View movie

View thumbnails
Run time: 00:08:26

Stream (help)

64Kb MPEG4 (dialup)
256Kb MPEG4 (broadband)
HiRes MPEG4

Play / Download (help)

(10 MB)64Kb MPEG4
(23 MB)256Kb MPEG4
(177 MB)MPEG1
(210 MB)HiRes MPEG4
(252 MB)MPEG2

Resources

Gags and Gals

0723 PA8996 Gags and Gals


This movie is part of the collection: Prelinger Archives

Audio/Visual: sound, B&W

Creative Commons license: Public Domain

Individual Files

Write a review
Downloaded 9,521 timesReviews
Average Rating:

Reviewer: doowopbob - - August 18, 2008
Subject: Cardboard Lover
A Box In A Box..........What More Could You Want!...What Can Brown Do For You?....Im At The Door Waiting!

Reviewer: Robin_1990 - - February 5, 2008
Subject: Fabulous!
The 1st short is forgettable, But the 2nd and 3rd are fabulous! Great music, Typical of the time. Recommend to anyone who loves oldies music.

Reviewer: ERD - - April 3, 2007
Subject: Fun to see
Nothing fancy or special, just 3 little vintage musical shorts made in 1941(not 1936). The first one I personally found silly. The second-fair, the third- mediocre.

Reviewer: www.martsander.com - - July 7, 2006
Subject: nice nice nice
Even though it looks to be from the early 40s, the Internet Movie Database says it's produced in 1936. Good for them! Otherwise, a very nice piece and decent swing music.

Reviewer: kareneliot - - November 22, 2005
Subject: Surprisingly fun & entertaining
Worth watching, with tounge in cheek.

Reviewer: Marysz - - June 10, 2004
Subject: Girls Just Wanna Have Fun
In this rowdy film probably made during World War II, women manically sing and dance in a variety of outfits and locales. In ÃÂÃÂMale Order,ÃÂÃÂ they wear cardboard boxes. In ÃÂÃÂAt Your Service,ÃÂÃÂ theyÃÂÃÂre dressed as carhops and dance on top of the male customerÃÂÃÂs cars. In ÃÂÃÂPlaymates,ÃÂÃÂ they dress as little girls and show their undies. Do we need any more evidence about what a raucous place America was in the forties? Just because the men were away at war was no excuse not to go out and have a good time. This film presents a zany feminine world. In a sense, this reflects the reality of the Home Front during the war, when women were in the workforce and there was a shortage of available men. And is this film really so demeaning to women? In ÃÂÃÂMale Order,ÃÂÃÂ the only thing Ted Jones asks of his wife is that she be a good dancing partner. He obviously doesnÃÂÃÂt need a wife to houseworkÃÂÃÂhis house is already as neat as a pin. In ÃÂÃÂAt Your Service,ÃÂÃÂ the men are conveniently stuck in their cars, leaving the women to come and go as they please. And in ÃÂÃÂPlaymates,ÃÂÃÂ the only man we see is dressed like a little boy. None of the men make any real demands of the women. Even the boss we see in the first scene looks like a pushover. The women are free to sing and tap dance to their heartÃÂÃÂs content. The only really unhappy woman we see is the housewife in ÃÂÃÂPlaymatesÃÂÃÂ whoÃÂÃÂs stuck indoors with a baby (a premonition of the fifties). The four girls who have to get back into their cardboard boxes because they didnÃÂÃÂt meet TedÃÂÃÂs dancing standards in ÃÂÃÂMale OrderÃÂÃÂ look pretty glum, too. After all, TedÃÂÃÂs a tidy, well-dressed guy with a nice house whoÃÂÃÂs a good dancer and is looking for a wife. You don't see that every day.

Reviewer: trafalgar - - March 14, 2004
Subject: Hot-cha-cha!
Great tunes & 1940's babes in highly absurd situations. Sexy/sexist fun that will get your foot tapping, and arouse your prurient interest. Puts the average music video of today to shame. Highly recommended for everyone but the most hard-core feminists, and even they would have to stifle a chuckle or two...

Reviewer: Christine Hennig - - December 11, 2003
Subject: Apalling and Lots of Fun
This exercise in female objectification is actually a lot of fun. There are three soundies here. The first, ÃÂÃÂMale Order,ÃÂÃÂ features women a guy can purchase on approval, who arrive in shipping cartons and dance in his living room. The second, ÃÂÃÂAt Your Service,ÃÂÃÂ is all about how women, specifically carhops at drive-ins, live to serve men, even to the point of wearing skimpy uniforms and dancing on car hoods so that the male customers can look up their dresses. The third soundie, ÃÂÃÂPlaymates,ÃÂÃÂ features grown women dressed up and acting like little girls, while singing the familiar playground song. The titillating quality of this gets pretty creepy after awhile, even though itÃÂÃÂs obvious that these are grown women, especially when they bend way over to peek into rain barrels, so we can get a good look at their undies. Again, these soundies are appalling, but still lively and a great deal of fun. ÃÂÃÂAt Your ServiceÃÂÃÂ has a great retro drive-in feel. ItÃÂÃÂs this sort of combination of good and bad qualities that makes for really great ephemera.
Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: ****. Weirdness: ****. Historical Interest: *****. Overall Rating: *****.

Reviewer: Spuzz - - September 14, 2003
Subject: What more do you want??
I've seen these group of soundies before, and these are an EXCELLENT example of what what people love and hate about them:
1) Male Order is probably one of the most sexist soundies ever made as we see a man "ordering" 5 women to a co-worker. (They arrive in boxes). Their head and legs pop out and do a little dance which is surely a new low in female objectivity. He soon removes all the boxes though, all the girls are wearing shirts and short shorts. After dancing with all of them, he selects one, and to have all the others sent back, boxes and all. Crazy man!
2) "At Your Service" takes place at a car-service restaraunt, with some of the skimpiest excuses for a uniform ever seen. John C. Reilly (no not really) introduces the girl in song, and the girls take over singing a great little ditty, and
dance on the hoods of the cars (and all the while the men are looking up Up UP!)
3) "Friendship" has EVERYTHING. A Great song, attractive girls, but this takes the sexist level up a couple of notches.. Watch the girls go down the slide legs up! Up! UP! VERY VERY funny. A hoot! All of this is a MUST SEE on this site!!