A Private Engagement (1934) - Those singing guys are intense

You should watch this if you've got ten minutes to spare and want to see what passed for a "party" back in 1934. It's great if you like old-timey vocal groups who look like they're having a contest to see who can open their mouth the widest.

If you hate high-energy singing that feels a bit like being yelled at by a polite gang, you will probably loathe this. It’s a short film, so it doesn't overstay its welcome, but man, those guys are loud.

The whole thing is just The Yacht Club Boys performing for George Mellon and his daughter. There are four of them. One on piano, two on guitars, and one guy with a violin who looks very serious compared to the others.

George Mellon looks like the kind of rich guy who owns a factory that makes something boring like buttons. His daughter, played by Gloria Shea, mostly just sits there and smiles while these men sing inches from her face. It’s kind of awkward if you think about it too much.

I noticed one of the guitar players has this habit of leaning way too far forward when he hits a high note. It looks like he’s trying to escape the frame of the movie. The energy is just... a lot.

It reminded me a bit of the vibe in The Office Scandal, just that specific early 30s franticness where everyone is talking or singing at 1.5x speed. There isn't much of a story here, just the performance.

The Yacht Club Boys weren't really "boys" by the way. They were grown men in suits who probably went home and complained about their feet hurting after all that bouncing around.

The violin player is the most interesting one to watch because he’s actually doing work while the others are just being personalities.

• The piano guy is aggressive with the keys.
• The guitarists are basically human metronomes.
• The singing is very harmonized, but in that nasal way that was popular before microphones got really good.

I wonder if people actually hired groups like this for private parties or if it was just a movie thing. It feels like it would be exhausting to have them in your living room. You couldn't even eat your snacks with all that noise going on.

There is a moment where the camera lingers on Frank Kingdon (the dad) and he looks genuinely confused for a split second. Then he goes back to his "proud father" face. It's a small detail, but it made me laugh.

Compared to something like Political Pull, this is much lighter on plot. It's basically a filmed vaudeville act. If you’re into that specific niche of film history, it’s a goldmine.

The set looks like it’s made of painted cardboard, which is charming in its own way. You can see the shadows of the microphones if you look at the top corner during the wide shots. Oops.

I don't think I'd watch it twice. But for a single viewing, it’s a weird little window into what people thought was top-tier entertainment during the Depression. It’s better than sitting in silence, I guess.

The daughter's dress is actually pretty nice though. Very 1930s chic. She’s the most normal-looking person in the whole room.

Anyway, it ends exactly when you think it will. No big twists. Just four guys and a violin taking a bow.