Very Wild party from 1931

[johnohconnor]

What a party they had. Bebe Daniels and Crosby were awesome along with the rest of the partygoers. Thanks

[guarddog22]

These lyrics were probably considered VERY vulgar in 1931. The "lowdown" could just mean dancing but it's suggestive of sex.

[busessuck1]

great song

[guarddog22]

That's a REALLY naughty party.

[sealman546]

It's always great to see these early Crosby clips. The mannerisms and stylistic embellishments remained largely unchanged over the years. And, boy, that guy could sing!

[impCaesarAvg]

So that young guy that looks like Bing really is Bing? Won't I just be gosh-darned!

[Mom1910]

Bing is the brightest star from the very beginning .....thank you Harry Lillis.

[SatchmoSings]

The band's arrangement is done for a baritone and, of course, for one octave higher which would be Daniels' alto.

June McCoy, however, sings as a tenor which is a half-octave in between; see if you can catch where the arrangement changes key to accommodate her!

[SatchmoSings]

This clip is so wonderfully done; the continuity is absolutely superb; the whole thing just flows and the singing isn't prerecorded; it's all "sound-on-set" as was so often done in early musicals.

No film crew in the US today could do this; it's a lost art.

[SatchmoSings]

Bing Crosby is actually SO YOUNG here he's still sporting his OWN HAIR!!!

[MerleOberon]

The cocktail glasses, when this was illegal in the USA

[hebneh]

Lowdown black people (on Harlem's Lenox Avenue) vs. high-up white people (on Fifth Avenue) in performing that mean lowdown - that's what this song's about!

"Lenox Avenue would know

Of doin' the Lowdown

But you'll find they're not alone

In doin' the Lowdown

Fifth Avenue's learnin' how

They had to fall

Fifth Avenue does it now

And that's not all..."

And then the "swells slow down, and become lowdown", as we see here - pretty much out of control, it seems to me.

[Creissels]

Thanks this is fabulous. Such decor!

[geogodley]

WOMEN wear short sleeves, MEN suffer coats & necknooseties F U

[4MaryAnna]

I'm trying to figure out what that blonde(starts at 2:21) was attempting to do on the stage before this grandmotherly woman stopped her...anybody know?

[SatchmoSings]

@4MaryAnna She's "shakin' it." and that's probably her mom, not her grandmother.

Do you know about "shakin' it?"

[Mannock]

@4MaryAnna I'm trying to figure WHO the blonde is. As Voltaire said in a casual conversation with Madame du Barry, "HUBBA HUBBA!".

[hebneh]

I saw this clip once in the 1970s on TV in a special about the history of the movies. As I recall, supposedly this program was only going to be broadcast once. I don't think I've seen this scene since.

Yes, this is definitely a dangerously wild party. Note the girl dancing by herself in an abandoned manner, whose mother (I assume) yanks her off her platform and shrieks "How DARE you?"

"You may believe it or not

When they start getting hot

Oh, there's no Hottentot

That's hotter than that - "

[HarryLillis]

I'll should stop watching this clip because I HAVE to repeat Bing's vocal 6 or 7 times.....I just can't get over his phrasing!!!...28 years old and rhythmically totally in control.

[4MaryAnna]

@HarryLillis That's my exact reason for watching it also. When he's standing there looking at Bebe Daniels and belting out "Low Down"....it's just so wonderful,it's perfect.

[Mannock]

@HarryLillis It IS astonishing! The sheer effortlessness is truly remarkable. Sadly, it is interrupted by Bebe Daniels who wails tunelessly afterward. That Bing. They didn't call him Mr. Cool for nothing.

[kaizerzydeco]

It's Bebe Daniels all right!

[gregoryagogo]

That voice coming out of that elegant blonde woman doesn't match her at all! The voice reminds me of the black lady singing in "Flying Down to Rio--The Carioca" , I think Etta Moten.

[God088]

Those were the days !!!

[8891randy]

I wrote this out for the Johnny Crawford Orchestra years ago.

[ziggycat999]

No bar I've been to on a Sat night. Great production values.

[CountDisco1]

It is truly sad that the other numbers were cut from this film before release including Bebe Daniel's rendition of "Reaching For The Moon"

[alsouthstuff]

I would die to have a piano roll or 78 of this!! Was this song ever released on piano roll or 78? Does anybody out there know? Thanks!

[54spiritedwill54]

Love this stuff!!

[swallin19]

June MacCloy is at about 2.40 the lady with the deep contralto voice

[CherchezMoi]

Which one is June MacCloy?

[swallin19]

At about 2.50, the lady with the strong contralto voice, also sang in the Marx Bros Go West, and appeared in Good Morning Eve with Leon Errol.

[CherchezMoi]

I know June MacCloy's son. He's my Uncle's best friend. Seeing this is very interesting!!

[core281]

I now understand that it IS Bebe, an amazing video. I love the way she "asks" for a dance

and I prefer her singing to Bing's.

Congratulations on a fine selection of videos.

[core281]

Who is the forceful woman at the beginning of the video, who sings in the bar with Crosby ?

........ She does not resemble either Daniels or McCloy !

Great slinky dresses and a great party.

