{"id":55871,"date":"2026-11-06T07:00:24","date_gmt":"2026-11-06T12:00:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/?p=55871"},"modified":"2026-11-06T07:03:10","modified_gmt":"2026-11-06T12:03:10","slug":"the-bootleg-files-san-antonio-rose","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/2026\/11\/06\/the-bootleg-files-san-antonio-rose\/","title":{"rendered":"The Bootleg Files: San Antonio Rose"},"content":{"rendered":"

BOOTLEG FILES 952:<\/strong> \u201cSan Antonio Rose\u201d (1941 musical comedy with Lon Chaney Jr. and Shemp Howard). <\/p>\n

LAST SEEN:<\/strong> On YouTube.<\/p>\n

AMERICAN HOME VIDEO:<\/strong> None.<\/p>\n

REASON FOR BOOTLEG STATUS:<\/strong> There may be a rights issue holding it up.<\/p>\n

CHANCES OF SEEING A COMMERCIAL DVD RELEASE:<\/strong> It doesn\u2019t seem likely. <\/p>\n

\u201cSan Antonio Rose\u201d is not a great film. I don\u2019t know if I have the temerity to say that it is a good film. But it is a happy distraction from a long-gone genre: the B-grade jukebox musical that only needed an hour and change to fill the screen with zippy pop songs, good looking young performers, silly comedy relief, and a surplus of energy.
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Universal Pictures specialized in these jukebox musicals during the 1940s. They occupied the lower berths of the double features, and they offered a welcome respite to audiences who only wanted to escape a scary war-torn world and be entertained.<\/p>\n

The film\u2019s concept is pure and lovably utter nonsense. A pair of showgirls (Jane Frazee and Eve Arden) are left stranded from their last gig and hitch a ride from a truck driver to the nearest town. The driver tells them they might be able to get a job at The Plantation, one of two supper clubs in this locality.<\/p>\n

Alas, the club\u2019s owner (the great character actor Luis Alberni) is forced to close his establishment due to the violent pressure from a gangster who owns a rival club. The showgirls arrive as The Plantation is being hastily vacated and wind up being locked inside the club for the night.<\/p>\n

The next morning, a musical ensemble arrives at the club to fulfill an engagement. Realizing the club has been abandoned, they adapt the let\u2019s-put-on-a-show vibe that permeated too many musicals of the era. The gangster who muscled out the previous owner of The Plantation sends a pair of ex-cons to enact the same results with the new occupants. These characters get jobs as a waiter and bartender at The Plantation and try to sabotage the opening night with rude behavior, but the well-heeled patrons mistake their shenanigans for intentional comedy and the opening is a smash.<\/p>\n

Well, that\u2019s a lot to pack into 63 minutes on a too-tight budget. But, amazingly, \u201cSan Antonio Rose\u201d gets the job done with 10 songs on the soundtrack. The songs include the bouncy novelty tune \u201cThe Hut-Sut Song\u201d that was popular during the 1940s (even Horton the elephant sang it in a Warner Bros. cartoon) and the title track that was popularized by Bob Wills. Most of the musical numbers were carried by The Merry Macs, a wholesome quartet that turned up in several Universal films, most notably the Abbott and Costello comedy \u201cRide \u2018Em Cowboy.\u201d<\/p>\n

Abbott and Costello are not part of \u201cSan Antonio Rose,\u201d but there is a near facsimile with Lon Chaney Jr. and Shemp Howard as the comedy relief ex-cons. Chaney takes the Abbott part and constantly slaps Howard when he says something dumb. But both of them are overpowered mentally and physically by Eve Arden, who displays her trademark sarcastic humor amid the various contrivances that surround her character.<\/p>\n

Robert Paige as the bandleader and Jane Frazee as the showgirl who becomes the club\u2019s singing star are the nominal romantic leads, but they don\u2019t resonate. More fun can be found in some unbilled appearances by Vernon Dent as a pompous nightclub patron who is on the receiving end of Chaney\u2019s ill temper and the immortal Bobby Barber as a waiter whose toupee keeps coming loose.<\/p>\n

\u201cSan Antonio Rose\u201d never blossomed on digital commercial home entertainment formats. Most likely, the film\u2019s music rights are a big problem in clearing. But thankfully, an enterprising bootlegger has the film on YouTube in a good quality unauthorized upload. Trust me, you\u2019ll have more fun watching \u201cSan Antonio Rose\u201d in 63 minutes than sitting through three hours of Elizabeth Holmes and Nathan Fielder! <\/p>\n