tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38919274127715092952024-01-07T20:03:50.335+01:00All Talking! All Singing! All Dancing!Celebrating the early talkies and their times.Jonas Nordinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06065342609209811314noreply@blogger.comBlogger59125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3891927412771509295.post-40523085792493465992022-11-07T22:56:00.000+01:002022-11-07T22:56:02.158+01:00Eleanor Thatcher - Who was she?What about a video post with the collected works of Eleanor Thatcher? Who was this dame? I have no information on her what so ever. She came in from nowhere, did her stuff and then disappeared in total oblivion. Did she have her 15 minutes of fame or was she even considered famous? Apparently she was contracted to MGM in 1932 but never made it to stardom. I don't see why. Eleanor was a great singer and had a wiggle to die for. Sadly she only appeared in three minor productions of this era. Luckily all of her work has survived to our times. If anyone of you out there knows anything about her, please let me know.
We start off with a MGM Colortone short from 1932, Wild People, starring Harry Jans and Harold Whalen as zany radio-guys on location in Dutch New Guinea of all places. Eleanor steps in at the end to participate in one of the most remarkable and bizarre numbers ever caught on film, Panther Lady, with music by George Frank Rubens and choreographed by Daniel Dare. The Panther Lady herself is Joyzelle Joyner who arguably is the most well known name in this little gem. Joyzelle was a house dancer at MGM and appears here and there when there was a need for some exotic sexiness. For instance she can be seen in DeMilles Sign Of The Cross.
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<span style="font-style:italic;">"Panther Lady - A Little wild but not too rough"</span>
The next time Eleanor appears is in another MGM Colortone short, also from 1932. Over The Counter, one of the most sexually insinuating shorts MGM ever did. The setting is Drake's department store where housewives can check their husbands while shopping. Wonderful! Eleanor sings and wiggles like never before dressed up in something that almost looks like a Christmas cracker. Young Mr Drake is played by Emerson Treacy who did a lot of TV in the 50's. We also see Maurene Marseilles singing a forgettable number in her only screen appearance. Both songs are written by the very same George Frank Rubens.
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<span style="font-style:italic;">"A great big sofa may give more comfort than a chair"</span>
The last time we see Eleanor Thatcher on film is in a quite racy sexploitation movie from 1933. Road To Ruin, made by Willis Kent Productions who did mostly B-westerns and titles like The Wages Of Sin and Race Suicide. You know the stuff. Road To Ruin is no exception. A young girl gets involved with a crowd that smokes marijuana, drinks and has sex. She winds up an alcoholic, pregnant drug addict and is forced to get an abortion. But, right in the middle of the 63 minute epic we get Eleanor and her fantastic wiggle again. She can only be seen for about a minute, but what a minute! Jimmy Tolson sings Campus Crawl and Eleanor struts her stuff for the last time.
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<span style="font-style:italic;">"Boy! Look at that girl go! Is she hot!"</span>Jonas Nordinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06065342609209811314noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3891927412771509295.post-75705104017011468132014-11-24T22:01:00.001+01:002014-11-24T22:01:49.037+01:00Colleen Moore's last silent filmsMy very good friend <a href="http://www.outofthepastblog.com/" target="_blank">Raquel of Out Of The Past</a> recently sent me Colleen Moore's last silent film Why Be Good (1929), just released from the WB Archive. I decided to write something about it as an early birthday gift to Raquel, and also as a possible first step back to blogging after two years of relative silence. Happy Birthday Raquel!<br />
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On February 28, 1928 Colleen Moore signed what was going to be her last contract with First National. Moore had been the company’s prime money maker since her big break in Flaming Youth back in 1923. Her previous contract had included four films made 1927-28, Her Wild Oat, Happiness Ahead, Oh Kay, and the blockbuster Lilac Time.<br />
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<i>The Swedish poster for Lilac Time</i></div>
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Early 1928 Colleen Moore was in a very good position to renegotiate her contract. One could say that the contract she was to sign was quite favorable. It stipulated that Colleen was to have final say over scripts, continuity, directors, photographers, male leads and cutting. She was obliged to make four photoplays and receive $150,000 per film. This made her just about the best paid actress in Hollywood at the time. Her husband and producer John McCormick who also was included in her contract didn’t believe in the coming of talking pictures so there was no mention of any singing or talking in the contract. One must also keep in mind that in February of 1928 talking pictures were just The Jazz Singer and some vaudeville shorts, nothing else.<br />
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The first film to be produced within her new contract was Synthetic Sin, a script which she approved of in March 1928. The script itself had been under development for over six months and Colleen was eager to shoot it. She still had to finish work on the last two films in the old contract first, Happiness Ahead and the silent version of the Gershwin musical Oh Kay. Both were made during spring 1928 and opened in May and August respectively. Lilac Time was already finished and waited for the fall season with an August premiere and a general release in October. With its enormous sets and multitude of extras, Lilac Time had cost more than the other three films together, so it was crucial it became a hit. By the end of its lengthy run it turned out to become the second most grossing film during the 1920’s. The biggest money maker until 1939 was The Singing Fool which coincidentally went up side by side with Lilac Time in the fall season of 1928.<br />
