The Nicholas Brothers were likely the best dancing team in history. Even Fred Astaire praised them for their insanely athletic and incredible dancing in "Stormy Weather", saying "this dance number was the greatest movie musical sequence I had ever seen". Because of their tremendous talent, I try to see them whenever I can...and that's more than enough reason to see "Barber Shop Blues"...even if they aren't in the film very long.The plot is simple. It begins in a humble barber shop and when the owner wins the lottery, he turns the place into a giant barbershop night club instead of on hookers and liquor (misplaced priorities if you ask me). What follows are the Nicholas Brother dancing and the Claude Hopkins Orchestra playing a VERY lively jazz song. All in all, a lot of fun!

An all black cast turns a barber shop set into a night club with lively musical renditions from the Claude Hopkins orchestra. This was a nice little surprise shoehorned in between full length films on the Turner Classic Movie channel the other day. It followed "The Story of Temple Drake", which probably explains why that film is mentioned in the "People Who Liked This Also Liked..." section of this movie's page on IMDb, otherwise there's no other reasonable explanation for it.Orlando Roberson was the featured singer here with a quite melodious voice, and for my money I'd go for The Four Step Brothers any time. Watching them perform individually you have to wonder how they stayed on their feet with those high energy tap routines, while their synchronized swing was exceptionally well choreographed.I wouldn't know how one would catch a wonderful film short like this other than the way I did, quite by accident actually since I'm sometimes prone to switching off after viewing a completed movie. Something like this isn't mentioned in the cable listings so you just have to be lucky I guess. This time I was.

You've got to hand it to Warner Brothers. Try to think of another studio that would routinely produce all-black shorts during the Depression. This kind of product was routinely banned from many southern theaters which couldn't help the studio's lousy bottom line (1934 was the 4th year WB was bleeding red ink with a loss of over $2.5 million for the year and a staggering $30.0+ million loss since 1931). Still, the studio kept it's Astoria, NY Vitaphone studios busy cranking out musical shorts--- mostly directed by reliable Joe Henaberry. Barber Shop Blues is notable for the incredibly elaborate set design and Claude Hopkins' Orchestra. Songs include an abbreviated version of "I Want a Shave (and a Haircut Too)" and a rendition of Joyce Kilmer's "Trees," which to my tin ear sounds a lot like the Ink Spots. Then there's the near obligatory tap sequence with the Four Step Brothers. Oddly the short is all-male. The real star is the large barber shop set, which belies the minuscule budget and probable 2-day shooting schedule. If you want to see a fantastic example of Henaberry's directorial work, see Public Jitterbug No. 1 (1939) featuring an incredibly frenetic Betty Hutton.

I've been collecting black film shorts for years, and this is one of my favorites. This film shorts stars Claude Hopkins and his Orchestra with Orlando Roberson, and the Four Step Brothers. Great Entertainment, If you can find it, you'll love it. Film Shorts were the only way Black Entertainment could be shown with class, showing fashions, the slang, the dances, the songs, showing the top groups. You'll treasure these when you find it.