Yacht Club Boys
Encyclopedia
The Yacht Club Boys was a quartet of American comic singers, popular in the 1920s and 1930s: Charles Adler
, George Kelly, Billy Mann, and Jimmie Kern (later known professionally as James V. Kern
). They made recordings from the 1920s and appeared as a specialty act in several feature films of the 1930s. The Yacht Club Boys' screen career (and on-screen behavior) paralleled those of The Ritz Brothers, a zany musical-comedy trio doing the same type of musical burlesques.
The Yacht Club Boys began as a "collegiate" group, dressing in varsity-styled sweaters and slacks, and singing novelty tunes in breezy fashion ("I'm Wild About Horns on an Automobile", "Nasty Nancy, the Meanest Gal in Town"). They later expanded their act to include sharper, broader humor, satirizing current events and trends. They composed much of their own material, credited in alphabetical order to "Adler, Kelly, Kern, and Mann." They brought great energy to their performances, with brash songs like "You're Broke, You Dope" and "The Super-Special Picture of the Year." Perhaps their most familiar screen appearance is in Al Jolson
's The Singing Kid, in which the four outspoken comics persistently try to keep Jolson from singing outdated "mammy songs."
Adler, Kelly, Kern, and Mann also starred in musical short subjects, first for Paramount Pictures
in 1929-30, then for Vitaphone
in 1936 (with titles emphasizing their wacky approach: Dough-Nuts, The Vodka Boatmen, etc.). The group disbanded in 1939; Jimmie Kern became a screenwriter and later a director.
Feature films include:
Charles Adler (stage actor)
Charles Adler was an American stage and motion picture actor of the 1920s to 1940s. He was the son of actors Jacob Pavlovitch Adler and Jenny Kaiser and stepson of Sara Adler, and the half-brother of Luther Adler, Stella Adler, and Jay Adler, all also actors.He was a member of the Yacht Club Boys,...
, George Kelly, Billy Mann, and Jimmie Kern (later known professionally as James V. Kern
James V. Kern
James V. Kern was an American singer, songwriter, screenwriter, actor, and director.Educated at the Fordham Law School, Kern worked for a while as an attorney...
). They made recordings from the 1920s and appeared as a specialty act in several feature films of the 1930s. The Yacht Club Boys' screen career (and on-screen behavior) paralleled those of The Ritz Brothers, a zany musical-comedy trio doing the same type of musical burlesques.
The Yacht Club Boys began as a "collegiate" group, dressing in varsity-styled sweaters and slacks, and singing novelty tunes in breezy fashion ("I'm Wild About Horns on an Automobile", "Nasty Nancy, the Meanest Gal in Town"). They later expanded their act to include sharper, broader humor, satirizing current events and trends. They composed much of their own material, credited in alphabetical order to "Adler, Kelly, Kern, and Mann." They brought great energy to their performances, with brash songs like "You're Broke, You Dope" and "The Super-Special Picture of the Year." Perhaps their most familiar screen appearance is in Al Jolson
Al Jolson
Al Jolson was an American singer, comedian and actor. In his heyday, he was dubbed "The World's Greatest Entertainer"....
's The Singing Kid, in which the four outspoken comics persistently try to keep Jolson from singing outdated "mammy songs."
Adler, Kelly, Kern, and Mann also starred in musical short subjects, first for Paramount Pictures
Paramount Pictures
Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film production and distribution company, located at 5555 Melrose Avenue in Hollywood. Founded in 1912 and currently owned by media conglomerate Viacom, it is America's oldest existing film studio; it is also the last major film studio still...
in 1929-30, then for Vitaphone
Vitaphone
Vitaphone was a sound film process used on feature films and nearly 1,000 short subjects produced by Warner Bros. and its sister studio First National from 1926 to 1930. Vitaphone was the last, but most successful, of the sound-on-disc processes...
in 1936 (with titles emphasizing their wacky approach: Dough-Nuts, The Vodka Boatmen, etc.). The group disbanded in 1939; Jimmie Kern became a screenwriter and later a director.
Feature films include:
- Deep 'C' Melodies (1930)
- The Singing Kid (1935)
- Thanks a MillionThanks A MillionThanks a Million is a 1935 musical film produced and released by 20th Century Fox and directed by Roy Del Ruth. It stars Dick Powell, Ann Dvorak and Fred Allen, and features Patsy Kelly, David Rubinoff and Paul Whiteman and his band with singer/pianist Ramona. The script by Nunnally Johnson was...
(1935) - They're Off (1936)
- Stage Struck (1936)
- Pigskin Parade (1936)
- Artists and Models (1937)
- Thrill of a Lifetime (1937, billed as the stars)
- Cocoanut Grove (1938)
- Artists and Models Abroad (1938)