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| Volume 10 Number 1 |
Spring/Summer 2010
|
When we began The Vitaphone Project in 1991 and decided to issue a periodic newsletter, Vitaphone News, co-founder David Goldenberg was concerned. He did not believe we would have enough material to fill two issues a year. He also believed -- as we all did at the time --- that the number of discovered soundtrack disks would likely taper off after a few years.
Happily, nothing could be further from the truth. Thanks to the internet --- which was in its infancy when the Project started --- we hear about 100 - 300 soundtrack disks in private hands each year. There have also been single large collections of discs, some as large as 600, that have turned up. And while it is rarer for 35mm film to surface at this late date, even that material has been found. Last year, the two color Technicolor print for MAMBA (Tiffany/'30) was found. Previously (and separately) another color reel of 35mm for the otherwise lost GOLD DIGGERS OF BROADWAY (WB/'30) was found along with color 35mm from THE PATRIOT (Par/'28).
These film discoveries have one thing in common: they were all found in Australia. The theory is that once disks and prints got to Australia and New Zealand, it cost too much to ship them back to Hollywood after their run. So they remained 'down under'. The volume of Australian discoveries in recent years seems to bear this theory out. Last year, a collection of 83 mainly Columbia 1929-30 soundtrack disks were found. About 8 years ago, the soundtrack for the otherwise mute 1937 three-strip Technicolor MGM all-star short HOLLYWOOD PARTY was located and remarried with the picture. That short is now on Warner Archive's Classic Musical Shorts from the Dream Factory (4-Disc Set)
The Australian discoveries have continued unabated in recent months.Collector Frank James contacted us this spring and sent a list of two dozen soundtrack disks. They are listed in our Disc-overies column in this issue. All five of the disks he has for Vitaphone shorts translate into restoration possibilities. The mute film elements for each reside at The Library of Congress for JIM AND BETTY MORGAN ('29), MEXICAN TIPICA ORCHESTRA ('29), THE IMPERIAL RUSSIAN COSSACKS ('28), WHAT PRICE PIANO? with PAULINE ALPERT ('27) and JOHN BARCLAY, IMPERSONATOR ('27). Frank kindly dubbed each of his disks to CD for us and has said he would make them available should restoration funding for these films be identified.
On an even larger scale, we were told about Australia's Powerhouse Museum and that their website indicated they held over 50 (unnamed) early soundtrack disks. This was a collection we knew absolute nothing about. We emailed them, and within a day, museum curator Campbell Bickerstaff immediately responded with a full list of their soundtrack disk holdings. We were surprised to hear that he and the archive knew about The Vitaphone Project. Virtually all of the Powerhouse disks are for 1929-30 MGM Movietone shorts and features. Because some performers made multiple shorts with nearly identical titles, it still needs to be determined if the Australian disks match the surviving 35mm prints held by WB. These include shorts by singing group Keller Sister and Lynch, and a band short by Vincent Lopez. A Movietine short by Our Gang's Ernest "Sunshine Sammy" Morrison is definitely restorable, as he only made one short and the Powerhouse's disk goes with WB's surviving 35mm mute film. George Feltenstein is supporting the effort to move ahead on restorations where they are possible.
Here is a list of The Powerhouse Museum's soundtrack disk holdings:
- SKY BOY ('29), reel 1 - this is a Hal Roach Langdon short. Picture only had survived. Now restorable.
