Hal Le Roy

[drednm]

Dancer Hal Le Roy appeared in about 15 short films in the 1930s, mostly at Warners. Do these exist anywhere? YT has snippets from several of them but no complete short films.

[boblipton]

Several of them have run as fillers on TCM. Ones I have seen include:
Rhythmitis (1936)
Start Cheering (1938)
Ups and Downs (1937)
Private Lessons (1934)
Public Jitterbug No. 1 (1939)
The Knight is Young (1938)
Use Your Imagination (1933)
The Prisoner of Swing (1938)
Main Street Follies (1935)
Picture Palace (1934)
Tip Tap Toe (1932)
Syncopated City (1934)
The High School Hoofer (1931)

These are the ones I have seen, although I can't recall much of them beyond a rather adenoidal youth, who might actually be Richard Crenna. He seems to have appeared in half a dozen other shorts. Judging by the directors (usually Roy Mack), they were for Vitagraph in Brooklyn. Judging by my lack of memory, decent and forgettable,

Bob

[drednm]

Several of them have run as fillers on TCM. Ones I have seen include:
Rhythmitis (1936)
Start Cheering (1938)
Ups and Downs (1937)
Private Lessons (1934)
Public Jitterbug No. 1 (1939)
The Knight is Young (1938)
Use Your Imagination (1933)
The Prisoner of Swing (1938)
Main Street Follies (1935)
Picture Palace (1934)
Tip Tap Toe (1932)
Syncopated City (1934)

These are the ones I have seen, although I can't recall much of them beyond a rather adenoidal youth, who might actually be Richard Crenna. He seems to have appeared in half a dozen other shorts. Judging by the directors (usually Roy Mack), they were for VVitagraph in Brooklyn. Judging by my lack of memory, decent and forgettable,

Bob
The High School Hoofer (1931)

I've seen in most of the features he appeared in. In Start Cheering he is a welcome relief from Jimmy Durante in a big number built around "Rockin' the Town," which also features a great singing spot for Gertrude Niesen. Harold Teen was his big starring chance. One of his later shorts features a chubby June Allyson.

[moviepas]

Harold Teen has not fronted WAC yet. I did have the 15mins radio advertising track on an lp, Startone label, I think. There was another Harold Teen in 1927. Radio series too.

[Donald Binks]

He was a pleasant enough young man who always appeared cheerful. He had rather long legs which were a boon to his dancing abilities. Like Ed, I have seen a few of his shorts - not as many as he though. I am a bit surprised he didn't get taken up for bigger roles, but I suppose there were plenty of hoofers jigging around in those days.

[drednm]

He was a pleasant enough young man who always appeared cheerful. He had rather long legs which were a boon to his dancing abilities. Like Ed, I have seen a few of his shorts - not as many as he though. I am a bit surprised he didn't get taken up for bigger roles, but I suppose there were plenty of hoofers jigging around in those days.

His arms seem weirdly long....But watching him dance, he strikes me as perhaps the best male tap dancer of the time....

[greta de groat]

Excellent dancer. I'm always glad to see him though the rest of the film is not very interesting. Just fast forward to the dance sequences.

Greta

[busby1959]

My strongest memory of Hal LeRoy is of him emerging from a giant watermelon to tap dance in the "Goin' To Heaven On A Mule" number in WONDER BAR. He's wearing a very short tunic and his legs look about six feet long...and his arms around five feat long. The word "gangly" could have been invented for him.

[Harold Aherne]

The following of his short films have been issued as extras on DVDs:

Hollywood Newsreel (1934) [42nd Street, also Vitaphone Cavalcade of Musical Comedy]
Main Street Follies (1935) [Annie Oakley]
Rhythmitis (1936) [The Petrified Forest]
Ups and Downs (1937) [Stage Door]
The Prisoner of Swing (1938) [The Dawn Patrol 1938]
The Knight Is Young (1938) [Best Foot Forward]
Public Jitterbug No. 1 (1940) [Carefree]

Note: Closer inspection of release charts in Motion Picture Herald, Harrison's Reports, etc. shows that "Public Jitterbug No. 1" was actually released on 4 May 1940, not one year earlier. The IMDB date is a year off, so anyone who contributes to it might consider submitting this correction.

-HA

[drednm]

The following of his short films have been issued as extras on DVDs:

Hollywood Newsreel (1934) [42nd Street, also Vitaphone Cavalcade of Musical Comedy]
Main Street Follies (1935) [Annie Oakley]
Rhythmitis (1936) [The Petrified Forest]
Ups and Downs (1937) [Stage Door]
The Prisoner of Swing (1938) [The Dawn Patrol 1938]
The Knight Is Young (1938) [Best Foot Forward]
Public Jitterbug No. 1 (1940) [Carefree]

Note: Closer inspection of release charts in Motion Picture Herald, Harrison's Reports, etc. shows that "Public Jitterbug No. 1" was actually released on 4 May 1940, not one year earlier. The IMDB date is a year off, so anyone who contributes to it might consider submitting this correction.

-HA

Thanks for the info. Hal is in a 1950 Bob Hope TV special that's on YT.