Radio Recap: Hollywood Spotlight

"The Hollywood Spotlight! Presenting an all-star revue from the entertainment center of the world-- Hollywood!"

Hollywood Spotlight was a syndicated 15-minute program comprised primarily of musical numbers with occasional comedy interludes. Each episode opened and closed with about 2 minutes of the ditty "Rose Room," which was probably where local advertisements were intended to be inserted.

I'm not normally one for musical programs but I made an exception for this one because the featured band on Hollywood Spotlight was led by Phil Harris! This was a year before Harris would come aboard the Jack Benny Program. Although Hollywood Spotlight didn't afford him many opportunities to banter, it is interesting to hear these early examples of him on the radio. Certainly his voice was different - he hadn't yet been transformed into the ignorant slob Benny's writers invented and his southern drawl is much stronger.

Also of interest is that Don Wilson appears on some episodes as an m.c. Wilson was already Benny's commercial spokesman at that time - I'm left to wonder if Wilson's encounters with Harris led to Harris joining Benny's show?

The comedy sketches on Hollywood Spotlight are generally performed by Bob Burns. His backwoods rural humour really isn't to my liking (especially when he dons "blackface" and performs as "Brother Athsma"). Each time he performed a routine, I couldn't help but think that a much more talented comedy performer was in the same room-- heck, by 1935 Harris had already starred in his own Academy Award-winning comedy short (So This Is Harris), he could've handled a few minutes of comedic banter.

There are also a variety of other singers on the show, including the Five Jones Boys and Clarence Muse; there's also the female vocalist Leah Ray, who sings a few solos (and duets with Phil Harris).

The songs themselves are, um, of their time. Ditties like "Underneath the Harlem Moon" and "That's Why Darkies Were Born" have pretty racist lyrics. On the other hand, Phil sings "Minnie the Mermaid," which he'd end up repeating many, many times over the years, up to 20 years later on the Phil Harris/Alice Faye Show.

The Old Time Radio Researchers have a YouTube playlist of Hollywood Spotlight!