- BROADWAY MELODY ('29) - reels 1, 2
- WHITE SHADOWS IN THE SOUTH SEAS ('28) reels 4
- THE ONE THAT I LOVE LOVES ME (?) reels 4, 5 ('29) currently unknown MGM film
- HOLLYWOOD REVUE OF 1929 trailer
- HOLLYWOOD REVUE OF 1929 ('29) - reels 1 - 13
- SUNSHINE SAMMY - MGM Movietone short. Now restorable
- VINCENT LOPEZ - MGM Movietone short. Possibly restorable (2 by this title)
- HAPPINESS BOYS sing 'Who's That Pretty Baby?' ('29) - MGM Movietone short
- PHIL SPITALNY BAND REVUE ('29) - MGM Movietone short
- ALIAS JIMMY VALENTINE ('28) - reels 1, 4,
- ED & LOU MILLER in 'AUFWIEDERSCHEN' ('29) - MGM Movietone short
- YVETTE RUGEL sings 'Ginanninamia' ('29) - MGM Movietone short
- YVETTE RUGEL sings 'Paradise Lost' ('29) - MGM Movietone short
- BOB NELSON ('28) - MGM Movietone short
- GUS EDWARDS SONG REVUE ('29) - reels 1 and 2 of 2 reel MGM Movietone short
- GUS EDWARDS INTERNATIONAL REVUE ('29) - MGM Movietone short
- JAN GARBER'S BAND ('28) - MGM Movietone short (2 by this title)
- GEORGE DEWEY ROBINSON ('28) - MGM Movietone short
- GEORGIE PRICE in 'WHAT PRICE GEORGIE?" ('29)- MGM Movietone short
- THE DOLL SHOP ('29)- reels 1 and 2 of two reel Technicolor MGM Movietone short
- TOM WARING sings 'Glad Rag Doll' ('29) - MGM Movietone short
- BERNARDO DE PACE('29) - MGM Movietone short
- EMIL BOREO('29) - MGM Movietone short
- VAN SCHENCK sings 'Everything Will Be Alright' ('29) - MGM Movietone short
- PHIL SPITALNY'S BAND plays 'Farewell Blues' ('29) - MGM Movietone short (2 by this title)
- KELLER SISTERS AND LYNCH ('29) - MGM Movietone short. Possibly restorable.
- CLYDE DOERR AND HIS ORCHESTRA ('29) - MGM Movietone short
In addition to these Australian finds, film collector and documentarian Paul Gierucki discovered a lost Keystone short with Charlie Chaplin. This incredible find was shown at this year's Slapsticon and will be shown at Cinecon in September in Los Angeles. The short marks one of Chaplin's earliest screen appearances.
- Gerry Orlando, Rick Scheckman and Bob Oliver did a wonderful job on Cinefest this year in Syracuse. This was the four day film festival's 30th anniversary. Early talkie enthusiasts had an embarrassment of riches to enjoy, including A Song in the Dark: The Birth of the Musical Film
author Richard Barrios' presentation of rare early musical clips, a 35mm screening of Shaw & Lee's MGM short GENTLEMEN OF POLISH, and a rare showing of Paul Muni's 1929 Fox feature, THE VALIANT
- Writer Anthony Slide, whose books Nitrate Won't Wait: A History of Film Preservation in the United States
, The Big V
, and The Encyclopedia of Vaudeville:
are in most Vitaphone News readers' homes, has a new book out titled Inside the Hollywood Fan Magazine: A History of Star Makers, Fabricators, and Gossip Mongers
- Vitaphone Project co-founder John Newton will begin selling some of his rare personality, transcription and soundtrack recordings on eBay soon. John's eBay ID is Shellac78 and he can be contacted at NewtonJJ2@aol.com
- Dorothy DeBorba, who appeared in 24 early sound Our Gang shorts from PUPS IS PUPS (1930) to MUSH AND MILK (1933) died in June. In her later years, she was a regular guest at Sons of the Desert events
- Doris Eaton Travis, 106, died on May 11, 2010. She debuted in the Ziegfeld Follies in the 1918 edition and often worked with her 3 siblings (including Mary, star of THE COCOANUTS (Par/'29)) on Broadway. She appeared in some silent films and made her talkie debut in THE VERY IDEA (RKO/'29)
- Legendary pianist Peter Mintun has begun performing an almost daily series of twenties and thirties pop tunes on YouTube, introducing each with some background, then performing each on his grand piano. Many are early talkie tunes. Check them out thru his YouTube ID petermintunmusic
- The Project's Ron Hutchinson appeared on NPR's Leonard Lopate Show to plug the Film Forum Vitaphone program
- The Project continues to hear from relatives of Vitaphone performers seeking information on their films. Since our last issue, we have heard from relatives of Val & Ernie Stanton (who appeared in two recently restored 1928 shorts that will be screened this year), Arthur "Pat" West (whose restored short is being shown at Film Forum in July) and the singing comedy team Cross and Dunn, who made 6 Vitaphone shorts
- Dudley Heer, who has already funded nearly 20 Vitaphone shorts restorations, has again shown his generosity by covering the costs to make 35mm prints of the nearly 50 recently restored Vitaphone shorts now in the WB/UCLA pipeline
- Tap dancer and author Rusty Frank has recently produced a DVD, "Vintage Burlesque" which is chock full of vintage on modern performance, interviews, a documentary and much more. For more info, go to http://www.rustyfrank.com
Warner Archive continues to regularly release rare shorts and features on DVD from the Turner vaults. In addition to the long awaited Mammy
With the first group from the 53 Vitaphone restorations becoming available for viewing after eight decades, there will be a number of opportunities to see these shorts on the big screen...
