User Reviews

This fascinating musical comedy short dates back to the dawn of the talkie era. In fact, The Night Court was filmed on a Warner Brothers sound stage concurrently with their epochal production The Jazz Singer, the movie that would rock Hollywood and change everything. First-rate comic actor William Demarest appeared in both films, but in The Night Court he's the star of the show, looking and sounding much as he would in the great Preston Sturges comedies of the 1940s. He's younger of course, and his delivery is a little uncertain, but the new technology must have been difficult for everyone at this very early stage of the game, even actors with stage experience like Demarest.

This is the sort of comic sketch with gags and songs that might have played on a bill in a vaudeville show, with a loose plot serving as framework for the entertainment. The premise is that the entire cast of a nightclub revue has been arrested and hauled into court for performing "suggestive" material. The troupe's lawyer (Demarest) proposes that the judge see the show for himself, right there in the courtroom. The judge agrees to this, and before you know it the troupe's leading lady, a Betty Boop-like flapper in a short skirt, has taken the stand and is singing a ditty called "I Ain't That Kind of a Baby." The judge follows up with a Groucho-like quip, saying that she'll need to be held for further examination. The chorus girls launch into an impromptu Black Bottom, and then the troupe's exotic dancer performs a hot number called "Orientale." More jokes fly back and forth, and it all builds to a musical finale topped with a mildly naughty closing gag involving a surprisingly swishy court bailiff.

Technically speaking The Night Court is a cinematic antique, but it's more fun than a lot of other primitive early talkies. These Vitaphone shorts really capture the feeling of a Jazz Age stage show: the pace is brisk and the gags are saucy, and when an actor fluffs a line they just keep on going. It's a particular treat to see William Demarest looking so youthful and dapper, tossing off wisecracks and even taking pratfalls, some fifteen years ahead of The Miracle of Morgan's Creek. I was fortunate enough to see this rarity at a screening of Vitaphone shorts at Film Forum in NYC, and can only hope that these delightful movies become more widely available in the near future.

P.S. Autumn 2007: I'm pleased to add that this short has been included in the newly released 3-disc set of The Jazz Singer. It's a great collection, and the Vitaphone shorts on the third DVD (including The Night Court) are worth the price of admission. Watching this one again I find I forgot to mention a blooper that's hilarious: at one point when the judge tries to silence the spectators, he brings down his gavel so hard the head pops off, forcing him to rap the gavel's stem against his desktop! But no retakes, of course. Just one of those delightful, unrehearsed moments you find in these early talkies, similar to watching Kinescopes of the first live TV shows. This new collection of Vitaphone material is must for movie buffs!

Unlike previous Vitaphone shorts I reviewed, this one has a sketch-like atmosphere and more than one musical act. One is a woman put on the stand singing about "not being that kind of girl". Then, there are some more women performers and then there's an exotic dancer (though she doesn't strip but does do some-what were considered provocative-moves then). William Demerast, who I knew originally as Uncle Charlie on "My Three Sons" which he did several decades later, plays the defending attorney and he gets a good line about a dead guy (or is he?). This was such a fascinating short subject I found on The Jazz Singer DVD. Oh, and the sound was perfect here so on that note, The Night Court is worth a look if you're interested in these vintage things...

Warner Brothers released a series of short films using Vitaphone sound before its features to demonstrate its audio system's advancements. In the summer of 1927, along with "The First Auto," the studio played the short "The Night Court." The 'talkie" was filmed in the Warner Brothers studio on the set next to those being used for the pioneer feature film "The Jazz Singer," which was scheduled to be released in the fall of 1927.

Playing the role of one of the lawyers is William Demarest, the driver of the car in the fatal accident occurring during the production of "The First Auto." The 10-minute movie contains far more dialogue than its more popular successor "The Jazz Singer." The Warners were more confident short films were less likely to have their records skip or the films break than the longer feature. "The Night Court" proved cinema was on the cusp of a major transition. There was a lot of studio money riding on whether the public would embrace that change.

I ran this today as a supplement to my screening of Mata Hari and was very interested in the fact that William Demarest has a prominent speaking part. He also appeared (non-speaking) in The Jazz Singer which was filmed concurrently with this. The recording quality, for such an early Vitaphone attempt, was excellent, and the preservation of this short film is nothing less than remarkable. Joyzelle Joyner, a notable performer of the day does an exotic dance in this which compliments the one Garbo did in Mata Hari. There is a little bit of singing, dancing and a wisp of a plot which is packed into a film less than ten minutes long. A neat little example of what the Warners were attempting in the way of variety entertainment.

This musical short was included as an extra on Disk 3 of "The Jazz Singer". In addition to the film, disk 3 has many early sound films--mostly from Vitaphone (Warner Brothers). This Warner Brothers short apparently was one created using a very complicated system through which an accompanying record was synchronized with a movie camera. There were several serious setbacks for such a system (such as if a film skipped--it became out of sync for the rest of the film plus the records quickly wore out--and 20 showings was the normal life-span of the records) and even though it produced excellent sound, it was eventually replaced. The last of the Vitaphone films were made in 1930, then the studio switched to the standard sound-on-film system.

My comment about Uncle Charlie is because as the film began, I noticed that a very young William Demarest stars as a lawyer. It seems that a group of performers were brought into court for their antics and they dance and sing for the court. Why? I have no idea! However, unlike many of the Vitaphone shorts, this one tried to have some plot (no matter how thin) in addition to all the usual musical numbers. As for the numbers, the first lady had an 'interesting' (i.e., bad) voice, the dancing girls not particularly impressive (and a bit chunky), Demarest then does a comedy routine that made no sense but made me smile and a hoochie-koochie dancer followed (looking a bit like Clara Bow). At the end, get a load of the judge as well as the guy playing two clarinets at the same time! Despite the singing and dancing not being especially good, there was a certain kitschy goofiness about this that I found most endearing--and fun.

This little short shows the ingenuity that was necessary to entertain given the completely static camera that was the price paid for getting sound into film via Vitaphone. At first we have some fascinating silent shots of LA nightlife outside, and then some shots in a nightclub also silent so that you can see the motion of Jazz Age couples kicking it up on the dance floor. In bust the cops - now up to this point everything is silent film with sound effects and music overlaid. Once in the court room, the short switches to sound.

The charges have nothing to do with prohibition. Apparently the entire revue is being held for "risque songs", "murdering the black bottom", and "raw dancing". The defense attorney (William Demarest) requests that the entire revue be reenacted in the courtroom so the judge can see for himself. Now we have an excuse, in an environment that enables the camera to be completely still without apology, for a couple of dance numbers and a great jazz song - "I ain't that kind of a baby" performed by Dottie Lewis in her one and only screen appearance. In the middle of all of this the judge and Demarest get into a routine about a murdered waiter. Demarest makes this comic exchange nostalgic fun rather than pure corn probably owing to his background in vaudeville.

The musical accompaniment comes from the jury box which is filled with jazz musicians, instruments in tow. No wonder the girls aren't afraid enough of the verdict to dress modestly for court! Such fun.

And there you have a great contrived premise for a 10 minute comedy short giving us a peak at the Jazz Age at the height of the roaring twenties. Highly recommended mainly for film buffs and for fans of entertainment of that era. Directed by Brian Foy, who directed only one feature length film that survives - the first all-talking feature film ever made, "Lights of New York", which also had some great musical comedy scenes staged in a night club.

The Night Court (1927)

** (out of 4)

Early talkie from Warner has police raiding a night club and dragging every performer there into court. At trial the defense asks that the performers be able to do their act to show there wasn't anything wrong them. THE NIGHT COURT really isn't a good movie but film buffs are going to want to check it out for a number of reasons. The biggest being that it followed THE JAZZ SINGER from earlier in the year and was a good example of how sound really was taking everything over. When viewing the film today, it was rather amazing to hear how good the audio quality was and it really makes you wonder why so many of the talkies from 1928-31 turned out so poorly. I understand that several different recording styles were tried but this short features the technology sounding pretty good. With that said, the actual performers aren't all that memorable. Even the best act here is only fair so it's doubtful anyone will be leaving this film and looking for a CD copy to listen to.