Musical Justice (1931)

Release Date - Dec 25, 1931 (USA - Unknown)  |   Run Time - 11 min.  |   Countries - United States  |   MPAA Rating - NR
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Synopsis by Craig Butler

In this musical short, Rudy Vallee is the "Judge of Musical Discretion" presiding over the "Court of Musical Justice." With the assistance of a jury of musicians, Vallee hears three separate cases. The first involves Rev. Yass Indeed of the Congregation of Exquisite Peace in the River Jordan vs. Choirmaster Henry Whitewash. As the Rev. Indeed tells it, he instructed his "lazy choir leader to give us a song" and he immediately swung into "something that upsets the dignity of my congregation." Whitewash claims that the Rev. spoke snappishly to him, so he sung snappily back. The jury, after retiring to the jury room and arguing through instrumental phrases, finds in favor of the Rev, and Vallee sentences Whitewash to "sing forever through a megaphone." Vallee quickly dispenses with the next case, a divorce, urging the couple to forget their quarrels through "A Little Kiss Each Morning, A Little Kiss Each Night." The final case is the State vs. Betty, in which the judge tells Betty Boop (in the person of Mae Questel) that "she has broken every law of music. . .this boop-boop-a-dooping must stop!" However, Boop's rendition of "Don't Take Away My Boop-Boop-a-Doop Away" results in a verdict of not guilty, and even an animated version of the statue of Justice gets into the act, dancing until her dress falls away.