Patrick's Day parade we get some tap dancing policemen, dancing Irish ladies, and a rather amusing slapstick comedy routine from the little known Vaudeville group Smith, Rogers & Eddie. Most of the comedy in the non-musical sections is good natured fun poked at Irish Policeman stereotypes.
Personally, I'm not a fan of crooners, so I didn't care for the songs, but I thought the dancing and comedy segments were enjoyable. One's enjoyment of this short probably depends a lot on whether or not one likes old musicals in general and crooning in particular.
From the "I Didn't Know That" department... Morton Downey is the father of the late 80's trash TV talk show host Morton Downey Jr., and there's a good facial resemblance.
Overall... mildly entertaining yet forgettable...