"Singin' In The Bathtub" (1929) Winnie Lightner

[EliasBlu]

She's so lovely <3 Love the singing and enthusiasm too :P

[tomitstube]

winnie lightner, i think i'm in love.  bathtubs in 1929 were still a big deal. running water, electricity, flying contraptions, and cars. it was all going so fast.

this a beautiful example of early movies drawing off vaudeville for their material.

[The1971orange]

Thanks for the background on Bull Montana. Having seen "The Quiet Man" numerous times I can well imagine the sort of knock-down fights McLaglen was capable of with Montana!

[jacksiman]

Just a joy. I pull this clip up regularly and it never fails to cheer me. Winnie is a terrific screen presence with a terrific vocal delivery (wish there was more film of her) and the "chorines" are an absolute hoot.

Thanks for this early talkie treasure.

Buzz

[The1971orange]

According to the book "A Song in the Dark" about the early days of talkies, the guy in the tux was a former pro wrestler named Bull Montana that Warners was trying to groom for films. Good luck with that.

[swallin19]

@The1971orange Bull Montana was a well known actor in the 1920's always playing heavies and gangsters, he fought Victor Mclagen in a couple of films, and they did not pull punches! He was quite a character, and the joke was his singing a parody of MGM's hit song, Jack Warner authorised it to get at Meyer, the whole staging was designed to spoof Singing in the Rain as well. L.B.Meyer would not talk to Warners for a long time after this film, but was glad it did not return Warner's a profit.

[swallin19]

Shows of Shows was odd technically, part in colour on 35mm Technicolor, parts in B&W, and part in 65mm Colour, printed for normal viewing on 35mm. Some major cinemas showed it in 65mm, an early attempt at large format, and get more light on the screen for colour. Cost Warners a lot of money, barely returned as interest was fading in musical extravaganzas like this monster production.

[bearcub410]

love the boys in drag . winnie lightner was a winner !!!!!! thank you

[flagday45]

Growing up, we had a great player piano and one of the rolls was "Singin' In the Bathtub"..........My brother, sisters and I would sing along and roar with laughter at the silliness of this song but to this day we all remember the words. "oh a ring around the bathtub isn't so nice to see but a ring around the bathtub is a rainbow to me." !!

[wfs1933]

Its from the 1929 film "The Show of Shows" was filmed in 2 color Technicolor system #2 is on DVD (most likely B&W)

[wb3ebb]

The last tune in thise, the one with Lightner and the guy in the tux singing 'You were made for me'....I can not find ANYTHING about it. Can anyone help? It's so out of place in this number.

Greg

[nostalgiajunkie70]

@wb3ebb, It's a song called "You were meant for me". They are spoofing the scenes from The Hollywood Revue of 1929. Although it was sung before that in The Broadway Melody. The studios were all trying to out do each other. I wonder if they attended the same synagogue..lol...

[ClarasBeau]

You know, I have seen an old still of this particular number depicting small children in the finale, and I'm wondering if that part of it was cut, since it is obvious that the "female" dancers are male...

[nostalgiajunkie70]

Oddly enough, she and Cliff Edwards died the same year, 1971, less than 5 months apart.

[nostalgiajunkie70]

And if you haven't already seen it, watch Ukelele Ike do Singin in the Rain (1929)

[cdadave83814]

Talk about elaborate staging...to do all that for one song is amazing!

[swallin19]

@cdadave83814

Larry Ceballos did the staging etc., for this number, complete with training "the chorines", and because of the male chorus line, it nearly resulted in getting the whole number dropped, but Jack Warner insisted it stayed, he just wanted to poke fun at MGM's Singing in the Rain number, adding the end number just to add to the fun.

[BillMurrayExperience]

Thanks a bunch for this video. We love it!!