User Comments:
Eye-popping musical fun, 29 May 2002
Author:
F Gwynplaine MacIntyre (Borroloola@aol.com) from Minffordd, North Wales
"Service with a Smile" (1934) is a deluxe Vitaphone mini-musical filmed
in the early 3-strip Technicolor process, and the brilliant colours in
this short film are incredible! (Although some of the male performers
look ridiculous in bright green shirts that are nearly phosphorescent.)
The tunes are catchy, the lyrics are well above average, and the chorus
girls are gorgeous. If you've ever wanted to see a line of chorus girls
tap-dancing in riding boots and jodhpurs, this movie's your big chance.
Australian-born musical-comedy star Leon Errol (a headliner in the
Ziegfeld Follies) plays Walter Webb, the owner of a small service
garage with only one petrol pump. At 4 a.m., he's home in bed when one
of his employees rings him up, telling him the service garage was
destroyed in a fire. Fortunately, Webb has insurance. Now he hatches a
plan: Webb will tell the insurance adjuster that his cheapjack little
filling station was actually a super-colossal extravaganza business
with hundreds of employees. The insurance company will have to replace
the big fancy business which Webb CLAIMS he lost, not the small-time
concern that he actually insured. In the insurance agent's office, Webb
starts to describe his jumbo-sized filling station.
Now, thanks to some movie-musical magic, we SEE the gas station as Webb
is describing it. He's got dozens of beautiful girls (in skimpy boiler
suits) working as garage mechanics, gas jockeys, and waitresses. They
sell gasoline for nine cents a half-gallon, and they transform a
customer's beat-up jalopy into a gorgeous motorcar for $1.65, with a
free lunch thrown in. There's even a 19-hole golf course behind the
lube rack. Meanwhile, the girls have plenty of time for singing and
dancing. If a guy wants a date, Webb's chauffeur will drive out to meet
him with a lorry-load of girls dressed like the Stepford Wives, and you
can have your pick. Yes, this is a FULL-service garage.
There are some very funny gags. One motorist is parking with his
girlfriend, until a motorcycle cop comes along and persuades the girl
to join him on his motorcycle. No problem; the motorist opens the boot
of his car and takes out another girl! "I always carry a spare," he
says.
SPOILER COMING. After Webb describes the super-colossal gas station he
SAYS he owned, the insurance adjuster insists on inspecting the
wreckage of the fire. Webb happily drives him out there ... and
discovers that his service station (in its original grotty state) is
intact. The phone call was an April Fool joke ... and now Webb is
guilty of filing a false insurance claim. Oo-er!
"Service with a Smile" is a delight from start to finish. I have only
one complaint. Leon Errol was famous for doing a hilarious
rubber-legged eccentric comedy dance: he did it in the Ziegfeld Follies
and in several of his "Mexican Spitfire" films with Lupe Velez.
Unfortunately, Leon Errol DOESN'T sing or dance in "Service with a
Smile" ... which is a shame, because his comedy dancing would fit right
into the gorgeous musical numbers you'll see here. Still, I'll rate
"Service with a Smile" 10 points out of 10. They don't make 'em like
this any more. Do whatever it takes to see this knockout mini-musical.
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