Here’s a recently ‘unearthed’ (according to the YouTuber who has kindly provided it) promotional film for Las Vegas made in 1955. It’s a remarkable document, not so much for what it includes as for it what it excludes. While extolling the many fun activities tourists can have when visiting the resort city–primarily golf and swimming and that’s about it–it fails to mention the fact that gambling was legal, encouraged, and heavily profitable for the place. The shot of the strip at night comes only at the last third of the twelve minute movie and touts how much fun the nightclubs are without a word about the casinos. We get a rare view of an early Vegas entrepreneur Wilbur Clark (along with his gargantuan secretary) talking on the telephone in his office. Who’s he talking to? It’s not revealed but I have a feeling it’s someone whose last name is something like Gambino or Luciano. (Or maybe Corleone?) Now, why did Noel Coward’s name make it into the title of this post? Well, the same year that this film was made, Wilbur Clark–whose club was called the ‘Desert Inn’–made the odd choice of booking the debonair and veddy veddy English writer/performer/compoer/lyricist/actor/actress/director Noel Coward to do an nightclub act. Coward rather impishly agreed–Clark must have paid him a bundle. The resulting act was recorded and released on LP as “Noel Coward At Las Vegas”. I’ve loved this album for years–Coward is a delight and the big band arrangements by Peter Matz swing hard. Below I’ve posted the album in full. Highlights are Coward’s hyper-speed ‘Mad Dogs And Englishman’, a lovely rather forgotten song called ‘World Weary’, the very funny ‘Bar On The Piccola Marina’ and his delightful rewrite of the lyrics to Cole Porter’s ‘Let’s Do It’. Tah-tah!