FILM FORUM - NYC
Will be screening twelve of the recently restored shorts on July 20th. Title to be shown are:
- GOTHAM RHYTHM BOYS (1929)
- BORN & LAWRENCE in "THE COUNTRY GENTLEMAN" (1928)
- CARLENA DIAMOND, HARPIST SUPREME (1929)
- HENRY B. WALTHALL in 'RETRIBUTION' (1928)
- HARRY FOX & BEATRICE CURTIS in 'THE BEE AND THE FOX' (1929)
- OKLAHOMA BOB ALBRIGHT AND HIS RODEO DO FLAPPERS (1929)
- CONLIN & GLASS in 'SHARPS AND FLATS' (1929)
- BRYANT WASHBURN & HELEN JEROME EDDY in 'NIAGARA FALLS' (1929)
- VAL & ERNIE STANTON in 'ENGLISH AS SHE IS NOT SPOKEN' (1928)
- ARTHUR 'PAT' WEST in 'SHIP AHOY' (1928)
- FRANK WHITMAN, THE SURPRISING FIDDLER (1928)
- AL LYONS AND HIS FOUR HORSEMEN (1928)
Check out their schedule here: http://www.filmforum.org. UCLA
Will be screening some of the same shorts on July 21st in Los Angeles, with the following substitutions. Details at www.cinema.ucla.edu
Changes include a different Harry Fox short, a two reel Franklin Pangborn short POOR AUBREY (1929) and different playlets.
CAPITOLFEST
Held in Rome, NY at the historic Capitol Theatre, this August 13-15 program of silent and sound films will include the following recently restored Vitaphone shorts:
- BILLY "SWEDE" HALL in 'HILDA' (1929)
- POOR AUBREY (1929) with Franklin Pangborn
- HARRY FOX AND HIS SIX AMERICAN BEAUTIES (1929)
- SHE WHO GETS SLAPPED (1930) with Tommy Dugan
 |
Across the street, new sound stages were built in 1930-31 and included then state of the art production facilities and even a swimming pool for water scenes. This also closed in 1939 when all WB short subject production shifted to Hollywood. The complex was later bought in the fifties by NBC for television production, including The Cosby Show, then was sold to Ron Bernknopf. It became JC Studios, and has been used for over a decade there to produce AS THE WORLD TURNS.
Ironically, the fate of both properties is now clouded. Shulamith will soon be closing and will be incorporated into other Hebrew school campuses. And AS THE WORLD TURNS has been cancelled after a 54 year / 13,858 episode run, leaving the fate of that studio in question.
Documentarian Melissa Friedling is working on a project about filmmaking in Brooklyn, and is touring JC and Shulamith. There is faint hope that the tunnel under the street between the two facilities --- built in the early thirties so props could be transported without disturbing traffic --- can be opened for inspection. It was sealed in 1955, and the opening points on each side have been identified.
We are closely following these developments, and hopefully can provide more information in our next issue.
