King for a Day (1934)/Rufus Jones for President (1933)

In King for a Day, Bill Robinson is a talented dancer who wins a musical show in a craps game. The story is charming, but the real purpose of the short seems to showcase the various performers, including Robinson himself.  

In Rufus Jones for President, a bullied Sammy Davis Jr. comes crying to his mother Ethel Waters who helps him to imagine a reality where he has become President. The two leads are fantastic talents, but it’s especially great to see such a tiny little Davis dance. He looks exactly like he did 50 years later, just somewhat smaller. Both of the shorts are interesting artifacts of Black talent in the 1930s though there is sadly a bit of eye-rolling stereotyping at play.