This is the sort of film that single-handedly gives young whippersnappers plenty of ammo when they say that old movies are no good! While there are lots of wonderful old shorts such as Laurel and Hardy, classic cartoons, etc., the very early years of sound pictures also brought some very strange and stupid stuff as well. This 8 minutes short from Vitaphone is a great example of strange and stupid, that's for sure! There's really no plot to the film. It starts with Mae Questel blowing bubbles under a tree. I immediately recognized her as the voice of Betty Boop and Olive Oyl, though she looked much more like Mary Pickford. What I did not recognize shortly after this opening scene was a very very young Judy Garland as one of the Gumm Sisters who did some really pathetic song and dance numbers. It honestly looked like one of those grade school pageants parents are forced to endure, except in this case the sound quality was pretty poor! Only see this if you are curious about seeing Ms. Questel or Ms. Garland for purely historical reasons. Otherwise, it's like witnessing a train wreck--a ghastly and blood-curdling train wreck!
PS--I STRONGLY agree with the other two posters that found the old guy with the cigar to be really creepy! He was sort of like the officiator over this awful pageant and I don't think most parents would feel very comfortable about leaving their tykes with him!
Also, the film says 'Technicolor' at the beginning, but the surviving print today is in black & white.