Your generous donations help to keep our Project going. Escalating printing and mailing costs make your support even more important than ever. While not tax-deductible, your donation allows us to continue spreading the word and seeking out disks and film elements for future restorations. Large donations for actual restorations go directly to UCLA Film and Television Archive (where support is tax deductible).
If you've sent in a donation lately, thanks! If you are receiving Vitaphone News and have not made contribution lately --- or ever -- please consider doing so now. In addition to thank-you audio CDs listed below, we are adding a few new items:
GET YOUR OWN SOUNDTRACK DISK!!
For donations of $350 or more, we will send you an actual 1928-32 16 inch soundtrack disk (our choice) from the Vitaphone era. This offer is for a limited time only.
For donations of $50, you can choose from one of the listed CDs, or you can receive a great Shaw and Lee caricature T-shirt.
And the following audio CDs are still available as thank-you gifts. These are unique, non-professional (but highly listenable) recordings of rare early talkie material. No fancy notes or packaging, but we are sure you'll enjoy them. Just let us know your choice (number of CDs is in parentheses)
- $50 - Pick any 1 CD
- $75 - Choose any 2 CDs
- $100 - Pick any 3 CDs
- $150 - Pick any 6 CDs
- $200 or more - Pick any 8 CDs
If you wish to send a check (not tax deductible) please make it payable to RON HUTCHINSON (NOT The Vitaphone Project) and send it to:
5 Meade Court
Piscataway, NJ 08854
THANK YOU!!
Carla Arton and Rob Stone of The Library of Congress have the archeology bug, and have been digging into the deepest recesses of that archive. The sheer size of the collection, the various donor sources, and decades of filing system all bode well for finding previously unknown Vitaphone material. During some recent digs, several disks for Vitaphone shorts were found. Each one matches existing mute film (serendipitously also at LOC), so restorations are now possible. Titles that are now restorable with both picture and sound elements are:
- AN EVENING AT HOME WITH HITCHY (1929) starring Broadway star Raymond Hitchcock, supported by Eric Blore. Hitchcock appeared in or produced more than 30 plays, made a few silent films, and died just a few months after making this Vitaphone short.
- SALLY FIELDS IN 'THE HOSTESS' (1927) - A song and comedy sketch by this little known comedienne from vaudeville.
- IRENE RICH IN 'THE BEAST' (1927) - A playlet co-starring John Miljan. Rich made a number of silents and talkie features, and even hosted a radio show.
- PAPA'S VACATION (1927) - A comedy sketch starring William Demarest. Demarest's THE NIGHT COURT 1927 Vitaphone short was restored and is in THE JAZZ SINGER set.
- ETHEL GREY TERRY in SHARP TOOLS (1928) - a two reel playlet co-starring William B. Davidson. Terry appeared in 51 silent films and on stage for David Belasco and the Schuberts. She died 3 years later at age 49.
As mentioned in our cover story, there have been a bumper crop of discoveries over the past six months. In addition to the soundtrack disks listed for the Powerhouse Museum in Australia, a batch of 471 (we got that exact number but no list of titles yet) disks have been reported in NY State. Obviously we'll be pursuing that collection vigorously and hopefully can report on it in our next issue.
Here are additional disc-overies since our last issue...
- Project pal John Leifert, who works at Getty, reports acquiring a circa 1907 35mm silent film starring British star Vesta Victoria apparently singing to the camera. We did some research, and this appears to be the picture portion of a film in which a live singer would sing to the film off camera. John is attempting to acquire one of her contemporaneous 78s of the song being sung to see if some rudimentary synchronization can be attained
- GUS EDWARDS REVUE (MGM/'29)
- BERNARDO DEPACE SINGING 'CAPRICE VIENNOIS' (MGM/'28)
- JIM AND BETTY MORGAN in 'SONGS AS YOU LIKE THEM' (Vita/'29)
- DESERT SONG OVERTURE (Vita/'29)
- MEXICAN TIPICA ORCHESTRA (Vita/'29)
- THE IMPERIAL RUSSIAN COSSACKS (Vita/'28)
- PAULINE ALPERT in 'WHAT PRICE PIANO?' (Vita/'27)
- JOHN BARCLAY, IMPERSONATOR (Vita/'27)
- DAISY BELL (Par/'29)
- HINTS TO BRIDES (Par short/'29)
- CHINATOWN, reel 2 (Par/'29)
- KING OF JAZZ reels 1,2,3,4,6,8,9,10,11,12 (Univ/'30)
- SCHUBERT'S SYMPHONY (Par short/'29)
- From Holland: reel 6 for VENUS (UA/'30)
- Three Looney Tunes cartoon disks: DUMB PATROL ('31), BOSKO'S HOLIDAY ('31) and THE TREE'S KNEES ('31)
- Silly Symphonies HERBST (?)