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Work on Synthetic Sin started in September ’28 but the other three films in the new contract were not yet decided. Normally the studio had a fair amount of forward planning, and when a four picture deal was settled it was often known which films were to be produced. Scripts were usually approved and directors appointed well in advance. Sometimes things didn't run as smoothly. McCormick had a script called The Richest Girl in The World which he thought suitable as Colleen’s next offering. William A. Seiter was to direct it. Even a starting date for it was set to November 5th. <br />
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<i>Colleen Moore in Synthetic Sin</i></div>
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Hollywood movie making was quickly changing and with the thundering success of Warner’s second talkie, The Singing Fool in late September 1928, the other studios quickly had to reconsider their shooting schedules. First National decided that it would be favorable if Colleen agreed to do a talking picture since that was the new thing everyone was talking about. Colleen was the biggest star of the studio but her contract also granted her complete control and the possibility to refuse to talk on film if she felt like it, she had at least no contractual obligation to comply with this request. The studio cancelled The Richest Girl In The World because the script wasn't sufficiently developed (it was later revised into a 1934 Miriam Hopkins talkie, still with William A. Seiter directing it). First National suggested several titles to replace it, including When Irish Eyes Are Smiling, Funny Face and Dangerous Nan McGrew, and it had to be a talkie. That was if Colleen would agree to renegotiate her contract.<br />
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In October 1928 Warner Brothers bought two thirds of First National and since Warner’s was the leading studio of the talkie craze the demand to release talking pictures grew day by day. Before renegotiating Colleen’s contract the studio wanted to make sure she had a voice. She recited the nursery rhyme Little Bo Peep as her voice test. Colleen’s voice recorded just fine and was indeed considered suitable for talkies. However, she still had to go to a voice coach and even take singing lessons like everyone else who wanted to be a star of talking pictures. The coming of talkies was clearly a way of the studios to clean out all sorts of disadvantages and put pressure on their stars.<br />
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By this time Synthetic Sin was almost finished and a script for a second silent comedy was quickly decided, probably to buy some time to prepare for Colleen’s first talkie. The script was initially called That’s A Bad Girl but the studio finally settled on Why Be Good as the title. Mid November, just as shooting of Synthetic Sin wrapped, Colleen and McCormick took a week off and went through the heaps of suggested scripts to find the next film, Colleen’s first talkie. The choice fell on When Irish Eyes Are Smiling later renamed Smiling Irish Eyes, but it needed a lot of work to be turned into a working talking picture. Well home again, work on Why Be Good started immediately. With the success of MGM’s Our Dancing Daughters that had been running since September, First National wanted a similar vehicle to cash in on the youthful shopgirl movie fad. <br />
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In January 1929 Colleen agreed to renegotiate her contract with First National. The revision consisted in that the final two films left on her February 1928 contract were to be all-talking. She would get an additional $25.000 for each talking picture which meant she would get $175.000 per movie. McCormick who still was included in his wife’s contract was to get $35.000 per movie, a raise with $2.500. The contract more or less settled that the last silent picture Colleen was to appear in was Why Be Good.<br />
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<i>Magazine ads for Synthetic Sin and Why Be Good (1929)</i></div>
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Synthetic Sin opened January 6th 1929 but wasn't a big success according to period reviews. However it wasn't exactly a bomb either as the public quite liked it, even more so with Why Be Good that opened two months later. It was clearly considered the better of the two. Why Be Good was basically an updated remake of Flaming Youth and was marketed as such. The press called it “peppy and entertaining”. None of the two films were seen as remarkable or outstanding by any sense, just typical Colleen Moore comedies.<br />
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Synthetic Sin and Why Be Good were shot almost back to back late autumn 1928, both had a synchronized score and sound effects but no dialogue. They were no high budget melodramas but quickly produced rapid paced comedies. Like so many other of Colleen’s comedies they were directed by William A.Seiter. As silent pictures quickly were falling out of fashion, the fan magazines and the press in general mostly neglected this type of movies in favor of bigger productions and all talking extravaganzas. We should be grateful that these two films have survived at all. Both actually did very well at the box office, each earning more than $750,000 against an initial cost of about $325,000, which was outstanding for silents in 1929, especially considering not very favorable reviews.<br />
