For years I have been teased by promotional information claiming that the short Just Around the Corner was an extra on the DVD release of The Little Giant (1933). Not on my copy!
So a few times per year I’ll search for the title on YouTube and lo and behold I was rewarded at last! I don’t know the status of the title, but be sure to view it as soon as possible just in case it gets yanked off the site (It is also embedded at bottom of this post).
Ever since the Warner Archive released the Bobby Jones Golf Shorts this 1933 short has become my most sought-after Warren William film. Why, you ask? Roll credits:
By the way, “Forty Second Street” plays over those faces until we reach Ruth Donnelly and the tune changes to “You’re Getting to Be a Habit with Me.”
The IMDb lists the runtime for this short at 18 minutes, but the copy of Just Around the Corner that I viewed on YouTube ran just a tick or two over 13 minutes.
The first few minutes of Just Around the Corner takes place in an office where Warren William plays the boss, Mr. Sears. Prior to his arrival Warren’s employees prepare us for another Kurt Anderson, and while Mr. Sears might be that S.O.B. between nine and five, that is not the Sears who we spend most of this sliver of time with.
Before Warren’s entrance a couple of his employees, Jerry (Dick Powell) and Tim (Preston Foster), discuss a promotion that appears all but preordained for co-worker Graham (Walter Miller). The chatter stops the moment the boys realize that Mr. Sears has entered. Sears picked up on the end of their conversation and is curious about the trout pond Jerry mentioned having in his backyard. On his way into the office Sears thanks Graham for having him over to dinner the night before. No sooner does Sears close his office door than does he buzz Jerry into his office to discuss the trout pond in greater detail.
Mr. Sears (Warren William) and Jerry (Dick Powell).
That’s it for the office. Warren is already fishing at Dick Powell’s place by the next scene.
Preston Foster is done, logging even less time here than he had in I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang (1932). Joan Blondell is around even less than that as Graham’s wife. All she gets to do is show a little skin while taking a phone call from bed from her husband, who’s excited to tell her how well her dinner for the boss went over the night before.
Mrs. Graham’s (Joan Blondell) single scene.
Once we’re at Jerry’s place we meet the other wives. Ruth Donnelly plays Warren’s wife and Bette Davis is Ginger, Jerry’s wife. We leave Warren and Dick to talk fishing outside while in the kitchen General Electric’s part in all of this soon becomes very apparent.
Bette Davis pitches G.E.’s latest coffee maker, dishwasher, oven, refrigerator, washer and dryer and even doorbell!
“Oh, what a lovely clock,” Donnelly’s Mrs. Sears says when a chime sounds moments after Ginger winds up a lengthy list of dishwasher features.
“Oh no, that’s the doorbell. That’s General Electric too,” Ginger says, adding something about its “lovely tone.” You can imagine how enthusiastic Miss Davis is over all of this.
Mrs. Sears (Ruth Donnelly) is amazed by what Ginger (Bette Davis) has to tell her.
After dinner Mrs. Sears marvels over Ginger’s hands to her husband. “Can you believe they do the entire work of a house?” she says.
“They don’t do the work, they direct the work,” says Stepford Bette.
Warren’s Mr. Sears is impressed by the efficiency of it all: “You people have actually mastered the art of living. A few years ago it would have cost three times your income to maintain this establishment.”
Jerry explains the economy of their G.E. appliances: “We figure we save five cents a meal by preserving the food we used to have to throw away. That’s four dollars and a half a month.”
Ginger loads her General Electric dishwasher
Bette’s Ginger had earlier worked some speedy arithmetic of her own while loading her dishwasher: “If I had to wash dishes three times a day for a year, let’s see, it would take me, uh, forty eight-hour working days to accomplish it.”
I’ll take her word for it.
Needless to say Mr. Sears is severely impressed by the economy and efficiency of Jerry’s home. He decides the way Jerry runs a household may very well reflect the way he would run a business. Poor Graham, the fellow back at the office, or as I like to call him Mr. Blondell, is not going to be very happy come Monday morning.
Mr. Sears is very impressed.
This is paid programming, 1933 style. Rather than one celebrity pitchman we are rewarded with several, Warren, Dick Powell, Bette Davis and Ruth Donnelly doing the majority of that work.
Davis actually spends more time with her back to us, running appliances, than she does facing us, though she has the lion’s share of the lines while explaining all of G.E.’s wonders to Donnelly. Powell spends his time glowing over G.E. to Warren, who gets off the best line of the entire short when he tells Powell’s Jerry, “Great name, General Electric. I see you bought a name, not a product.”
“A name, not a product.” G.E. refrigerator dials, 1933 style.
Just Around the Corner winds up with its inevitable happy ending—this thing is, after all, an ad—before concluding with a humorous scene that finds Donnelly scolding Warren for a late night raid on Jerry and Ginger’s refrigerator. Our stars are barely visible at this finish as the entire scene is lit by the inside of the G.E. fridge.
It was worth the hunt just to hear Warren get off a few good lines and to wonder what Bette Davis must have really been thinking as she marveled over these products. Her most unintentionally hilarious moment comes when the dishwasher finishes its cycle and Donnelly offers to dry the dishes for her. Davis channels her later, hot-tempered characters when she snaps at Donnelly, “They do that for themselves,” with surely more ferocity than General Electric would have wished.
I have to hand it to the entire cast for at least (mostly) attempting enthusiasm. As this General Electric production was distributed by Warner Brothers, who held contracts on all of the players, the actors were probably not paid any extra for doing this. In fact, this is likely a case of do it or else.
Mr. Sears checks out Ginger’s hands. Left to right: Dick Powell, Ruth Donnelly, Warren William and Bette Davis.
As for its merits as a commercial Just Around the Corner is heavy-handed in its message but it surely gets it across to its Depression-ravaged audience: General Electric pays for itself. You’ll be better off with our products than without them. And you don’t even have to pay for anything up front.
Prosperity. It’s just around the corner for the General Electric customer.
But if money isn’t an issue, if you’re well-off but intimidated by all these newfangled devices, then Mrs. Sears thinks out loud for you: “You know, when we were first able to afford a servant, my greatest happiness is that I would have no more dishes to wash. You know I almost want to keep house for myself this new way. I think it should be fun”
Just Around the Corner is highly recommended for one-time viewing … let’s hope it still plays below:
Note: As noted in the comments section, Ray Faiola has uploaded a new and improved print of Just Around the Corner to YouTube in August 2016 (Thanks again, Ray!). The new video is now featured below:
Available on Amazon for just $2.99 -
Just fabulous! Now if someone could only find that Paramount newsreel……*
*there’s a color Paramount newsreel/short film interviewing Warren about his woodworking and invention hobbies. Warren even shows off some of his work! Was broadcast on AMC before they went totally commercial, mid-1990’s? Come on, you collectors!!!
I FOUND SOME INFO! From shieldspictures.com:
In 1937 Paramount Pictures commissioned UNUSUAL OCCUPATIONS, a new series of theatrical short subjects from Jerry Fairbanks Productions. These ten minute films, shot in glorious Magnacolor, cost the Studio nearly as much to produce as their full-length features.
The series profiled strange jobs, weird work, bizarre hobbies & crazy collections from all over the globe.
It was considered a very high risk venture.
It wasn’t expected to last.
It ran for 12 years.
UNUSUAL OCCUPATIONS throws the spotlight on ordinary, everyday people who have chosen “the path less travelled” in the pursuit of extraordinarily odd jobs, crazy careers and hysterical hobbies. The series presents an incredible chronicle of pop culture, lifestyles and remarkable achievements by individuals the world over.
If “Ripley’s Believe It or Not” had produced a color motion picture series for the Silver Screen it would have looked exactly like this!
Sometimes outrageous (a woman who sells deceased fleas outfitted in evening attire), often remarkable (a young illustrator shows-off his line of whimsical sculptures – the first film footage ever captured of a young Dr. Seuss), the astonishing “blasts from the past” from UNUSUAL OCCUPATIONS are as riveting today as when they first premiered.
NOW HERE’S THE SCOOP:
“Unusual Occupations” – 1938
Episode Three: Fish Net Clothing Designer; Mexico City Metal Sculptor; Crazy
Quilts from Tobacco Sacks; Historical English Roof Thatching;
Madame Tussaud’s World Famous Wax Museum; ****Movie Actor
Warren Williams – Hollywood’s Leading ‘Gadgeteer.’****
There’s a compilation video but sadly no Warren, but I will not rest until we can see this on your site!!!
John,
I’m assuming you saw the contact info for the Shields people. Unfortunately the address of their store just redirects back to that main site. And reading around I’m a bit afraid that their titles can only be licensed for big bucks and not had on a DVD for 15-25 bucks as I’d wish.
Cliff
So glad I didn’t miss this! Thanks, Cliff!
Glad you caught it, Jeffers!
By the way, planning on posting again this week. It was while researching another Warren movie that I bumped into this video on Friday night.
Great “miniature” from a great era. Drama, humor, excellent cast & Warren does an outstanding job! Thanks for finding this!
Glad you enjoyed it, Jay.
Big thanks to whoever posted it on YouTube, they really did me a favor!
Any day when I get to watch a never-before-seen performance by Mr. William is a good day!
That was my feeling when I found it! And there aren’t too many of those days left, though I still need to see more of the shorts including the one John named above.
Well, if I can’t see a “new” performance, I can always default back to something like “The Case of the Lucky Legs” – put any of his 4 Mason flicks on & I’m good! 🙂
Whoops, Jay, it appears we’ve hit the maximum number of replies, so I hope you see this new comment thread.
