The moviegoing public's definition of "popcorn entertainment" has altered slightly over the years. These days, the term largely applies to explosive action bonanzas, but way back when, a bit of zippy dialogue, some nice tunes, and glamorous costumes were all it took to occupy folks for an hour or so. These vintage musicals were designed to dazzle the eyes and ears, incorporating just enough plot (usually romantically-inclined) to excuse its frequent flights of fancy. Modern tastes may lean more towards indulging in divinely silly Fast & Furious car chases than with gazing at gowns, but for those movie buffs who never heard a melody that didn't get them swooning, the Warner Archive collection has your back. With an enviable pool of classic studio catalogues to plunder, Warner Archive has plenty to offer musical fans, including three toe-tapping treasures that yours truly recently had the privilege to pop in.

FASHIONS OF 1934  (1934). A hopeless schemer (William Powell) turns to duping connoisseurs of haute couture. Akin to the same year's Pat O'Brien dramedy I Sell Anything, Fashions of 1934 aims to allure its audience with fast-talking wordplay, in addition to ladies adorned with the eponymous eye-catching styles. As with that other movie, this story tends to cheat us on the human element, although more of an effort to toy with the premise is made here. Half the fun of watching Fashions of 1934 involves Powell's hustler finding ways to keep wheeling and dealing after getting shut out of avenue upon avenue; if you're going to spend an hour and change with a crook, it helps to have an individual as lovably sneaky as him in the cast. But once the flick settles into a routine of recycled running gags, one realizes swiftly that there isn't much else to it, aside from a hastily-developed romance with Bette Davis' artist character, pretty clothes, and a musical number so engagingly dreamlike, you're left cheesed that it's the only one the thing has to its name. Some classic movie buffs may be enticed and entertained by Fashions of 1934's mildly naughty streak, but even for an era in which musicals already weren't teeming with substance, this ditty feels particularly weightless.

THE GOLDWYN FOLLIES (1938). When audiences jeer at his latest picture, Hollywood producer Oliver Merlin (Adolph Menjou) enlists small-town girl Hazel (Andrea Leeds) to give his next flick the human touch. Giving itself the perfect platform from which to both satirize and celebrate Tinseltown, The Goldwyn Follies quickly abandons all pretenses of riffing on the era's many overblown musical revues, in favor of just joining the herd. This isn't to say that its multitude of skits and set pieces aren't varied or fun, which they certainly can be, ranging from the lowbrow comic antics of the Ritz Brothers to more artistic fare like a "jazz vs. ballet" dance-off take on "Romeo and Juliet." But although its premise sets the stage to give Hollywood's propensity for tired tropes a nice lampooning, The Goldwyn Follies never follows through with any clever material. Hazel's suggestions (which boil down to her wanting happy endings) aren't especially observant, Oliver doesn't really struggle to integrate her advice into the production, and, for that matter, we aren't privy to enough of the movie-in-a-movie to judge whether Hazel is making a difference. It's tradition with flicks like The Goldwyn Follies to ignore the narrative hang-ups and let the melodies carry you away, but with stakes as glaringly hollow as this tale's, one can't help fighting the current just a bit.

SWING PARADE OF 1946 (1946). A young singer (Gale Storm) cozies up to a nightclub owner (Phil Regan) whose father wants to roust him out of show business. Best known for their quickie westerns and thrillers, Monogram Pictures ponied up a little extra coin to create the musical spectacle that was Swing Parade of 1946. From "Stormy Weather" to "The Mule," the studio sure didn't skimp on the songs, as no less than nine of them have been worked into this flick's 74 minutes, with plenty of reprises and such to go around. In fact, the film feels a bit too tune-heavy, taking constant breaks to perform yet another number and, in the process, only bringing more attention to how repetitive and wafer thin the story is. Regardless, with a soundtrack so enjoyable and the production's spirits so high, one can't complain too much, especially with matters made further jovial by the presence of the Three Stooges. Their roles as bumbling waiters give Larry, Moe, and Curly ample opportunities to play out some of their most famous routines, including a hunt for a watch down the drain that turns into the mother of all leaks. Relentlessly chipper and never without something onscreen to get your feet moving, Swing Parade of 1946 is as threadbare in plot as it is totally charming.

(Fashions of 1934, The Goldwyn Follies, and Swing Parade of 1946 are available on DVD from the Warner Archive Collection: http://www.warnerarchive.com)