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At the time when Why Be Good was released there were rumors running that Colleen would make one talkie and then end her career. This may very well have been her initial thought but to fulfill her contract she had to make two talkies before she could bow out. Smiling Irish Eyes and Footlights and Fools, shot during the spring and very hot summer of 1929. Both were lavish all-talking productions that included big production numbers and several Technicolor sequences. Sadly neither of the two survives to our time. Colleen was not at all pleased with how she turned out in them. She later said that especially Smiling Irish Eyes was a frightfully dull film and she wasn't surprised it flopped. Looking back this may explain why both her 1929 talkies were unsuccessful. She was clearly uncomfortable with the new way of making movies even though she had a voice. After fulfilling the contract Colleen took a break from movie making concentrating on dollhouses, successful investments and personal matters. Her days as a movie star were over.<br />
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Colleen divorced John McCormick in 1930. She returned to the screen briefly in 1933 and made four films for four different studios of which the first film, The Power And The Glory (Fox) is the one she liked best according to her memoirs Silent Star (1968).<br />
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<b>The Restoration</b><br />
Until the late 1990s both Synthetic Sin and Why Be Good were thought to be lost. There is an extremely high mortality rate for films released during the 1927-29 transition period. A large fire at Warner Brothers in the 1950's destroyed the then-known prints.<br />
Fast forward to 2002 and New York's Film Forum. Prior to a screening, Ron Hutchinson of The Vitaphone Project updated the audience on the project’s latest activities. He casually mentioned that he recently acquired all the soundtrack disks for Colleen Moore's Why Be Good , and said something to the effect that "unfortunately, this is a lost film."<br />
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Film historian Joe Yranski, who ran the film library at the Donnell Media Center, had been a longtime friend of Colleen Moore's and knew more about this film than probably anybody on the planet, yelled out "No it's not! I know where it is!" The full house at Film Forum cheered.<br />
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<i>Ron Hutchinson of The Vitaphone Project</i></div>
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Ron immediately connected with Joe, and learned the sole known 35mm nitrate prints for both Why Be Good and Synthetic Sin were in an Italian archive, donated to them decades before by actor Antonio Moreno. Thus began a decade long effort to negotiate the loan of both films for full restoration and synchronization with the existing Vitaphone disks. While the entire soundtrack to Why Be Good survived in Ron’s collection, only the disk for the last reel and exit music was known for Synthetic Sin. Fortunately, a full list of Vitaphone music cues existed and was used to recreate the soundtrack.<br />
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Ned Price, Warner Brothers Chief Preservation Officer and the driving force behind the studio’s support of nearly 150 Vitaphone short restorations, personally interceded with the <a href="http://www.cinetecadibologna.it/en/cineteca_archives" target="_blank">Cineteca di Bologna</a> and negotiated a mutually agreeable arrangement to have both films restored and copies of both finished efforts given to the archive.<br />
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Work began late in 2012, with the professional transfer of Ron’s Why Be Good disks and the lone disk for Synthetic Sin by sound engineer Seth Winner. The restoration effort represents a true partnership between Warner Brothers, UCLA Film and Television Archive, Joe Yranski, and The Vitaphone Project, and was completed in June 2014.<br />
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Synthetic Sin and Why Be Good were recently screened, for the first time in over 80 years, in 35mm and sound. The 2014 screenings in Bologna, Pordenone, London, Los Angeles, Chicago and New York were all literally packed to the last seat. One could assume that Colleen Moore's fanbase is growing with these discoveries.<br />
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Seen today both films are definitely well budgeted, have strong First National art direction with a heavy art deco slant. In the case of Why Be Good, there is the added attraction of Jean Harlow as a prominent dress extra (seen making out with a guy on a couch), and a super musical score with top jazz musicians of the period.<br />
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<i>Jean Harlow as a dress extra on a couch</i></div>
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<a href="http://www.wbshop.com/product/why+be+good-+1000541759.do" target="_blank">Why Be Good is available on DVD from Warner Archive</a>. Be sure to get a copy of it.<br />
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<b>The preservation state of the movies discussed above</b>:<br />
<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0018993/reference" target="_blank">Her Wild Oat (1927) - Survives complete</a><br />
<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0018974/reference" target="_blank">Happiness Ahead (1928) - Lost</a><br />
<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0019226/reference" target="_blank">Oh Kay! (1928)- Lost</a><br />
<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0019098/reference" target="_blank">Lilac Time (1928) – Survives complete</a><br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0020471/reference" target="_blank">Synthetic Sin (1929) – Survives with sound fragment</a><br />
<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0020585/reference" target="_blank">Why Be Good (1929) – Survives complete</a><br />
<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0020421/reference" target="_blank">Smiling Irish Eyes (1929) – Lost, sound survives </a><br />
<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0019892/reference" target="_blank">Footlights And Fools (1929) - Lost, sound survives</a>Jonas Nordinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06065342609209811314noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3891927412771509295.post-71763608836600476242012-08-24T10:14:00.000+02:002012-08-24T10:14:23.937+02:00Mamba in DenmarkAugust 28 will see the Danish premiere of Mamba at <a href="http://www.paradisbio.dk/">Paradisbio in Aarhus</a>. Paul Brennan will be flown in to present the film. <br />
