George White's Scandals

George White's Scandals were a long-running string of Broadway revues produced by George White that ran from 1919–1939, modeled after the Ziegfeld Follies.[1] The "Scandals" launched the careers of many entertainers, including W. C. Fields, the Three Stooges, Ray Bolger, Helen Morgan, Ethel Merman, Ann Miller, Eleanor Powell, Bert Lahr and Rudy Vallée.[1] Louise Brooks, Dolores Costello, Barbara Pepper, and Alice Faye got their show business start as lavishly dressed (or underdressed) chorus girls strutting to the "Scandal Walk". Much of George Gershwin's early work appeared in the 1920–24 editions of Scandals. The Black Bottom, danced by Ziegfeld Follies star Ann Pennington and Tom Patricola, touched off a national dance craze.

Tom Patricola and Ann Pennington dance "The Black Bottom" for George White

George White's Scandals is also the name of several movies set within the Scandals, all of which focus primarily on the show's acts, with a thin backstage plot stringing them all together. The best known of these was 1934's George White's Scandals written by Jack Yellen, which marked the film debut of Alice Faye.[2] Flapper-era cartoonist and designer Russell Patterson worked on Broadway in various capacities; for George White's Scandals of 1936, he served as scenic designer.[3] George White's Scandals of 1920 was featured in an episode of the television series The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles.