All Films

The Music Lesson

1932 • 7 min • United States of America

Flip's piano instructor sits him down at the keys and leaves the room. In her absence, Flip plays jazzy music that brings some of the objects in the room to life. Later, Flip's friends call for him and he sneaks away from his lesson to go swimming. The piano teacher and her dog go after Flip, as does a police-officer who seeks to punish the boys for swimming on private property.

Stopping the Show

1932 • 8 min • United States of America

At the theatre, a 'Paramouse Noose Reel' and a Bimbo and Koko cartoon are followed by Betty Boop's stage performance; she sings and does imitations of Helen Kane, Fanny Brice and Maurice Chevalier.

The Man from New Mexico

1932 • 54 min • United States of America

The cattle on the Langton Ranch are mysteriously dying and cowhands are disappearing or being shot. Two Langton riders bring a wounded rider they found wounded and hung up in a barbed-wire fence to Sally Langton and report that her father is missing. A lone rider, Jess Ryder, tops a rise and sees a band of men working on some calves in a secluded corral, and he frowns as he sees what Bat Murchinson is doing.

Slide, Babe, Slide

1932 • 10 min

Babe Ruth plays ball with some kids.

Sing a Song

1932 • 10 min • United States of America

Fleischer Studios' 'Screen Song' sings a bunch of songs with the bouncing ball.

Romance in a Pond

1932 • 9 min • United Kingdom

Short, anthropomorphically-inclined documentary showing the life-cycle of the common newt.

The Robot

1932 • 7 min • United States of America

Bimbo is a mechanic whose girlfriend (not Betty) agrees to marry him if he wins a fight against "One-Round Mike." Quick as a wink, he transforms his car into a robot to help him in the ring!

Boo

1932 • 10 min • United States of America

A wisecracking narrator mocks footage featuring Frankenstein's monster and Count Dracula.

Hotel Splendide

1932 • 53 min • United Kingdom

Jerry Mason inherits the Hotel Splendide at Speymouth but is disappointed when he sees it is a quiet place with few permanent residents. Gentleman Charlie, a jewel thief arrives after a long spell in prison expecting to be able to dig up the pearls he had buried - only to find the hotel has been built on the site.

The Fighting Fool

1932 • 58 min • United States of America

A sheriff (Tim McCoy) flirts with a local girl (Marceline Day) and chases an outlaw called the Shadow.

School Days

1932 • 7 min • United States of America

A Fleischer Studios Screen Song. Gus Edwards and his kids were a famous vaudeville act where many big stars (such as Eddie Cantor) began their careers. In live action, Gus and the kids sing "School Days" along with the bouncing ball. In the surrealistic cartoon sequence, the schoolhouse has chicken legs.

Just a Gigolo

1932 • 8 min • United States of America

Irene Bordoni sings the title song in French and English with a Bouncing Ball. Cartoon sequences: Betty Boop as a cabaret emcee and cigarette girl; a romantic tom-cat gigolo.

Black and White

1932 • 6 min • Soviet Union

The film addresses issues of racism in the Jim Crow American South. Themes of racial injustice, racial violence, working-class solidarity dominate the film. It depicts black men working in a field, walking in chains, sitting behind bars, and being executed in an electric chair. In most scenes, a white authority figure is seen whipping or guarding the men.

Crazy-Town

1932 • 7 min • United States of America

Betty Boop and Bimbo take a wild streetcar ride to Crazy Town, where birds swim, fish fly, and everthing else reverses normal behavior.

The Racing Strain

1932 • 58 min • United States of America

A race-car driver whose career is on the skids because of his drinking falls for a rich society girl. That motivates him to clean up his act and resume his career, but it may be too late for that.

Betty Boop's Ups and Downs

1932 • 7 min • United States of America

Due to the great depression, property prices start falling. The planet Earth goes up for sale. Mars and Venus make bids, but Saturn, characterised as an old Jew, makes a lower but winning bid. Then just to see what happens, he removes the earth's magnet, and gravity disappears.

First in War

1932 • 20 min • United States of America

Charley writes the national anthem for the country of Nicarania and winds up getting mixed up in a revolution there.

Mystery Ranch

1932 • 56 min • United States of America

Megalomaniacal rancher is a law unto himself, until a Ranger is called-upon to bring him to justice.

The Local Bad Man

1932 • 59 min • United States of America

The Murdock's bank is in trouble. So they ship money on the train and rob it to get back the money plus the insurance, Bonner and his two pals recover the money only to be thrown in jail.

Shine on Harvest Moon

1932 • 3 min • United States of America

Fleischer Studios giving "Shine On Harvest Moon" the 'Screen Song' bouncing ball treatment.

Admission Free

1932 • 7 min • United States of America

Koko and Bimbo visit Betty Boop's penny arcade, Bimbo to flirt with Betty; but his turn at the shooting gallery becomes a hunting trip.

Sports

1932 • 8 min • Japan

The film is about a protest provoked when the university decided to restrict access to sports facilities to athletes, cutting out all other students. This is, strictly speaking, not a Prokino film. It was produced by the Waseda University Film Circle, which was organized by Kawazoe Shiro. Feature film directors Yamamoto Satsuo and Taniguchi Senkichi were apparently students at Waseda at the time and participated in the production.

Three's a Crowd

1932 • 7 min • United States of America

An old man is reading a book by the fire. The clock strikes 8, and he heads off to bed. From his book, Alice in Wonderland, out crawls Alice, who turns the radio to the title tune. This wakes up Rip Van Winkle; Alice then rouses the Three Musketeers, who sing a bit. Next tune: Nero fiddles, Rome burns, and Cleopatra sizzles in a slinky dance. Uncle Tom sings a spiritual as Mr. Hyde sneaks up and abducts Alice. Tarzan to the rescue, along with several other characters who mount a spirited attack using such office supplies as pen points, matches, and a fountain pen. They box him up and carry him off.

Visions of Lourdes

1932 • 18 min • Belgium

Charles Dekeukeleire, then a questioning Catholic, was spurred into making this documentary on a pilgrimage with the Catholic Young Workers’ Movement. The director’s approach is one of critical reflection; A film emotional and fervent, even acerbic.