The Weaver Brothers and Elviry were musical comedy vaudeville and film performers, in the "hillbilly" style. The group consisted of brothers Leon "Abner" Weaver and Frank "Cicero" Weaver, with June "Elviry" Weaver. The group headlined a traveling vaudeville show with Abner as the master of ceremonies, presenting songs, comedy, dancing, acrobatic acts and barnyard imitations.[1]
The act was built around the three performers' comedic personalities. Abner was a loquacious, genial hillbilly who was sharper than he first appears. Cicero was a bashful clown, who only speaks through whistles. Elviry was sharp-tongued and belligerent, with a deadpan comic style.[2]
The group also made a series of films for Republic Pictures in the late 1930s and early 40s. Their first film appearance was in the 1938 Warner Bros. movie Swing Your Lady, starring Humphrey Bogart.[3] They were picked up by Republic, which produced films targeted at rural audiences who were already fans of the Weavers' vaudeville act. Their first Republic picture, 1938's Down in 'Arkansaw', had the Weavers second-billed after Ralph Byrd; with their second film, the 1939 Jeepers Creepers, they received top billing.[2] After the box office success of Jeepers Creepers, Republic signed a contract with the Weavers for three movies a year for the next two years.[4] The series lasted for eleven films, ending in 1943 with Mountain Rhythm.