Crying for the Carolines (1930)

Genre:

Musical | Short

Plot Keywords:

Spooney Melodies

Cast

Milton Charles

...

Himself / The Singing Organist

Runtime:

USA:6 min

Country:

USA

Color:

Black and White

Company:

Leon Schlesinger Studios

Trivia:

Some sources list this film as running around one minute in duration. In fact, the film is just under six minutes long. The confusion has arisen because a one minute excerpt (comprising the head title card and the final fifty seconds of the film) was used in the documentary ‘Toonheads: The Lost Cartoons’.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Toonheads: The Lost Cartoons (2000) (TV)

Soundtrack:

Cryin' for the Carolines

the Looney Tunes' ancestor

At first glance, "Cryin' for the Carolines" isn't much. Barely a minute long, it features some guy named Milton Charles singing about the Carolines (whoever they were). What should make our eyes open is that this is the first of the Spooney Melodies cartoons, which were the precursors of the Merrie Melodies (hence, the Looney Tunes).

So, even if there's nothing really to catch the attention of 20-ish people in the 21st century, it's good knowing that this short movie indirectly led to Bugs, Daffy, Porky, Elmer, etc. Leon Schlesinger had a good eye and ear for some things (to the point where he appeared as himself in the Porky/Daffy short "You Ought to Be in Pictures"). Worth seeing as a historical reference.