September 1 it's time for Copenhagen to get the Mamba treatment at the <a href="http://www.dfi.dk/Filmhuset/Cinemateket/Billetter-og-program/Film.aspx?filmID=f27413">Cinemateque of the Danish Film Institute</a>. Both Paul and myself will be present at the second date.<br />
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The US showing of Mamba at Cinefest in March had a great impact in the classic film community. Many prominent people attended the showing, among them legendary critic Leonard Maltin and Chris Horak, the director of the <a href="http://www.cinema.ucla.edu/">Film and TV arcives at UCLA</a>. Both Maltin and Horak wrote articles about the event:<br />
<br />
<a href="http://blogs.indiewire.com/leonardmaltin/buried-treasure-unearthed-at-cinefest#">The Maltin Review</a> <br />
<a href="http://www.cinema.ucla.edu/blogs/archival-spaces/2012/03/27/mamba-1930">Chris Horak's impressions of Mamba</a><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQ0sXtfz-4JQe8bTMc2cxMUn8avIxNvxkKZbsUypzlMer0YTo6L9ixdx8ZxGF8-vvudCvc1NTBl2_9aslzBduH2dY6YYlPbvg2EOzWR6RENq09OYcefZux1ACT7cDOtpwEGQnVFk8oG0M/s1600/bild+%25287%2529+%25281%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="252" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQ0sXtfz-4JQe8bTMc2cxMUn8avIxNvxkKZbsUypzlMer0YTo6L9ixdx8ZxGF8-vvudCvc1NTBl2_9aslzBduH2dY6YYlPbvg2EOzWR6RENq09OYcefZux1ACT7cDOtpwEGQnVFk8oG0M/s400/bild+%25287%2529+%25281%2529.JPG" width="380" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>Me, Chris Horak, Paul Brennan and Bob Birchard (AFI) at Cinefest</i></div>
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At Cinefest Paul and I also made it official that the nitrate print of Mamba was to be donated to the Archive at UCLA as soon as transportation could be arranged.<br />
<br />
In August 2012 the nine reels of Mamba magic was shipped to USA where it belongs.<br />
The next chapter in the Mamba adventure will be the release of a restored print. It will take about two years to restore it once funding has been provided. Until then the nitrate reels will be stored in the UCLA vaults.<br />
<br />Jonas Nordinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06065342609209811314noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3891927412771509295.post-12541200619681006422012-03-13T15:24:00.000+01:002012-04-13T09:20:33.561+02:00Mamba at Cinefest, March 17, 2012Tomorrow morning I'm leaving Stockholm to attend <a href="http://www.syracusecinephile.com/">Cinefest in Syracuse NY</a> where Mamba will see it's US premiere Saturday, March 17. Paul and I have been invited to present the film at the festival. Mamba has not been shown in the US for over 80 years so it is indeed an event not to miss.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJSdb1Krho22DJME9Nb7g6z6l_7TDpkT4n9sAlFRxV6OMplUrgpaNpM0T9fA1YeZqZ6UhMTA9b6LTKDQTnsgRKn7FG9NpJ6KMJdwrb5ApBgkoWVoXMu9Y1FlFEHy_QToqZtqeUuwALV4w/s1600/Mamba-002.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="246" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJSdb1Krho22DJME9Nb7g6z6l_7TDpkT4n9sAlFRxV6OMplUrgpaNpM0T9fA1YeZqZ6UhMTA9b6LTKDQTnsgRKn7FG9NpJ6KMJdwrb5ApBgkoWVoXMu9Y1FlFEHy_QToqZtqeUuwALV4w/s320/Mamba-002.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Director Al Rogell (left) and the Mamba cast</td></tr>
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<span style="text-align: left;">There has been some rather negative comments in the </span><a href="http://nitrateville.com/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=11735" style="text-align: left;">Nitrateville forum</a><span style="text-align: left;"> concerning the fact that Mamba will be shown in digital form and not on 35mm film as some apparently expected. Maybe this is the best place to explain why and also give some technical notes on the work that has been done.</span><br />
<br />
First of all, the nine reels of Mamba magic today resides in Sydney, Australia. It will be very difficult to get them over to the US on such a short notice.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwBCszWnYSSGZZPO7JqudPbJ1eW3GnPdwG63M-9Rltjcg_hEAmsftpfgNAMx3qC-5o9QUQQLWEkLCabwUPe0F3vjf2g4zoVZjwH_V_0vuFC0gd79AFfe_1uAhAn2kympL9w9ByxKQEq-k/s1600/Mamba-001.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="253" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwBCszWnYSSGZZPO7JqudPbJ1eW3GnPdwG63M-9Rltjcg_hEAmsftpfgNAMx3qC-5o9QUQQLWEkLCabwUPe0F3vjf2g4zoVZjwH_V_0vuFC0gd79AFfe_1uAhAn2kympL9w9ByxKQEq-k/s320/Mamba-001.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Production still of the set</td></tr>
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The second reason is that the nitrate print is silent. The Australian print have only four of the nine TiffanyTone disks intact. I don't have a Vitaphone equipped work station at home so I simply had to keep the synchronization in the digital realm. Todd Weiner and Bob Gitt at the <a href="http://www.cinema.ucla.edu/">UCLA</a> kindly provided us with a copy of the complete soundtrack. This was the only solution available for me to produce a complete version of the film. For the restoration of Mamba all original film and sound elements will of course be used.<br />
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Mamba has NOT yet been restored. This is very important to make clear. The print we will show at Cinefest is a work in progress, straight out of the can. The picture elements are far from perfect and the soundtrack is noisy, still this doesn't hide the fact that the nitrate print is in very good condition. There is no apparent damage or anything apart from the usual scratches, uneven lightning and some loose splices. The digital print was made out of curiosity and the sole purpose with it is to be able to show this believed long lost film to the world.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6YRYQ79hIfiXA6SjcvP9V5-0jbb98sPR2zLIwUr07ij_0gJ-oHsror9aRKARHhfeFMOpYHvZIxtsbaf3ww3f0pLDeZcxVC_KS_SowyoPU1AtW4G8P6XzX9JEUOLB8rY8KoJfrS2Un51s/s1600/Mamba-003.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="251" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6YRYQ79hIfiXA6SjcvP9V5-0jbb98sPR2zLIwUr07ij_0gJ-oHsror9aRKARHhfeFMOpYHvZIxtsbaf3ww3f0pLDeZcxVC_KS_SowyoPU1AtW4G8P6XzX9JEUOLB8rY8KoJfrS2Un51s/s320/Mamba-003.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Director Al Rogell at work on the set</td></tr>
