Hal LeRoy was a great dancer! What a shame he never got the publicity or roles that others got. I wonder how many people today know of him? To be honest, I did not.....until I saw this little 21-minute "short" that was part of the Barbara Stanwyck movie DVD "Annie Oakley."
LeRoy was even skinnier than Fred Astaire, and had big protruding teeth but he had nice, pleasant face overall with a great smile and, man, this guy could dance.
In the first minute, we see Hal doing some sort of Charlestown dance number and his footwork is unbelievable! I've never seen anything like it. Later in the movie, a woman calls him "Rubber legs," and that is a very accurate description.
Later, we see LeRoy and other dancers do several numbers, including some with a sidewalk that is like one long, narrow trampoline. There is some pretty inventive material in here. The story isn't much, but it's mainly a short musical and helps promote to talents of LeRoy which, in my opinion, were awesome. I'd like to see more of this guy strut his stuff. He's entertaining!
