User Reviews

Let's face it gang. Most of the early talkies were for the most part, pretty lame. The sound era may have been a novelty that would be around for a very,very long time, but the acting was pretty corny,the music (with exceptions,of course)was downright unlistenable,and from a technical standpoint,pretty primitive. The little seven minute short was for the longest time thought of as a lost film. It features song & dance numbers by the Vitaphone kids (including the Gumm Sisters,one of which was Francis Gumm,who would eventually become Judy Garland in later years). Apparantely, this film was originally shot in the two strip Technicolor process,where everything is either green or rose red (a lot of early animated shorts were also filmed in this process,until Technicolor perfected the three strip I.B. process that all films after 1935/1936 were photographed in). The print I saw was a 35mm black & white reversal print,which made it look somewhat like a fever dream--we're talking 110 degrees,folks). Interesting as a historical find, but don't go out of your way to try & find it (Turner Classic Movies airs this weird little short in the wee hours of the morning from time to time---especially when they air a Judy Garland marathon). No MPAA rating here (it wouldn't be developed for another 38 years),but absolutely nothing controversial to offend anyone's sensibilities.

Long thought lost (some earlier bios of Judy Garland mention this film as being gone..) we are lucky to be able to see a very early view of Baby Gumm and The Gumm Sisters. Of course, later, we would know Baby Frances Gumm as Judy Garland. This short has a surreal look, the faded black and white tend to make the faces of made up kids look bizarre and Cirque du Soileil-like. All is strange and wonderful, then the Gumm sisters take the stage and we get a glimpse into the early Gumm sisters act. The camera obviously loves Frances and we see the scene-stealing she would be known for the rest of her life. This short is made available sometimes when Turner Classic Movies does a Judy special in June of each year, watch for it between movies as a time-killer.

This is the sort of film that single-handedly gives young whippersnappers plenty of ammo when they say that old movies are no good! While there are lots of wonderful old shorts such as Laurel and Hardy, classic cartoons, etc., the very early years of sound pictures also brought some very strange and stupid stuff as well. This 8 minutes short from Vitaphone is a great example of strange and stupid, that's for sure! There's really no plot to the film. It starts with Mae Questel blowing bubbles under a tree. I immediately recognized her as the voice of Betty Boop and Olive Oyl, though she looked much more like Mary Pickford. What I did not recognize shortly after this opening scene was a very very young Judy Garland as one of the Gumm Sisters who did some really pathetic song and dance numbers. It honestly looked like one of those grade school pageants parents are forced to endure, except in this case the sound quality was pretty poor! Only see this if you are curious about seeing Ms. Questel or Ms. Garland for purely historical reasons. Otherwise, it's like witnessing a train wreck--a ghastly and blood-curdling train wreck!

PS--I STRONGLY agree with the other two posters that found the old guy with the cigar to be really creepy! He was sort of like the officiator over this awful pageant and I don't think most parents would feel very comfortable about leaving their tykes with him!

Also, the film says 'Technicolor' at the beginning, but the surviving print today is in black & white.

When I found a bio of Mae Questal on Wikipedia, I discovered that one of her films was something called Bubbles. That title fascinated me so I clicked that name and found out that Judy Garland-who was still known at the time as Baby or Frances Gumm and was performing with her much older sisters at age 7-was also in this short. In fact, it might have been her film debut. Anyway, the future Betty Boop sang at the beginning and sounded pretty good. Ms. Garland herself has a brief solo but I really couldn't understand what she sang. Still, she also sounded pretty good. I should mention that she, and many other kids, are in costume. Also, those other kids do some dancing that weren't very exciting, to tell the truth. All of them seem to be watched by a middle-aged man who, yeah, does seem creepy! In summary, Bubbles is a fascinating curio for any Questal and Garland completists out there but I don't really recommend this.

I didn't realize until after deleting the program that Judy Garland was in this. I'll have to look through the other reviews to find out where she makes an appearance.

It's an ensemble seemingly of all girls who are dressed in highly-sexualized costumes for the era and who use the gestures of tarty adult women. The "Hot Little Comet," was particularly sleazy, a 10- to-12 year old girl gyrating and scatting.

They dance well, but there is a feeling that they're dancing their little hearts out to avoid being fired. The enthusiasm is forced. I think that tap dancing in ballet toe shoes is tacky.

The little girl at the end is an amazing gymnast, but the performance goes on too long. It's also weird how instead of ending with a close-up or some kind of frame shot the camera just pulls away. I seldom consciously note camera shots so if I did it's because it was done particularly ineptly.

I agree that the Moon Man emcee is disturbing. The set-up at the start that takes them to the moon is also weird. The song the girl sings is not pleasing to the ear.

It's fascinatingly awful and repellent.

This bizarre little film opens with a young child sitting with an older girl who sings her a song about what it would be like to go to the moon in a bubble whilst a rotund man, who I am assuming is supposed to be an overgrown boy, blows bubbles through a wand. Then we are on the moon, although the set is designed to look like a subterranean cavern. It is here that the creepy moon man, who smokes a cigar and is wearing a large collar that looks like tho ones dogs get after they've been to the vet, oversees the antics of the child performers. (Much of this film's creep factor is due to this guy not seeming like one you'd want to have around your kids.) The performers include the Gumm Sisters as the "moon maidens"(featuring a very young, very cute Judy Garland), an ensemble of "stars" who actually tap dance en pointe (!), the "hot little comet" (an over-enthusiastic jazz dancer), and the "little whirlwind" (a seemingly boneless little contortionist). The finale is the entire cast dancing the "moonstep." The first time I watched "Bubbles" it was as one not being able to look away from a bad car accident. However, it has since become an cult favorite amongst myself and my friends.

Bubbles (1930)

** (out of 4)

Judy Garland makes her film debut in this short working under the title of the Gumm Sisters. This early short runs under ten minutes but that's still too long as most of the song and dance numbers are pretty bland and easily forgettable. Watching this short today is also rather disturbing considering some of the short clothing they've got these kids dressed in. I think most people will be drawn to this short because of the young appearance of Garland who is still working with her two sisters. I believe this is the third short I've seen of the group and it's clear Judy was the main talent out of the group. Also worth noting is that Mae Questel has a small part here and she's go on to do the voices of Betty Boop and Olive Oyl. Not to mention she'd later appear in National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation.

This "Vitaphone Verities" is dreadful, and so crude (as entertainment) that I was surprised it was made in 1930. It looked more like one of the Warner Brothers first attempts with sound experimentation. The opening credits indicated that it was filmed in Technicolor, however the surviving print was in black and white; likely the color print is lost forever.

As a poster commented, the cigar smoking fat guy who introduced various singing and dancing acts by young girls was one creepy character, or should I say -- one very "silly man"? No, I wouldn't want him baby sitting my kids or anyone else's.