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For the synchronizing I started with the nine reels as separate video files transferred by the Australian Film Institute. The film was scanned at 480p PAL which is normal TV resolution but it still looked good. I edited the film elements together leaving out leaders, act signs and stuff normally left out on projection. I also tried to tighten some of the cuts and splices that were particularly jumpy. I did nothing to improve the image quality, no color correction or stabilizing was performed.<br />
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The soundtrack was delivered to me on CD. Every reel had its own sound file. The TiffanyTone disks had been digitally transferred for us by <a href="http://www.cinema.ucla.edu/">UCLA</a>. No filtering or processing had been made to the audio, it came straight off the original disks. I'm not sure about the pre-equalization on TiffanyTone disks so I decided not to apply anything out of the blue. The sound is rather shrill and noisy. I have good experience in restoring 78's but the soundtrack disks seems to be a bit different, and they should be. I did however apply a slight pop-filter to eliminate the most apparent pops and crackles. I also lowered the over all noise level with about 6dB to make the dialogue stand out, but that's all.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifuZD1w2yaI1Ci5xZxEEYBwZs-FCZAJJ3TpQlHHhQUFRXf2ygIYtpfHSxGoLEGllwswuOaUFfB8XEyEaLcTql7AGQTjBe9IdPwbLPQCJQVbLvMmdZA4SAIRmRfYbjhqaEjX6qDDj2vWWI/s1600/Mamba-004.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="251" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifuZD1w2yaI1Ci5xZxEEYBwZs-FCZAJJ3TpQlHHhQUFRXf2ygIYtpfHSxGoLEGllwswuOaUFfB8XEyEaLcTql7AGQTjBe9IdPwbLPQCJQVbLvMmdZA4SAIRmRfYbjhqaEjX6qDDj2vWWI/s320/Mamba-004.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Jean Hersholt, Will Stanton and Noble Johnson on the set</td></tr>
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The sound elements were then matched to the film elements, a very difficult and time consuming task. One of the problems is that the frame rate of the DVD is standard 25 fps whereas the audio is supposed to play in sync with a film that runs at 24 fps. This meant I had to speed up the soundtrack with about 4% to make it fit. Then I basically ran into the same problems as the Vitaphone projectionists ran into. If a single frame is missing in the film the sound goes out of sync after a while. Thus I had to compensate for this here and there.<br />
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The Australian print have a missing scene of about four minutes at the beginning of reel four. As far as I see it this particular scene had been cut by the local censors in Australia in 1930. The soundtrack however still had this scene intact so I decided to keep the sound and replace the picture elements with stills. I used frames from an earlier scene in the film for this. Another oddity about this missing scene is that the first thirty seconds of it was found between two scenes in the middle of reel five where it clearly didn't belong. I corrected this and put it back where it was intended to be.<br />
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Paul and I are very proud and honored to show Mamba at Cinefest Saturday night and we hope everyone will have a splendid time, I'm sure we will.<br />
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The Cinefest 2012 program can be found here:<br />
<a href="http://www.syracusecinephile.com/">Cinefest</a>, <a href="http://www.picking.com/cinefest.html">TheVitaphone Project</a><br />
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More about Mamba, how it was found and the people who made it can be found here: <a href="http://talkieking.blogspot.com/2009/10/mamba-1930-lost-and-found.html">Mamba Lost and Found</a><br />
Mamba World Premiere at the Astor in Melbourne: <a href="http://talkieking.blogspot.com/2011/11/mamba-world-premiere-in-melbourne-nov.html">Part 1</a>, <a href="http://talkieking.blogspot.com/2011/11/mamba-at-astor-in-melbourne-part-2.html">Part 2</a><br />
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The production stills in this post courtesy of the Robert S. Birchard collection.Jonas Nordinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06065342609209811314noreply@blogger.com3Stockholm, Sverige59.32893 18.0649159.199335 17.749053 59.458525 18.380767000000002tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3891927412771509295.post-23778848284708969832012-01-25T17:03:00.001+01:002023-02-21T15:12:31.680+01:00The recycling of music in The ArtistThere is an ongoing debate surrounding the choice of music in the French Oscar-nominated silent film The Artist. <a href="http://insidemovies.ew.com/2012/01/09/kim-novak-slams-the-artist-for-using-vertigo-theme-artist-director-michel-hazanavicius-responds/">Legendary actress Kim Novak is accusing the French director Michel Hazanavicius of musical rape because of his use of a snippet of Bernard Herrmann’s score from Hitchcock’s Vertigo.</a> This is an opportunity for me to give my thoughts on the recycling of music in the movies<br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="300" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/GwD9twaZMZM" width="400"></iframe><br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #f6b26b;"><i>Bernard Herrmann's score to Vertigo (1958)</i></span></div><br />
First some background:<br />
