Smash Your Baggage Review - Nine minutes of pure jazz chaos

If you have nine minutes to spare today and love loud, messy jazz, you need to watch this right now. 🎺

But if you cannot stand scratchy 1930s audio or actors who stare directly into the camera lens like they are trying to see your soul, you will hate it.

Honestly, I stumbled on this short while looking for old musical clips, and it is just a blast.

The whole plot is basically: a bunch of train station redcaps find out their friend is sick and needs money, so they decide to put on a massive show right there in the station.

First of all, the way these guys handle the luggage is terrifying. 🧳

They are literally throwing leather suitcases across the room, spinning them on the floor, and kicking them.

I kept thinking about my own suitcase and how the zipper would probably explode if someone tried this today.

It is way more violent than the silly antics in Love and Doughnuts, but with way better music.

The Jazz is Unbelievable

Once the music starts, the movie just forgets about being a movie and becomes a stage show.

You get Elmer Snowden and his band, and they are absolutely cooking.

There is this one trumpet player—I think it is Roy Eldridge—who looks like he is about to pass out from blowing so hard.

His eyes get so wide during his solo, it actually made me a little nervous for his health.

And then there is Rubberlegs Williams.

I now understand why they called him that.

The guy does this dance where his knees bend outward in ways that should require medical attention.

It is the kind of physical stuff you might see in Hold 'Em Jail, but done with rhythm.

The crowd of onlookers in the train station is also hilarious to watch.

Most of them are clearly just extras who were told to "look happy," but some of them look deeply confused by the jazz onslaught.

There is this one woman in the back with a massive hat who does not smile even once.

I spent half the short just watching her face instead of the dancers.

The audio quality is pretty rough, which is expected for 1932, but it adds to the charm.

It feels like you are listening to a secret recording of a party that got way out of hand.

It does not have the polished story of something like As You Desire Me, but who cares?

It is nine minutes of people having a genuinely great time on camera.

Sometimes the camera cuts are a bit late, and you see the dancers waiting for their cue for a split second.

I love those little mistakes because it proves real humans made this thing in a hurry.

Go find it on YouTube or wherever you can. It will make your afternoon a lot louder.

A few things I wrote down:

• The suitcase spinning trick actually looks really hard to do.
• The sick friend is never actually shown, which is kind of hilarious. He is just a plot device to get the band playing.
• That one guy playing the trombone looks like he is having the time of his life.