Vincent Lopez and His Orchestra (1939)

Weirdly wacky--Just happened to see this ancient short, as we used to call them, on Turner Classic Movies. I missed the beginning but did manage to catch Betty's rendition of "Old Man Mose", backed by Vincent Lopez and His Orchestra, which has lyrics by LOUIS ARMSTRONG--Talk about cross cultural adventures! Although it is 1939, the jitterbuggy culture that drove GIs and their Janes up the walls a few years later, is already very much in evidence in this zoot-suit-y extravaganza! All she needed was Cab Calloway to back her up--That would have been sublime, a la Minnie the Moocher!

Betty's gown, if you can call it that, looks like a bobby soxer's dirndl gone mad! It is floor length with deep pleats and and odd peasant neckline and she does some Judy Canova/Kay Thompson/Charlotte Greenwood high side kicks in the manner of the 1930's "eccentric" dance style. Her voice is as it remained--wild and woolly! She is more an experience than a talent--but she sure "had it!"

See this antique if TCM ever shows it again! I still wish Judy Garland had completed Annie Get Your Gun instead of Betty but Betty's OOMPH is undeniable!