In the dawn of film there were no particular scores, theme songs or soundtracks. But as the films didn’t have a soundtrack the air had to be filled with something. Music was of course a natural choice. The smaller houses had a pianist or a couple of musicians at most, maybe a trio that also worked at the nearby restaurant. The bigger cinemas often had orchestras. Sometimes a band of 8 to 12 players if it was a medium sized city theatre. If the cinema also doubled as a regular theater or music hall venue the orchestra could be bigger. The really big palaces that were built after WWI could house a full size symphony orchestra. The Roxy in NYC opened in 1927 had a very large orchestra of more than a 100 players.<br />
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The cinema often had a musical director who in most cases also was head of the orchestra. The musical director took bits and pieces of well known classical music that fitted particular scenes or emotions and put together a program of sorts for each film. The use of already existing music was thus commonplace from the very beginning of film history.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-9gVEqG64GGymQogUR3bkwAqgOF64xjkEw3eQgbhSEeVZ2ir1VFr6Y9LHLrU7mqYuPCjbkozMhc3cG86tnCfUd4pgAtDfh6cnCsd00GCEmW-Go6Lsbo4nZeoZZMuwFk3nWuZn0CeVnMo/s1600/Scala_1930.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="297" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-9gVEqG64GGymQogUR3bkwAqgOF64xjkEw3eQgbhSEeVZ2ir1VFr6Y9LHLrU7mqYuPCjbkozMhc3cG86tnCfUd4pgAtDfh6cnCsd00GCEmW-Go6Lsbo4nZeoZZMuwFk3nWuZn0CeVnMo/s400/Scala_1930.gif" width="300" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #f6b26b;"><i>The Scala Theater in Brighton UK 1930</i></span></div><br />
With time, the bigger cinemas developed a quite vast musical library to use. Well known pieces by Verdi, Wagner, Beethoven and other masters were used to the extent that they became synonymous with particular moods or scenes in the movies. The more creative musical directors sometimes also wrote transitional music to fill out the gaps.<br />
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By 1915 the studios had become aware of the importance of music as it clearly had become a part of the movie going experience. It was at this time the first commissioned scores appears <a href="http://talkieking.blogspot.com/2009/02/original-scores-and-theme-songs-eternal.html">(Read more about the early days of movie scores and theme songs here)</a><br />
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This was also a time when the hit songs were born. Some songs could sell a million copies in sheet music alone. With the portable phonographs of the late teens records became more common. Records had been more or less a luxury item up until this time. A single sided opera record could sell for as much as $6 in 1910. (that would be about $100 today). Then came radio and the modern music business was born. The hit songs now quickly found their way into the movies.<br />
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It was more common that the songs went through a music publisher rather than through the movie studio. The studio could often commission the song but didn't own the rights to sell sheet music or records. With the advent of the talkies the music could be nailed to the filmstrip. The studios set up musical departments almost immediately.<br />
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Prolific song writers of Tin Pan Alley in NYC were hired and often got very lucrative deals with the Hollywood studios that now had a never ending need for songs and scores.<br />
This is why the early musicals (pre 1934) have so many good songs. Hollywood hired the best composers and lyricists they could find. Cole Porter, Irving Berlin and teams like the Gershwins, Freed & Brown or Brown DeSylva & Henderson.<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="300" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/1pzVm6nm4xM" width="400"></iframe><br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #e69138;"><i>Business as usual at a Tin Pan Alley music publisher in 1929</i></span></div><br />
Most of these songs are still evergreens. There was an avalanche of hit songs that got even more power from radio performances. All this marketing power made the songs stick in peoples ears forever. The movies the songs first were used in were quickly forgotten but the songs themselves lived on and still does.<br />
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Incidental music and scores that was not considered stand alone songs however, did not have the same life or commercial value. The songs were usually commissioned from someone like Cole Porter, but the incidental music was written by a staff composer, sometimes using the themes from the different commissioned songs, sometimes not. The composer to the incidental music often never received any credit in the final product as he was on a monthly salary at the studio. It was the stand alone songs that were important.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwzldY7wx00jj6wL3YJaoSiMQt1JPO-OP5ls9lAEc5aRVAggijq2jOykEyOA052g8OIDnRVVUU3UZ60GMjLsCj3Kjr2hUEbL57k_qRoakZSFecf3Ecj9RbjYtfSNJ4NCb-h_7Yx-ZZ4a0/s1600/optimized-davies-nacio-brown-arthur-freed-ill-remember-peg.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="290" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwzldY7wx00jj6wL3YJaoSiMQt1JPO-OP5ls9lAEc5aRVAggijq2jOykEyOA052g8OIDnRVVUU3UZ60GMjLsCj3Kjr2hUEbL57k_qRoakZSFecf3Ecj9RbjYtfSNJ4NCb-h_7Yx-ZZ4a0/s400/optimized-davies-nacio-brown-arthur-freed-ill-remember-peg.jpg" width="380" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #f6b26b;"><i>Marion Davies, Nacio Herb Brown and Arthur Freed (1934)</i></span></div><br />
It goes on more or less like this until Orson Welles commissioned an entire score from newcomer Bernard Herrmann for Citizen Kane in 1940. No hit songs, just a great big score by Herrmann alone, including a fabulous aria from a fictitious Opera - Salammbô, written in the strict post-romantic style of Richard Strauss or Giacomo Puccini. <a href="http://open.spotify.com/track/16NGcQAYAK5ICMVxfmSwwD">Spotify link: Salammbô's Aria from Citizen Kane</a> <br />
