Wild People (1932)
** 1/2 (out of 4)
Mildly entertaining short from MGM has a couple guys (Harry Jans, Harold Whalen) working for a radio company needing to find new talent. They travel to an unknown island where civilization hasn't changed much over the past thousand years and they find some weird tropical dancers and talented singers. This 17-minute short has a few interesting moments that make it worth viewing even if the actual songs are rather bland and boring. What makes this thing so interesting is that it was shot in 2-strip Technicolor and I'm sure there are many film buffs like myself who enjoy watching this early color process. The print shown on TCM was in pretty rough shape but there was enough detail to make your eyes melt into the screen and put a smile on your face. Another plus are some rather sexual pre-Code moments with the MGM Dancing Girls wearing some very short skirts and shaking their hips. It doesn't sound like much today but for 1932 it was pretty risky. The "comedy" from Jans and Whalen was pretty lame but I do wonderful about the underline notes of them two constantly dancing with each other and being more interested in each other than the actual girls on screen.
