MARVELOUS - Ken Murray 1929 Gus Arnheim Orch.

From my favorite talkie, 20's personality Ken Murray performs a hot 20s number in his earliest surviving appearance! Gus Arnheim's orchestra gives the music as he puts over a song as he did in Vaudeville, having already amused audiences for three years as a popular comedian and master of ceremonies on the RKO Vaudeville circuit .

Gus Arnheims Orchestra is "up in the clouds" in a clever stage set that echoed the latest air travel craze to catch the publics fancy: the arrival in New York of the enormous German dirigible, the Graf Zeppelin, the latest triumph in progress and modern engineering. Like a giant silvery cigar, It floated over America all through August with daily radio reports of its lumbering progress, thrilling America with its sightings, holding a promise of great luxury air travel just ahead in the rosey future that prosperous 1929 would surely bring! Newspapers heralded its coming as the "Dawn of a New Era".

Hollywood saw big box office potential in the floating marvel and every studio rushed to produce an all talking dirigible picture! Howard Huges had "Hells Angels", Paramount had "Lottery Bride", Fox had "Just Imagine", Columbia had "Dirigible", Tiffany-Stahl had "Lost Zeppilin", MGM had "Madam Satan", RKO had "Half Marriage", etc. Wonderfully, all these films survive to this day.

Gus Arnheims trio included Russ Columbo at this time. He can be spotted on the right! Such a treat for Columbo fans!

Ken Murrays acting career was hit and miss over the years. Perhaps he ran off more home movie film of his fellow stars than Hollywood took of him! His candid camera hobby would serve him well years later, becoming fascinating TV shows of Tinsel towns famous celebs, now considered classic Hollywood treasures. In the '40s, Ken would entertain the movie capitol with his famous revue type shows known as "Ken Murrays Blackouts". In the 50s he MCed his own TV show. In this clip we can see him embody the exuberence and carefree spirit of the 1920s.
Enjoy the engaging personality of Ken Murray!

Category:

Music

Tags:

• Ken
• Murray
• Gus
• Arnheim
• Orchestra
• 1929
• jazz
• vaudeville
• zeppelin
• blimp
• dirigible
• ballroom
• Russ
• Columbo
• ADSC
• 1920s
• dance
• band

[stlgtrace]

Thank you for posting this! Ken Murray looks very young, probably in his early 20s. Ken had a great career, my stepfather as a boy went and say Ken Murray's Blackouts of 1943.

[2reeler]

@stlgtrace  I'm glad your stepfather got a chance to see him live! Thats awesome!

[JB1912JB]

Please keep these coming. This is so appreciated!!

[2reeler]

@JB1912JB Thanks for your nice comments! Glad you like the late 20s too. You may like most of my other videos too! Have a look around and enjoy the roaring twenties!! Biff

[gmaureen]

Great to see Ken Murray performing. Thanks for the upload.

[louisa1832]

Thank you so much! I wish I could do that hat trick.

[roybo1930]

BIFF! This is MARVELOUS!!!!