Music in Your Hair (1934) Review - A Loud, Silly Time Machine

If you have twenty minutes and love old, loud, slightly creaky comedy shorts, then yeah, Music in Your Hair is a fun little time machine. But if you hate screechy 1930s singing or people falling over tables, please stay far away.

It is one of those dusty Hal Roach shorts that feels like it was filmed in a rush during someone's lunch break. The plot is basically non-existent. People just run around, sing, and yell in a crowded room.

The Billy Gilbert Experience

We get a lot of Billy Gilbert here. If you have seen him in other things, you know exactly what to expect.

Cinematic perspective: Exploring the visual vocabulary of Music in Your Hair (1934) through its definitive frames.

He yells. He waves his hands around like a wild man. He does that weird explosive sneeze routine that he made a whole career out of.

It is funny the first time, but by the third time, you might find yourself looking for the mute button. Still, his energy is hard to ignore.

Then we have Ty Parvis. Honestly, his hair is so incredibly shiny it looks like it was painted onto his skull with black lacquer. 😲

Cinematic perspective: Exploring the visual vocabulary of Music in Your Hair (1934) through its definitive frames.

He starts singing, and the camera just stares at him. It feels like the movie is trying to convince us he is a big deal, but it is just kind of awkward.

This whole thing has the same chaotic, cheap energy as The Cat's Canary, but with way more shouting.

Small Details You Can't Unsee

Since the plot is so thin, you start noticing the weirdest things in the background.

Cinematic perspective: Exploring the visual vocabulary of Music in Your Hair (1934) through its definitive frames.

• The Hungry Extra: There is a guy in the back left corner who is just eating soup. He does not care about the singing or the comedy. He just wants his soup.
• The Painful Smile: Virginia Karns sings a number and has to hold this giant, frozen smile for so long that her face must have been sore for a week.
• The Audio Hiss: The sound recording is so old that every "S" sound feels like steam escaping from a radiator.

At one point, Charlie Hall shows up looking completely exhausted. He has this look on his face like he realized he forgot to turn off the stove at home.

He is always great at playing the annoyed foil, but here he barely gets anything to do.

If you want a short film with actual structure and better gags, you are much better off watching something like Horse Shy.

But if you just want to see some classic 1930s nonsense where a guy gets a plate of food dumped on his head without even trying to dodge it, this will do the trick. It is messy, it is loud, and it is totally forgotten for a reason—but I still kind of liked it.