Now that’s All American.

That’s Cab Calloway, so I guess this is a B movie vehicle for him. The music’s great, but the acting… oy vey…

So I hope the rest of the movies is just musical numbers and no plot.

Heh heh:

The plot races by in the first 40 minutes, and after that we get a series of musical numbers. That’s pretty much the formula for all early musicals with the only variation being whether the musical extravaganza comes before, after or in the middle of the story. In this case it was at the end, and I actually enjoyed that format. It was as if the filmmakers were telling us, “OK now that the silly plot is out of the way, here’s what you really came here for.”

I like how these sets have no ceilings.

I’ve seen one of Josh Binney’s movies before, and that was also pretty … marginal? This one is better, but the actors are really astoundingly bad here, too.

I’m digging this.

I like the tunes, but this is barely a movie at all.

Hi-De-Ho. Josh Binney. 1947. ⚂

WTF.

For some reason I thought this movie was by Cronenberg. But it’s Jarmusch! That’s a weird disconnect to have.

In any case, I don’t know why this bluray has languished on the shelves for years now…

I’m really enjoying this movie… but it sure stakes a lot on the viewer finding Adam Driver’s face fascinating.

And Driver’s a good actor! But… Fascinating? I’m not sure…

OK, I’m rolling back that comment up there slightly — I loved every minute of this movie. As is often the case with Jarmusch movies, I just couldn’t stop smiling while watching this. Jarmusch taps into a continuity of… amiable bemusement like no other director.

All the characters here were lovable (except that evil dog), and it’s all… perfect.

Paterson. Jim Jarmusch. 2016. ⚅

Lena Horne!

Uh-oh.

Is this just going to be a bunch of musical numbers associated with Jerome Kern?

I like that they show the songs in full. Kern did write some good tunes.

The biographical story in between the numbers isn’t that bad? It’s not outstanding (in a field) or anything, but it’s fine.

So I’m wondering why MGM let this fall into the public domain:

The film is one of several MGM musicals – another being Royal Wedding – that entered the public domain 28 years after production because the studio did not renew the copyright registration. As such, it is one of the most widely circulated MGM musicals on home video. Warner Home Video gave it its first fully restored DVD release on April 25, 2006.

Which doesn’t explain anything. But perhaps MGM felt there was no money in this movie? And I can see that.

It’s got all the stars.

Frank! He does Ol’ Man River! Is that even allowed!

I didn’t know his register went that far down. And he’s singing without his normal phrasing and er vibrato — it’s kinda fascinating.

I guess two thirds of this is just people performing the songs? So I can see why some would find this a pretty tedious movie, especially since it’s more than two hours long. But I found it pretty enjoyable… but I may have found it tiresome in a movie theatre.

Till the Clouds Roll By. Vincente Minnelli, George Sidney, Richard Whorf. 1946. ⚃