One of the most bizarre musical numbers I’ve ever found in a Hollywood movie is this number, called “Peckin’” which comes out of nowhere in NEW FACES OF 1937. It’s presented in the middle of a show called “New Faces” being given an out-of-town tryout and it features an array of black dancers and musicians who had not appeared previously in the film. It opens with a trio of farmers, played by the Three Chocolateers, who observe the pecking motions of chickens and then duplicate it before moving to a huge nightclub set where they now become dancing waiters for a crowd of black diners, who soon imitate the pecking motions while a band plays. Dancers come out of the mouth of a huge demonic fa...