[perfectjazz78]

Bebe Daniels

[core281]

Thanks for reply, but it does not seem possible.

All of the videos of Bebe Daniels both prior and after the year of this film, show a much younger and slimmer woman. The woman in this

video looks great, but quite heavy build and mature.

[perfectjazz78]

I have the whole movie, that I posted this clip from. The producers had her made up strangely in this film. But, her voice is clearly recognizable. This IS Bebe Daniels AS SHE APPEARS just like this throughout the whole movie in her lead role as the Aviatrix.

[cinnamonbrandylite]

@core281 you know what makes a woman look temporarily more heavily built and mature...?

[LKayL]

Has this track been released on CD or record anywhere?

[FredrikTers]

Yes, an edited version of this film soundtrack is included on the double CD "Bing Crosby - Going Hollywood, Vol 1: 1930-1936" (Jasmine JASCD 108/9).

Apparently Bing never made a studio recording of it. Don't know if anyone else did.

[SouthTexasHam]

This movie was re-titled in the 1940's and new title cards had Bing as the star!!!

[78timothy]

Crosby's cameo in a forgettable picture called "Reaching for the Moon" made in 1931, that starred Doug Fairbanks Sr. and Bebe Daniels. Not well promoted, and one of Fairbanks last movies (Thank God)

[perfectjazz78]

Could have been a good movie... but they cut out all the music after the previews.

[cushtichavi]

well the picture maybe foregettable but come on fairbanks was a great star great charisma, bebe had a strange life in the uk don't u think? her old man was a great womaniser

[bchfront]

78rpmx2: Yeah, you're right. I just watched this clip on sombody else's-post and I was sure that I spotted young O'Keefe among the dancers. He really went back. The guy really "paid his dues" before hitting it big. He can be spotted doing bits throughout the '30's in such films as "I'm No Angel", "Duck Soup"," "Mr. Deeds", "Born to Dance", "Libeled Lady","Saratoga", and probably a ton of others. R.J.

[cushtichavi]

please explain O'keefe so I can look out for him

[78rpm78rpm]

I think Bing made another cameo for Paramount

around this time called, "Confessions of a Co-Ed" No big entrance in that flick, tho. He pops up in a picture on a dresser in a dorm, which magically comes to life and croons a co-ed to sleep.

[creamofcardstv]

I love the early movies. I've given you five stars, please check out my silent movie memorabilia vids (includes Bebe Daniels)

when you have time.

[busternuckles]

All Berlin's songs but this were cut out--Berlin left Hollywood in disgust till Top Hat

[23brookside]

I believe this is Irving Berlin's first song for the movies. It is Bing's first appearance singing solo without the Rhythm Boys. He was supposed to do so in King of Jazz. Unfortunately, Bing drove badly while drunk, and had to spend some time in a jail cell. This movie has been put out on dvd

[Somerset45]

Der Bingle got out of jail in time to have a small part in King of Jazz, but as you say, with the Rhythm Boys.

[78rpm78rpm]

Berlin may have scored the Marx Brothers "Cocoanuts" a year before. The song was a flop, not recorded by Bing or anyone else that I know of. Bing was so short, that when he comes thru the swinging doors, he had to walk up a special ramp so the top of the bar wouldn't cut him in half. Also, gliding on the dance floor background somewhere is a young Dennis O'Keefe. When I spot him, I'll let you know.

[23brookside]

Oh, you are right about Cocoanuts. Four or five songs written by Berlin for that film.

This film called Reaching for the Moon, available on dvd. But I don't know, maybe this is the only good scene.

Has anyone seen The Big Broadcast, with Bing (1932). I hear that's pretty wild.

[nedsparks]

This is far from Berlin's first for movies. Before this film was released, Berlin had already many created songs for movies, including "Marie," "Where Is the Song of Songs For Me," "Coquette," "Across the Breakfast Table Looking At You," "Let Me Sing and I'm Happy," all the songs in The Cocoanuts, "Waiting At the End of The Road," "Swanee Shuffle," "Puttin' on the Ritz," "With You," and "There's Danger in Your Eyes, Cherie." And the singer's name is spelled MacCloy.

[wbuno]

I want more of this one!

[butchfoot16]

great!!! thanks

[jozefsterkens]

brilliant collection, we are so poor in Europe concerning those early days of musical soundfilm and the movies that exist are resting in the vaults of rarely visited film museums

[Somerset45]

It is sad to think of what is rotting away in Europe's film museums. But the discoveries, a labor of love of a few dedicated people, can be quite amazing. The Cook, a "lost"1918 film with Buster Keaton and Roscoe Arbuckle was recently discovered in pieces at the Norsk Filminstitutt and the Nederlands Filmuseum. The movie was reconstructed along with Arbuckle's "A Reckless Romeo" and are far better than the crap pushed on us by Hollywood today.

[Kiddman32]

Love this stuff!!

[perfectjazz78]

Actually, "King Of Jazz" was his first film appearance, where he played himself in the "Rhythm Boys" trio.

[oddycee]

Bebe Daniels!!

Nothing Better!!!

[kspm01]

Your collection is incredibly impressive!

[Sicamous]

Crosby first movie appreance

[mic33george]

You keep adding the best clips ever!!!