"Story Conference" is a Vitaphone short from Warner Brothers which features the singer/actress Lillian Roth. Often the studio used these shorts to gauge the public's reaction to a particular stage star and the film is very strange, as instead of a coherent story, it consists of lots of little non-connected vignettes.
When the story begins, studio execs and writers are called for a big meeting to decide what to do with their big new star, Ms. Roth. So the group then brainstorms various story ideas and then you see Roth perform in clips using these proposed plots. One involves the Alimony Hotel where Roth works in the laundry room....where there is lots of singing and dancing. In another, you see her with scarecrows...where there is lots of singing and dancing. In yet another, she is in a jewelry store where the guy at the counter looks like Lenin....where there is lots of singing and dancing. And finally, there's a Busby Berkeley style production number...which, of course, means more singing and dancing. It seems less like a story and more like clips from various Roth films which were never actually made. Pleasant and forgettable.
When the story begins, studio execs and writers are called for a big meeting to decide what to do with their big new star, Ms. Roth. So the group then brainstorms various story ideas and then you see Roth perform in clips using these proposed plots. One involves the Alimony Hotel where Roth works in the laundry room....where there is lots of singing and dancing. In another, you see her with scarecrows...where there is lots of singing and dancing. In yet another, she is in a jewelry store where the guy at the counter looks like Lenin....where there is lots of singing and dancing. And finally, there's a Busby Berkeley style production number...which, of course, means more singing and dancing. It seems less like a story and more like clips from various Roth films which were never actually made. Pleasant and forgettable.