http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ecBAeN9yzOc
(I wish I knew how to just embed the video instead of post a link... for a variety of reasons.)
It's hard for us to imagine what the original Babes in Arms (1937) –– Rodgers' and Hart's Broadway show –– might have looked like. As you know, the Nicholas Brothers were in that show. We'll see them again when we watch Stormy Weather. In the meantime, though, this clip does double duty... giving you a preview of the Good Neighbor musical genre, while also showing you what amazing talent MGM opted not to bring to the screen when it... "reinterpreted" Babes in Arms.
This clip is from Down Argentine Way (1940, Fox), which was released only one year after Babes that we saw tonight. Weirdly, Good Neighbor musicals tended to bring both black entertainers and blackface entertainers to the screen. So, in that since (and, in fact, in most senses) they were a mixed bag.
Incidentally, the Nicholas Brothers appeared in Kid Millions (1934, Samuel Goldwyn Co.), an Eddie Cantor Film of 1934. If someone wants to watch that film and do a blog post... I would love that! I haven't seen the film and I'm very curious.
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