Reviews

I saw them on Ed Sullivan in February 1964 and liked them, but I never heard their records. The radio belonged to my mom, and she listened to country music. We had a stereo, but all the records were the ones they bought (which did include some Bill Haley singles). So this cartoon series was the first chance to hear all these great Beatles songs, and I loved them. As for the animation - well I was used to limited 60's TV animation and couldn't have said whether the Beatles cartoons were worse than that. I did prefer the animation whenever a classic Warner Brothers or MGM cartoon from the 40's was shown. I have a DVD, made in New Guinea of all places, which has 39 episodes. It was amusing to see which ones I remembered. So, I'll give it a 6/10 - cartoon stories themselves not so good, but great songs.

Poor story, really bad script, really bad acting. If a random group of young people with no particular talent are asked to make an erotic, "female serial killer" movie, this is about what they could come up with. The attractive nudes, including one of Misty Mundae's earliest roles, brings it up a notch to a 3. But then the gratuitous extra bad acting by Ed Wood veteran Conrad Brooks takes it back down to a 2. If it included actual porno footage (of the real cast) I might have rated it a 4.

The DVD gets extra credit for misstating the plot on the DVD cover (guess the writer didn't have the patience to watch the whole thing), saying that Nora (a grimacing Roxanne Michaels) tempts the young female students into ... whatever... Nope, psycho Nora's only interested in the men.

My "favorite" part, about 30 seconds after brother Nikko has already been "taking care of the other one", Nora shouts out "Take care of the other one"! I also mildly enjoyed listening to the college student, who signed up for a poetry class, reading aloud at a 2nd grade level.

The DVD cover prominently features Misty Mundae. She's cute, looks about 15, but is only in for a few minutes after the halfway point.

This, along with 4 other Metro Movietone Revues, is available on THE Broadway MELODY DVD. My comments are only about this first one. It's a 14 minute presentation of four musical acts, without a live audience. The MC is the very effeminate Harry Rose. The program starts with the diminutive, androgynous singer Grace Rogers singing a song I couldn't recognize. Mr. Rose introduces each act saying they will sing a made up "humorous" song title.

Then the team of Gus Van and Joe Schenck sing "Stay Out of the South (If You Want to Miss a Heaven on Earth)"; one of many examples of the sub-genre of "idyllic South" songs, usually sung in a fake Negro accent. Sample line "If you don't like darkies hummin' - if you don't like banjos strummin' - stay out of the south". No wonder "Strange Fruit" was such a shock.

The MC then does a humorous number about "Frankfurter Sandwiches". Last is the Capitolines, a small orchestra, doing what seems like a medley of themes - that was the number I liked best.

I have 37 CDs of music from the 1920's. Louis Armstrong, Carter Family, Duke Ellington, Jimmie Rodgers, Bessie Smith - their music is remembered - for a reason. The average popular tunes you might have heard on a stage in that time have been mostly forgotten - also for a reason. I'd rate this entertainment a 4. I will say it sounds a little more appealing if you watch it right after THE Broadway MELODY, immersing yourself somewhat in that musical era's frame of mind.