Film clip of Hal Leroy tap dancing in Too Many Girls: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

A film clip of Hal Leroy tap dancing in the musical comedy Too Many Girls. It consists of a single reel of positive, black-and-white, 16mm acetate film with bilateral variable-area optical sound. In the opening scene, a piece of a page appears on the screen that says [ANTI-ROMANTIC CLAUSE]. Next, People can be seen running through a gate and adorning themselves with sombreros and other accessories. The group then begins to dance in unison, filling an entire courtyard. At 00:01:43, Terwilliger (Hal Le Roy) jumps atop a circular fixture in the courtyard and does a tap dance routine. The other people stop dancing and watch as Terwilliger performs. At one point, he jumps off the fixture and the other people resume dancing.

Materials, dates and provenance

• Date: 1940
• Directed by: George Abbott, American, 1887 - 1995
• Subject of: Hal Le Roy, American, 1913 - 1985
• Owned by: Ernie Smith, American, ca. 1925 - 2004
• Type: sound films
• Type: black-and-white films (visual works)
• Type: 16mm (photographic film size)
• Type: film clips
• Medium: acetate film
• Dimensions: Duration (digital file): 00:03:50
• Dimensions: Physical extent (film): 170 ft
• Place depicted: New Mexico, United States, North and Central America
• Topic: African American
• Topic: Film
• Topic: Jazz (Music)
• Topic: Musical films
• Topic: Tap dancing
• Object number: 2015.275.33.1a
• Credit Line: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Anonymous Gift in memory of Ernest (Ernie) R. Smith, Jazz Historian
• Data Source: National Museum of African American History and Culture

Sources and reuse

Catalogue descriptions and facts adapted from National Museum of African American History and Culture through the Smithsonian's official Open Access dataset. This record explicitly marks its metadata CC0 1.0; formatting and selection have been changed. The underlying object's rights statement is: Restrictions likely apply. Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.