Las Vegas Nights (1941): A light musical comedy that features Tommy Dorsey, his trumpet and his orchestra. There’s six or seven musical numbers in the movie, one of which features a young Frank Sinatra singing “I’ll Never Smile Again,” in his first movie appearance. Also look for Buddy Rich, on the drums.

The movie stars Constance Moore, Virginia Dale, Lillian Cornell and Bert Wheeler as vaudevillians that inherit a dilapidated old building in Las Vegas. They decide to fix up the property and open a small club. Shyster lawyer Hank Ladd represents the group, and he represents a land developer who wants to buy the property…mostly, though, he represents himself. Norma (Constance Moore) gets romantically involved with the land developer’s son, but neither of them knows that his father wants the property. Add a mule, a few pigeons, and some casino shots and you end up with a movie that’s fun to watch. I’d give the movie 3.5 stars.

For those who love old Vegas and gambling: This movie is a peek at Las Vegas before there was a strip. The movie was released in 1941, the same year that the El Rancho Vegas opened as the first resort on Highway 91, later known as the Strip. During the opening credits you’ll get glimpses of many old casino signs including the Apache Casino, Boulder Club, Northern Club and the original Las Vegas Club. The opening scene is a group of singing cowboys riding down Fremont Street past the Northern Club, Las Vegas Club, White Spot Café, Frontier Club and Oasis Café. Much of the movie, including a lot of the gambling scenes, takes place at the (fictitious) Nevada Club. One scene has a lot of chips tumbling into a hat, the chips appear to be generic. There are slot machines on the sidewalk, in the lawyer’s waiting room and in his inner office! There’s a short montage of gambling scenes featuring the wheel of fortune, craps and chuck-a-luck, interspersed with signs that include one for the Kiva Casino. I’d give the Vegas/gambling scenes 4.5 “chips”.