George Jessel and His Russian Art Choir (1931) watch online HD

George Jessel and His Russian Art Choir (1931)

* 1/2 (out of 4)

Jessel's name probably won't be recognized by many but if you look him up you'll see that he actually had quite a few credits to his name but I certainly hope this here is the worst thing he did in his career. He pretty much stands in front of the camera, makes a few smart remarks and introduces his "band" that he says he brought over from Russia. At just 8-minutes this film is too short to really kill you while watching it but at the same time there's really nothing here. It's not that this short is bad per say but it's just rather lifeless as there's no laughs, no energy or anything else in it. The entire time while watching it I kept wondering what the entire point of it was. I'm going to guess that Jessel just couldn't act to the camera the same way he would to a live audience so perhaps that's why he just seems stiff here. Either way, this here is certainly for film buffs only.

George Jessel is one old time performer I'm not a big fan of. But even his fans will be disappointed in this Vitaphone short subject from Warner Brothers that shows not one bit of his talent.

He makes a few wisecracks while introducing this Russian Choir that he allegedly brought back from the Soviet Union. They sing a few numbers, the last one being a Negro Spiritual. Talking about disconnect.

Jessel does make one cutting remark about these wonderful Cossacks who back in the old days shot an uncle of his. But all it does is underscore the complete ludicrousness of this short.

Only for the curious fans of George Jessel.

. . . made even more so by Lucifer's Brother Stalin during the 1930s, Warner Bros. documents in GEORGE JESSEL AND HIS RU$$IAN ART CHOIR. This live-action short begins as noted anthropologist Dr. Jessel recreates the three firing squad volleys which trimmed Russia's Art population from 150 to merely 15 (because Stalin thought that "'Art' sounds too Jewish"). Though shorter than SCHINDLER'S LIST, rounding up the surviving Art quorum from the Soviet Hinterlands proved no small task for Dr. Jessel, and his associate, Mr. Hyde. Eventually, however, this peripatetic pair were able to export these toasted ice cream and fried umbrella-eating triple quintet (or quadruple quartet save one) to America, where they were pleased to sing for their keep. This brief documentary was shot during that halcyon period. Unfortunately, the Conservative Fuhrer invaded Cossack Country, forcing Stalin to recall these singers to defend his namesake city. There they crooned nine German Field Marshals to death, turning the tide of World War Two.

During the late 1920s and through the 30s, the Vitaphone unit from Warner Brothers made a ton of sound shorts. Some featured comedy acts, some dance acts and, more than anything else, musical acts. These are all invaluable looks at many of the greatest musicians of the day...folks who otherwise never appeared in films. The styles and types of music ran the gamut and probably the strangest and least entertaining of these is "George Jessel and His Russian Art Choir".

It begins with Jessel talking and telling very bad jokes. Then he explains how he found this wonderful Russian choral group and he brought them to the USA. Whether this actually is the case is anyone's guess. What follows are three songs which would be hugely entertaining to Russians of the era...but not to anyone else. While I have seen hundreds of these recordings, I would have to say that this was the least entertaining one by far. In fact, the bad jokes and the music were god-awful...at best.