A short that was in the time slot for something that I recorded off of TCM was King for a Day. Having watched it and having another brief post lined up for today, it's time for the post on the movie.
Roy Mack directed a ton of shorts for Warner Bros. from the start of the sound era up until about the beginning of World War II, with quite a few of them being musicals. It was also not uncommon for Hollywood studios to make shorts with all-black casts, which I think were mostly for the consumption of that sort of white audience who thought they were progressive and tolerant by going slumming and watching black entertainment like this.
The establishing story involves Bill "Bojangles" Robinson, probably more famous to most people as the subject of that 70s song, playing Bill Green, a dancer who wants to break into black vaudeville. But, the owner of the show won't give him a chance. So Bill gambles against the owner for a stake in the show. Bill wins, and is able to put the musical numbers of his choice on, more or less.
This gives Bill Robinson a chance to shine as we see his high-quality dancing. Unfortunately, there's also a song given to a female singer which is totally wrong for her voice. It's one of those songs that sounds like it wouldn't have been out of place from a musical before 42nd Street, making the singer perform in a high, reedy style that just doesn't fit.
Ninety years on, I suppose it's nice that we have documentation of these performers (all the old vaudeville types), although it would be nice if we could have stuff that better shows off their talent.
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