Freddie Rich and His Orchestra

An unusually good Big Band short that gets a couple of extra points for Joe Sodja's fantastic guitar -- a solid 10 in my book.

Nan Wynn is adequate as a Big Band girl vocalist, and the Three Symphonettes are what we used to call sol-LID! -- entertaining and with the precision of a block of polished steel. {There was a good deal of that around in those prehistoric days of my high school time.)

A very entertaining entry in the galaxy of '30s and '40s musical shorts.

This is a great swing jazz short featuring the Freddie Rich Orchestra. The main highlight is the lovely Nan Wynn and the Three Symphonettes singing "The Bonnie Banks O' Loch Lomond" (WOW!! Nan Wynne makes me wonder how anybody could love today's singers — her voice is so pure, so sweet) Watching the expressions on her face while she's singing is mesmerizing. The short is capped off by amazing guitar fretwork by Joe Sodja on "Chinatown, My Chinatown." His playing is similar to Les Paul, and he's absolutely smokin'! The guitarwork is extremely fast and equally impressive. There are also nice cutaway shots of Freddie Rich's band members. This short is one I truly wish I had recorded in some format — I'd love to see it again.

Well sung, well performed, well shot. This is a marvelous representation of a band orchestra at play with sweet female singers on songs with catchy tunes. See it and see it again!!

I love these big band short subjects from the '30s and '40s. This one features FREDDIE RICH AND HIS ORCHESTRA.

I can't say the songs themselves are anything memorable, but Rich gives various members of his band time to shine with their individual instruments.

He also gives a trio of girl singers plenty of time to warble a popular tune with NAN WYNN joining in for a pleasant rendition of "Loch Lomond." The band numbers end with a guitarist joining the group to show his finesse with finger work on the guitar and the short subject is over.

Nothing special, but pleasant while it lasts.

This is a short from Vitaphone and it can be found on the "Warner Brothers Big Band, Jazz & Swing" DVD collection. This set consists of six DVDs and almost 11 hours of shorts! "Freddie Rich and His Orchestra" is a very typical sort of short. It consists of Freddie Rich and his band playing a few tunes. And apart from a guitarist wanting to do a number, it's all VERY conventional. It's simply music and no story or hook to excite the viewer. And, I know opinions will differ, but I found this music amazingly dull and uneventful. Now I must admit that I am not a huge fan of big band, but even for this sort the film is pretty limp. The short lacks humor and especially energy. As a result, it's a below average film compared the most of the rest of the set.