Frances Carroll & the Coquettes (1940)
*** (out of 4)
Lively short from Warner proves that women can jam just as good as the men. I've seen at least three dozen of these Warner/Vitaphone shorts and it was somewhat shocking that this was the first to feature a woman leading the band. I'm not sure how many female artists were around during this era and I'm not sure how many Warner filmed but this here is a pretty fast and good entry in the series. Carroll starts off by showing her vocal range with 'When I Swing My Stick', which isn't the greatest written number out there but I thought the lyrics were catchy enough. 'Coquette' follows right before one of the highlights of the film in 'Snake Charmer'. This number not only features Carroll and her band but it puts the spotlight on drummer Viola Smith who does an impressive little solo. We get two more numbers with the show closing with 'Jitterbug Jump', which is done with a high octane power that really impresses. Looking at IMDb it appears this was the only bit of footage shot with Carroll, which is a shame because while it's not the greatest out there it's at least entertaining and worthy of your time.