Tal Henry and His North Carolinians (1929)
** 1/2 (out of 4)
Another early sound short from Vitaphone and Warner is the only film appearance by its star Tal Henry. Henry and his band perform three songs -- Come On, Baby!, Shame On You and Milenberg Joys -- and come off pretty well. If you've seen enough of these Vitaphone shorts then you know that many of the earlier ones featured musicians that even many music buffs don't remember. I'm not music buff so I'm not certain how well-known or respected Tal Henry is but the music here is at least catchy. I thought the band was extremely good, lively and they at least appeared to be giving it their all. Henry, on the other hand, seemed a tad bit lost at times and you can clearly see this whenever it's time to address the camera. Just check out the first time he turns from his band to speak to the camera and it really doesn't seem as if he's nervous or just extremely shy at having to talk. Either way, the music is enjoyable enough so fans can at least kill 9-minutes.