- Reel 3 for THE IRON MASK (UA/'29)
- Reel 1 for THE BAD ONE (??)
- Reel 3 for CITY LIGHTS (UA/'31)
- AL LYONS AND HIS FOUR HORSEMEN (Vita/'28,) recently restored and being screened at Film Forum in July)
- HORACE HEIDT AND HIS CALIFORNIANS (Vita/'29)
Since its inception in 1991, The Vitaphone Project's database of soundtrack disks has been populated and maintained by Rich Markow. This has been a massive undertaking, with each disk entered by title, reel number, studio, production number, and (not publicly) who holds each disk. The original Excel spreadsheet included only privately held disks, not those in archives like LOC, BFI or UCLA.
Rich's other commitments did not permit him to continue maintaining our database. Fortunately, Patrick Picking, who also maintains our website, generously stepped up and volunteered to take over. Pat is currently inputting the sizable backlog of disks, and will also be adding soundtrack disks known in archives. This will enable a review of all known disks in one spot.
Thanks to Rich for his years of support on the database, and to Pat for taking over this key part of the Project.
We continue to search for CONVENTION CITY (WB/'33), the long lost all-star feature comedy which has seemingly vanished. The myth that all prints were destroyed in 1935 by Jack Warner due to its wildly risque content has been disproven. We have learned that is not how the film was released in foreign markets.
We reported in an earlier issue that we had heralds advertising the film on a double bill in late 1937 with a Charlie Chan feature. With the help of the Margaret Herrick Library, we obtained and reviewed the extensive censors notes on the film, learning relatively few cuts were mandated.
Yet, still no luck in finding it. We contacted both of Dick Powell's sons to see if they had a print from his film collection. Nothing. We are also pursuing relatives of those involved with CC's production. George Eastman House is assisting in checking foreign archives. Until now, any searches overseas have likely been using a literal translation of "Convention City". We have learned that is not how the film was released in foreign markets. In Spanish language venues, it was titled "QUE SEMANA!" ["What a Week!"].
We did not know the French title until a poster for the film surfaced on eBay. That shows the title there was "LA FOLLE SEMAINE". So now the search is on in French archives for that title. We are including a color view of the French poster on our website.
Movies and books mentioned in this issue can be purchased through Amazon.com by clicking on the items here!
| VITAPHONE NEWS | ISSN 1066-5951 | |
| Corresponding Secretary & Editor | Ron Hutchinson | 5 Meade Court Piscataway, NJ 08854 (732) 463-8521 FAX: (732) 463-8521 medusashaircut@erols.com ron@vitaphoneproject.com |
| Database: | Patrick Picking | patrick@picking.com |
| Co-Founders: | John Newton | P.O. Box 7191 Wilmington, DE 19803 |
| Sherwin Dunner | P.O. Box 1992 New York, NY 10013 | |
| Vince Giordano | 1316 Elm Avenue Brooklyn, NY 11230 | |
| Vitaphone Project Web Page | http://www.vitaphoneproject.com | medusashaircut@erols.com ron@vitaphoneproject.com |
| Leonard Maltin's Site | http://www.leonardmaltin.com | |
| Jeff Cohen's "Vitaphone Varieties" Site | http://vitaphone.blogspot.com | |
| Nitrateville | http://www.nitrateville.com | |
| Talkie King | http://talkieking.blogspot.com |
This web site is maintained by Patrick Picking: patrick@picking.com
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