"The Yankee Doodler" - a "Soundie" from WWII

3 years ago
69

Before there ever was MTV and "music videos," there were "Soundies," played from 16mm film in bars and hotels on a coin-operated machine. Here is one Soundie from the years of World War II, featuring a man who would be much more famous later on.....William Frawley, who played the "Fred Mertz" character for years on the "I Love Lucy" show. This Soundie is very obviously a wartime morale film....which some would call propaganda...but is certainly typical of its time. Now in the public domain as copyright was never renewed it's now-vanished production company, it is presented here for historical education, discussion and critique.

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