RKO Double Feature: Old Man Rhythm / To Beat the Band (DVD)

Oscar -winner* Johnny Mercer gets into the swing of things as he co-writes the songs and makes his only screen appearances in this snappy double feature of RKO musicals. In Old Man Rhythm, a businessman (George Barbier) hears his son (Charles Buddy Rogers) is spending more time on a gold-digging coed than his studies, so he enrolls as a freshman to straighten him out. A rollicking college musical that features an early appearance by Betty Grable and choreography by Hermes Pan, Old Man Rhythm also includes six tunes by Mercer, two of which he performs himself: "Comes the Revolution Baby" and "There's Nothing Like a College Education." In To Beat the Band, a middle-aged bumbler (Hugh Herbert) must marry a widow in three days or lose his inheritance. A fast-paced musical farce, To Beat the Band features five tunes by Mercer, including "Eeny Meeny Miney Mo" and "I Saw Her at Eight O'Clock," both of which he sings himself.

• comedy
• musical