Watch Freddie Rich and His Orchestra For Free

Highly Overrated But Still Good

Fresh and Exciting

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

One of the most extraordinary films you will see this year. Take that as you want.

This is a great swing jazz short featuring the Freddie Rich Orchestra. The main highlight is the lovely Nan Wynn and the Three Symphonettes singing "The Bonnie Banks O' Loch Lomond" (WOW!! Nan Wynne makes me wonder how anybody could love today's singers — her voice is so pure, so sweet) Watching the expressions on her face while she's singing is mesmerizing. The short is capped off by amazing guitar fretwork by Joe Sodja on "Chinatown, My Chinatown." His playing is similar to Les Paul, and he's absolutely smokin'! The guitarwork is extremely fast and equally impressive. There are also nice cutaway shots of Freddie Rich's band members. This short is one I truly wish I had recorded in some format — I'd love to see it again.

I enjoyed all the musical numbers in this short subject (that was included on "The Adventures Of Robin Hood" DVD -- an Errol Flynn swashbuckler). The first number with the Three Symphonettes (female trio) was fun. I particularly liked the girl in the middle: she had the cutest facial expressions while she was singing. Then there was a band performance. Then Nan Wynn, the featured vocalist, came out to perform. Before this viewing, I had never heard or heard of Nan Wynn. She was adorable. She had a lovely voice, her vocal stylings were attractive, and (like that one Symphonette in the middle) she flirted coyly with the camera. (Oh, to return to the good old days of flirting, before we started baring it all.) Miss Wynn was about 23 when this short film was made in 1938. Unfortunately, although she was in a few movies, she never reached the heights of fame I think she deserved. She is perhaps best known today as the singing voice of Rita Hayworth in "You Were Never Lovelier" (1942). But you can see her in "Pardon My Sarong" (1942) as Luana, which is available on VHS video tape. Sadly, Miss Wynn died at the age of 55 from cancer.

This is a good musical short that I caught just in time and recorded from Turner Classic Movies. This great Big Band short is rarely seen, but when seen you'll watch it over and over. 10 mins long but its very full. Great Band, Great Female Singers. Nan Wynn is what you call a Big Band Singer, she got that sweet, clear voice, and The Three Symphonettes are one of the many great girl singers of the time. This is music wihtout the nudity and cursing, that tells what love is really all about. If you can catch this short, your lucky.

An unusually good Big Band short that gets a couple of extra points for Joe Sodja's fantastic guitar -- a solid 10 in my book.Nan Wynn is adequate as a Big Band girl vocalist, and the Three Symphonettes are what we used to call sol-LID! -- entertaining and with the precision of a block of polished steel. {There was a good deal of that around in those prehistoric days of my high school time.)A very entertaining entry in the galaxy of '30s and '40s musical shorts.