Harry Buss sings the title song while a chorus of beauties prance around him in this late Vivaphone production.
Vivaphone was Hepworth's entry in the attempt to make sound films. It competed at the time, with the Edison Kinetophone and Gaumont's Chronophone --they liked their fancy names back then. All were sound-on-disk. Hepworth patented his system in 1905 or 1906. Because of the production methods of the Vivaphone shorts, director Hay Plumb was able to achieve scene changes and even movement within the frame, something that the competitors' immobile sound equipment made impossible. This was managed by using pre-recorded disks and having Mr. Buss mime to it.
"The Rollicking Rajah" is sung rapidly as a patter song. Mr. Buss wears blackface. If you have an insurmountable problem with either, beware!