To me this is the birth of the modern film score that had begun with the commissioned scores to the silent movies 20 years earlier. The composer now also recived credit, sometimes even on the poster.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8IakD1_buTbljProRpcCJBBtYHIf9NlP6QWocH2qdLRVwuu7qk549XnhBjhf60v9tDLLUtapfSiFZfb6UsJfBf9L8bBPFberhQe-pJEGMWIAyGanF6FJu5-SqirxwSuHp3Jxt2dqS67s/s1600/Bernard+Herrmann.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8IakD1_buTbljProRpcCJBBtYHIf9NlP6QWocH2qdLRVwuu7qk549XnhBjhf60v9tDLLUtapfSiFZfb6UsJfBf9L8bBPFberhQe-pJEGMWIAyGanF6FJu5-SqirxwSuHp3Jxt2dqS67s/s400/Bernard+Herrmann.jpg" width="316" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #f6b26b;"><i>Bernard Herrmann in the 1940's</i></span></div><br />
The case with The Artist:<br />
I think it's difficult to re-use a score or pieces of it as this often instrumental music more or less serves as a backdrop to the scenes in the movie. In that respect I give Novak a point. It would be awkward to use really prolific scores like Star Wars or Jaws for other pictures that are not parodies of the original films.<br />
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If the composer to a new score use a few bars or a theme from an old score as a nod or homage to the original composer I think it should be considered a nice gesture rather than a rape situation. It's all a matter of style and how it is done. In the Artist it is beautifully done and clearly serves as homage to Herrmann. What is even more important is that Hazanavicius has permission from Herrmann's estate and his publisher to use the music in his film.<br />
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Herrmann used bits and pieces from the great masters himself. There is a lot of inspiration from both Mahler and Strauss in many of his early scores. Another great composer, John Williams is often stealing bits and pieces from others to his scores (which I often think are better than the films they were created for). The best example is perhaps Erich Wolfgang Korngold's score for Kings Row (1942). If you listen to the main theme you hear a mix of Superman and Star Wars both written 35 years later by Williams. <a href="http://open.spotify.com/track/2SrnOY9yaLCOlqhER4OkTa">Spotify Link: Kings Row (Main Theme) - Erich Wolfgang Korngold</a><br />
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Songs on the other hand can be used many times in many different films. The important thing is that they fit in. In Sofia Coppola's Marie Antoinette, the filmmaker makes a statement by only using modern hit songs, most certainly to attract a younger audience to a period film. I think that is incredibly cheap! Imagine a 1940's film with a contemporary score by Gaga, Beyonce or 50 cent, it would be totally wrong. <br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="300" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/dRcr_5qWa-o" width="400"></iframe><br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #f6b26b;"><i>Singin In The Rain from Hollywood Revue of 1929</i></span></div><br />
The use of old songs in Singing In The Rain is a celebration of the first hit composers and the songs that were used in the first talking pictures. Singing In The Rain by Arthur Freed and Nacio Herb Brown was a hit in 1929 because of it's inclusion in The Hollywood Revue of 1929, but became an even bigger hit in Singing In the Rain in 1952. Many songs used in movies didn't become hits until they were re-cycled in other movies. This go way back, I have no good examples here but an instrumental theme used in a 1942 film could very well get lyrics and be re-used in a 1948 movie and then become a major hit. <br />
I have no problems with that. The difficult task is to use the right music at the right time.<br />
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Conclusion:<br />
Dear Kim Novak, I’m sorry to say it but the use of Bernard Herrmann’s score in the Artist is definitely not a rape situation. Not even a slight groping to put it bluntly.<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="225" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/3rZX0B0-X6c" width="400"></iframe></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #f6b26b;"><i>A French behind the scenes featurette in color from The Artist 2011</i></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #f6b26b;"><i><br />
</i></span></div>Jonas Nordinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06065342609209811314noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3891927412771509295.post-11279632980865522282011-11-17T00:46:00.001+01:002011-11-28T13:39:15.142+01:00Mamba at the Astor in Melbourne - Part 2This post is continued from last weeks post about the <a href="http://talkieking.blogspot.com/2011/11/mamba-world-premiere-in-melbourne-nov.html">Mamba world premiere at The Astor in Melbourne on Nov 21 at 8pm</a>.<br />
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In the first post I wrote about Mamba's and Tiffany Pictures historical background. In this post I will write about the actors in the leading roles of the film. Unfortunately they are almost forgotten today, at least if you compare them to superstars like Garbo or Gable.<br />
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Mamba was very well received by the audience as well as by the press. Tiffany had made sure the film would become a smash hit by hiring some of the most prominent actors at the time for the lead parts.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Jean Hersholt 1927</td></tr>
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<b>August Bolte - Jean Hersholt</b><br />
Jean Hersholt was born in Copenhagen, Denmark in 1886, the son of Clair and Henry Hersholt, both actors at the Danish Folk Theatre. From an early age young Jean went on tour performing with his family all over Europe. Back at home in Copenhagen he went to art school and soon got recognition for his fine pencil drawings.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Hersholt drawing von Stroheim (1923)</td></tr>
