Freddie Rich and His Orchestra

Freddie Rich & His Orchestra (1938)

*** (out of 4)

This group probably isn't remembered by many today but those who see this short will certainly enjoy it. Freddie Rich does a terrific job with his band doing a handful of numbers and all of them will have you feet twitching with entertainment. The highlight of the short is probably 'You're an Education', which features Freddie Rich and his group doing the music while The Three Symphonettes do the singing. The song is up-tempo and the voices and music go so well together that it's nearly impossible not to get moving to it. Another good number is 'Chinatown My Chinatown' which seemed to be a popular number for these Warner/Vitaphone shorts as I've caught it used in a few other shorts. If you a fan of these Big Band groups then you should enjoy this one. Rich is quite energetic and he certainly knows how to play up to the camera as I'm sure many women were quite happy to see him on a large screen. The rest still have some great music to enjoy.

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 enjoyed all the musical numbers in this short subject (that was included on "The Adventures Of Robin Hood" DVD -- an Errol Flynn swashbuckler). The first number with the Three Symphonettes (female trio) was fun. I particularly liked the girl in the middle: she had the cutest facial expressions while she was singing. Then there was a band performance. Then Nan Wynn, the featured vocalist, came out to perform. Before this viewing, I had never heard or heard of Nan Wynn. She was adorable. She had a lovely voice, her vocal stylings were attractive, and (like that one Symphonette in the middle) she flirted coyly with the camera. (Oh, to return to the good old days of flirting, before we started baring it all.) Miss Wynn was about 23 when this short film was made in 1938. Unfortunately, although she was in a few movies, she never reached the heights of fame I think she deserved. She is perhaps best known today as the singing voice of Rita Hayworth in "You Were Never Lovelier" (1942). But you can see her in "Pardon My Sarong" (1942) as Luana, which is available on VHS video tape. Sadly, Miss Wynn died at the age of 55 from cancer.

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.

I was recently very fortunate to run across this Big Band short while watching TCM channel. My first reaction was that it was a nice little film featuring the Freddie Rich Orchestra, Joe Sodja - outstanding guitarist, but particularly a catchy version of the "Bonnie Banks O' Loch Lomond" featuring Nan Wynn with The Three Symphonettes. Luckily, having a recorder in operation, I was able to go back and again listen to Nan Wynn (which I have now done over and over). What an amazingly beautiful voice!!! Her clarity, range and effortless singing just totally mesmerized me, along with the fact that she was a beautiful young lady. What a shame that her talent wasn't more recognized and more of her work isn't available. I am now trying to catch her in some of the movies in which she appeared, usually as a nightclub singer, but I'm thankful to at least have this video.