My Bag o' Trix (1929) Murray Roth

Trixie Friganza was a large lady, the sort you wouldn't expect to headline anything nowadays because she doesn't fit any sort of industry image. In fact she's about the same size and shape as the double bass she plays to accompany herself on one song in Vitaphone short 2791. They're not really songs, more like narrated stories to accompanied music, one of which is interesting because of its approach. The story is told mostly by spelling many of the words out aloud so a young kid in the room won't understand the more risque parts of the story.

Part of this film is presumed lost to nitrate deterioration, and it's probably isn't unfair to say that people could wish the rest of it had gone too. Once again, Trixie Friganza was obviously a very talented lady but the material she worked with in this short didn't do her justice.