Movie-Mania (1937)

Excellent, Without a doubt!!

Great movie! If you want to be entertained and have a few good laughs, see this movie. The music is also very good,

I really wanted to like this movie. I feel terribly cynical trashing it, and that's why I'm giving it a middling 5. Actually, I'm giving it a 5 because there were some superb performances.

Good films always raise compelling questions, whether the format is fiction or documentary fact.

. . . is oblivion (and we're talking Never-Was-Dom, NOT Has-Been-Dom, a la SUNSET BOULEVARD). Though one of the actresses here also had a bit part in the 1930s flick, THE TERROR OF TINY TOWN, most everybody involved with MOVIE-MANIA from 1937 has suffered from oblivion (I had a dickens of a time even FINDING this 22-minute short on this site; see where--if at all--the search term "Movie-Mania" turns up in the 200 results for that "title search.") The main character here, Dave Apollon, seems to be a pretty hot shot mandolin player. But in trying to understand how Dave could have faded into oblivion, just ask yourself: How many of Hollywood's top 1000 on-screen stars of all time made their name by playing the mandolin? (I'm NOT a musicologist OR a film historian; so please, if you know the answer, put it on a message board on this page). Also, during the "story" part of this short, I don't quite understand WHY Dave thinks he needs a total of 4,000 elephants for the flick he's supposedly directing, let alone 9,000 camels. I understand camels are messier than mules, and I've seen for myself the stench generated every few hundred yards by just a dozen mules on the Bright Angel and South Kaibab Trails in Grand Canyon National Park. Heaven help the guy who puts 9,000 camels on the same lot!

I saw this odd little two-reel Vitaphone short from the late 30s on Turner Classic Movies last night and thought it was quite interesting. It's basically a bunch of musical numbers connected by Dave Apollon and his orchestra.The opening gypsy sequence had Mr. Apollon doing a virtuoso performance on the mandolin, along with some serious tap dancing by others. It was followed by a so-so Mexican number. There was another sequence with a tap-dancing midget woman who was very good, if somewhat unusual, followed by a final dance sequence with a woman who looked ravishing in a shiny dress. The musical numbers were quite elaborate for a Vitaphone short. Movie Mania isn't exactly Singing in the Rain in terms of quality and budget, but a nice little film that classic-movie buffs would probably enjoy watching.

Competent musicians, slightly below average vaudeville comedy, dancing is barely mediocre except for the male tap dancer who is fun to watch for the first minute, but then you can't wait for him to be done.It's good to hear a steel guitar used as prominently as it is in this short.Appolon's mandolin playing is pretty good and worth watching.The characters around Appolon could just as well have been cardboard cutouts, especially the band which has no life whatsoever.Appolon's native Russian accent is so cheesy, you almost think he's doing some kind of schtick rather than actually having an accent.Bottom line: If it's on and nothing else is, give it 20 minutes of your time.

It is not so odd that I have seen this short, as I'm always curious about the old one or two-reelers, and used to catch some back in the late 1940's and early 1950's in my neighborhood movie houses. Hence I immediately bought the laser-disc box sets when they were issued (I think they go for $500 now or some such ridiculous price). Movie Mania is on Vitaphone Shorts: A 70th Anniversay Celebration, a/k/a Cavalcade of Vitaphone Shorts Volume 2 (MGM/UA ML 105220).Anyway, to get to the point: it is always strange to see an old-timer one has never heard of, when it is evident from the setting that he had a following back in the day. One assumes that if you've heard of Eddie Cantor, Pete Smith, and a few dozen others, you know the lay of the land. But people like Dave Appolon keep popping up. (One of my laser shorts collections has an extended one-man slapstick vaudeville act done by a man so obnoxious, not to mention unfunny, that it's hard to believe he would be invited for dinner, let alone cut a swath in show biz.) Can't say I like Mr. Appolon. He is clearly master of his instrument, the mandolin, which puts me in mind of one of my friend's favorite put-downs: "it's like being the world's best accordianist". Of course, I don't want to sound or even be a philistine; all music is good, right? Then there's Appolon's personality; he projects himself as an imperious Russian. Just how large was his following? Not worth researching, to me. Now compare a team unknown today: Olson and Johnson. Geniuses who anticipated all the fancy post-modern doo-dads that wow the college circuit -- just catch Hellzapoppin.