More Singing Sisters: Rosetta and Vivian Duncan

Rosemary Clooney and Vera Ellen's knockout 1954 duet--which Ms. Kid discusses below-- seems to have come near the end of an era. It's an era we ought to pay more attention to: The Age of the Sister Act.

Throughout the early 20th century, sisters—-whether real blood relations or friends who figured feigning kin would be good for business--sang, danced, fenced, wrestled, and contorted themselves across the American stage. Joe Laurie gives one explanation for their ubiquity in his 1953 history of Vaudeville: "Audiences would rather see a mediocre sister act than a good brother act (they were better to look at)."

I know good looks don't hurt, but I've got a hunch that there's a lot more to say about the particular appeals of these girl groups. Take the Weston Sisters, who apparently sang in German before boxing with one another. Or take Rosetta and Vivian Duncan, whose 1923 musical burlesque of Uncle Tom's Cabin, Topsy and Eva, became a nationwide smash.

The Duncan Sisters had been singing in variety shows for years, but when Rosetta donned black face to play Topsy, the girls hit the big time. Topsy had been a relatively minor character in Stowe's novel, but Rosetta and Vivian--following an established minstrel tradition-- put the mischievious young girl front and center, where she dances circles around simpering, angelic, little Eva. The Duncans made Topsy and Eva seem like both twins and polar opposites. In the final scene of the 1927 silent film version, the two girls even climb into bed together! Is this a sign of racial reconciliation? Of Topsy's subservience to Evangeline's conquering Christian love? Or a sly wink to audiences who know that the actresses are really white, and related?

I don't want to go too far into analysis here, but the University of Virginia has some interesting essays alongside some amazing film clips from Topsy and Eva here, and you can read more about the various productions here.)