The movies could never quite figure out what to do with Ethel Merman, her appeal on stage was never translated to the big screen. This short which I'm guessing was made at the Paramount Astoria Studios while Merman was appearing in Girl Crazy on Broadway.
In it Merman plays a woman in deep depression wandering in some heady atmospheric night woods where she meets the Blues personified. Played by Broadway musical performer Hal Forde he and Merman sing a duet for her soul. Just when Merman is about to drown herself, her lover in the person of Hal Young appears and the girl is saved.
Though this is a good indication of the styling of the young Ethel Merman, I do so wish she had done something like I've Got Rhythm, so we could enjoy it as she sang it when she became a star in Depression era America.
In it Merman plays a woman in deep depression wandering in some heady atmospheric night woods where she meets the Blues personified. Played by Broadway musical performer Hal Forde he and Merman sing a duet for her soul. Just when Merman is about to drown herself, her lover in the person of Hal Young appears and the girl is saved.
Though this is a good indication of the styling of the young Ethel Merman, I do so wish she had done something like I've Got Rhythm, so we could enjoy it as she sang it when she became a star in Depression era America.