Anyway, I’ve been watching Don’t Bet on Blondes all week and hope to have two posts (1 here; 1 on Immortal Ephemera) up by morning … or Sunday morning at the latest!
For a little break last night I watched my copy of Expensive Women that I recorded off of Turner Classic Movies a couple of birthdays ago (Warren birthdays, that is). I must confess, I think I forgot to watch it when it originally aired. It was fresh and unfamiliar and within about 10 minutes I was ready to admit I had never seen it before! It wasn’t great, but it was new-to-me Warren, so a bit of a thrill!
Yes, as I recall, he’s really not in Expensive Women very much at all. Almost a cameo. But if I’m remembering the same film, he does have a scene near the beginning where he’s playing piano for a few moments. Then he has a scene near the end of the film. And those are the most interesting sequences in the entire picture!
Yes, he’s actually in the first third quite a bit, then by the time H.B. Warner shows up he disappears only to return for the scene at the end. Given the early date, and the billing under H.B., I was actually expecting less.
Hey Cliff! Just got a chance to catch this for the first time – thanks for posting! What an accumulation of talent just for this cheap ballyhoo. It makes you wonder if there are any other similarly star-studded promos out there: maybe Clark Gable and Jean Harlow for Pepsodent? Or Bill Powell and Myrna Loy hawking Bird’s Eye frozen peas?
Anyway, Happy New Year and thanks for the continuing Warren William detective work. I always learn or see something new on your sites…
Say, Cliff, loved this informative article and the comments above.
Do you have any idea if this short was directed by an in-house Warner Bros. employee? I am assuming that it was probably photographed at the studio. GE seemed to have an “in” at WB, since their logo was all over that 42nd St. Special train that Lyle Talbot and stars rode across country to co-celebrate the movie of the same name and the beginning of the New Deal.
Thanks so much for all this information.
Thanks, Moira. I didn’t see anything in my notes, so I think all I have on this is what’s included up above. Did a quick Lantern search too, and came up empty. Sorry about that!
Glad you enjoyed JUST AROUND THE CORNER. This is my 16mm print. I’m going to do a new upload that should be a great improvement over the current one. Warners has 35mm materials on this but so far they haven’t done anything with it. As you can see, this print is missing the end. I’m assuming there is an epilogue back in the office.
Ray, thanks very much for this, I was so excited when I first found it! It’s a fun little piece. If you think of it, please do let me know when you upload the new version and I’ll replace the embed in this post. Thanks again, pretty sure you made my year when I happened upon this!
Cliff – here’s a link to the new transfer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V7NEjP-_3gI
Thanks so much, Ray! I subscribed to your YouTube last night, but I guess I didn’t dig far enough. Busy morning, but I’m going to try to get to this tonight!
I found it! UNUSUAL OCCUPATIONS, 1938, #3!
http://footage.framepool.com/en/shot/688600286-warren-william-doing-carpentry-driveway-gateway
At least I now know I wasn’t dreaming all those years ago! It looks like you may be able to license this for free as well….
Enjoy WW fans……JOHN McCARTHY
Loved this, John, especially the last bit showing him climbing his bed to that private little nook. And color! Thanks so much for sharing this!
By the way, the WW Unusual Occupations preview segment is definitely not complete, I remember it ending with some kind of car invention, although it’s been so long I could be wrong. If you can’t obtain it for free for your site, I’d be willing to help with the cost of purchase. Let me know how you make out….JOHN McCARTHY
P.S. Now to track down the other “Self” appearances listed on imdb.com…….
P.P.S. I wonder how long it took for Bette Davis to learn how to load the dishwasher. Her hands were visibly shaking…..
[email protected]
Here are some more WW appearances (some fairly brief), over and out for now…..JMc
BREAKDOWNS OF 1936: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4AFDgza3feI (starting A 5:35)
A Dream Comes True (1936 promo featurette for A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’s DREAM): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4B-YLW1pOuA (starting @ 5:40)
A Trip Through A Hollywood Studio (1935) (amazing quality):https://archive.org/details/ATripThroughAHollywoodStudio1935 (@ 5:03)
Things You Never See on the Screen (1935) is an Extra on the G-MEN DVD…..
The Hollywood You Never See (1934): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eihjnlHEKFI (@ 8:54)
Hollywood on Parade No. A-12 (1933): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gwZ0Tqc72S4 (@ 1:30, “Clarence Muse sings a song about the Congo while Warren William listens…!!!”
Thanks, John—I’ll give all of these a look when I head over to check out Ray’s new transfer of Just Around the Corner. Who knows, it might even be time for a new post over here 😉
One correction on the last link, the Hollywood on Parade A-12 is labeled #7 over at YouTube, here it is: https://youtu.be/kW9MN1ZEmxs?t=2m24s – Thanks again, John!