MARVELOUS - Ken Murray 1929

From my favorite talkie, 20's personality Ken Murray performs a hot 20s number in his earliest surviving appearance! Gus Arnheim's orchestra gives the music as he puts over a song as he did in Vaudeville, having already amused audiences for three years as a popular comedian and master of ceremonies on the RKO Vaudeville circuit . Gus Arnheims Orchestra floats is "up in the clouds" in a clever stage set that echoed the latest air travel craze to catch the publics fancy: the arrival in New York of the enormous German dirigible, the Graf Zeppelin, the latest triumph in progress and modern engineering. Like a giant silvery cigar, It floated over America all through August with daily radio reports of its lumbering progress, thrilling America with its sightings, holding a promise of great luxury air travel just ahead in the rosey future that prosperous 1929 would surely bring! Newspapers heralded its coming as the "Dawn of a New Era".Hollywood saw big box office potential in the floating marvel and every studio rushed to produce an all talking dirigible picture! Howard Huges had "Hells Angels", Paramount had "Lottery Bride", Fox had "Just Imagine", Columbia had "Dirigible", Tiffany-Stahl had "Lost Zeppilin", MGM had "Madam Satan", RKO had "Half Marriage", etc. Wonderfully, all these films survive to this day. Gus Arnheims trio included Russ Columbo at this time. He can be spotted on the right! Such a treat for Columbo fans!Ken Murrays acting career was hit and miss over the years. Perhaps he ran off more home movie film of his fellow stars than Hollywood took of him! His candid camera hobby would serve him well years later, becoming fascinating TV shows of Tinsel towns famous celebs, now considered classic Hollywood treasures. In the '40s, Ken would entertain the movie capitol with his famous revue type shows known as "Ken Murrays Blackouts". In the 50s he MCed his own TV show. In this clip we can see him embody the exuberence and carefree nature of the 1920s.Enjoy the engaging personality of Ken Murray!

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