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But it was the acting that really got him. After some years at the art school he went on to acting school at the Dagmar Thaatre in Copenhagen. In 1906 he had roles in three of the earliest films produced for the Danish market. Those were all short comedies, very typical of the times. At 22, in 1908 he left Denmark for Canada and settled down first in Montreal then on to New York. In 1914 he left New York for Hollywood. In 1915 he was hired as responsible for the Danish pavilion at the Pan Pacific exhibition in San Francisco. It was at this time he met Thomas Ince, a Hollywood producer and director. Ince soon realized Hersholt was made of the right stuff and hired him as one of his regulars. Hersholt played in most of Inces films 1918-22. He even got to direct some of the films he played in. Ince is mostly known today because of the scandal surrounding his death in 1924 when he suposedly was killed aboard W.R. Hearst’s yacht.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Thomas Ince</td></tr>
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Hersholt’s career took a big leap in 1922 when he got one of the leading roles in John S. Robertson’s Tess of The Storm Country with Mary Pickford. Then on to von Stroheim’s giant epic Greed, in which he played Marcus Schouler, the villain. Showing he was capable to shine in almost any role given to him he quickly became a regular first at Goldwyn and Paramount and later at MGM. <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Greed (1924)</td></tr>
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Hersholt made the transition to talkies without any difficulties, his Danish accent was no problem. With the arrival of the talkies his roles shifted from villains to caring father figures, teachers and European noblemen. At MGM he had big supporting roles in prestige productions like Grand Hotel (1932) and Dinner At Eight (1933). He was Shirley Temple’s grandfather in Heidi (1937).<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Grand Hotel (1932)</td></tr>
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But it was the role as a doctor that would provide a continuing vehicle for Hersholt and something of a fateful direction for the actor. The mid-30s were abuzz with the births of the Dionne Quintuplets in Canada. Hollywood jumped on, highlighting the story and the officiating obstetrician, Dr. Dafoe, who was translated into Dr. John Luke, in The Country Doctor (1936). Hersholt brought the right ingredients to the part of Luke and two years later a sequel followed, Five of a Kind (1938). Hersholt was enthusiastic about a series of movies, but Dafoe himself blocked this idea. Nevertheless, in 1937 Hersholt had already germinated a new radio series to continue portraying a dedicated and kindly small town doctor. For a character name Hersholt turned to his most beloved author, his countryman, literary light Hans Christian Andersen, for a name-Dr. Christian. It was a hit and, and he convinced RKO Radio Pictures to bankroll a series of six Dr. Christian films (1939-41). The radio series stayed on the air every week for 17 years, about 800 episodes.<br />
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In the early 1940's Hersholt more or less left the movies but stayed in the business working with many different charity projects. In 1939 he funded The Motion Picture Relief Fund, an organization that helped to support industry employees with medical care when they were down on their luck and was used to create the Motion Picture Country Home and Hospital in Woodland Hills, CA. This led to the creation in 1956 of the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian an honorary Academy Award given to an "individual in the motion picture industry whose humanitarian efforts have brought credit to the industry". Hersholt was President of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences 1945-49. Another lesser known function he had was as Chairman of the Hollywood chamber of commerce in the early 1950’s and as such he helped negotiate the rights for the Scandinavian Airlines transatlantic flights in 1954. He was very proud of being Danish, throughout his life he helped spread Danish and Scandinavian culture to the world. One of his major achievements was translating all of Hans Christian Andersens stories to the English language. His translations are still regarded as the best.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Jean Hersholt's home in Hollywood</td></tr>
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Jean Hersholt made 443 films, got two honorary Oscars and is one of few who has two stars at the Hollywood walk of fame. One for his contributions to Motion Pictures, the other for his extensive radio work. Jean Hersholt died of pancreatic cancer in 1956, only months after having introduced Dr Christian to TV.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6CfRGvycgtMtZZhEJXvOY7kJuHzPV0Hz3h-6fSYxqHBJDKqsUFAs4RlDHN2RWZWsYitH5CtHfkLEa-5zA6GWOdhWVo38xpLj372QQJo_cYe7PQGpJaElRkaRVUnrH5ddi1B0N2dEmkFI/s1600/Boardman+Photoplay.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6CfRGvycgtMtZZhEJXvOY7kJuHzPV0Hz3h-6fSYxqHBJDKqsUFAs4RlDHN2RWZWsYitH5CtHfkLEa-5zA6GWOdhWVo38xpLj372QQJo_cYe7PQGpJaElRkaRVUnrH5ddi1B0N2dEmkFI/s400/Boardman+Photoplay.jpg" width="295" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Eleanor Boardman - Photoplay January 1928</td></tr>
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<b>Helen von Linden - Eleanor Boardman</b><br />
Born in Philadelphia 1898 to strict, Presbyterian parents. After graduation from The Academy of Fine Arts in her home town she left for New York hoping for a career on Broadway. When that didn’t work out as expected, she became a model for Kodak. This worked out splendidly and she eventually became the official Kodak Girl. With her face on posters all over the country she was of course hoping for some movie mogul to spot her and take her to Hollywood.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Eleanor Boardman early in her career</td></tr>
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After some time as Kodak girl she heard that the Selwyn Organization, a major producer of Broadway plays, was looking for girls with no stage experience. Since she was more than qualified in that respect, she tried out for the job and before she knew it she was in the chorus line of a production called "Rock-a-Bye-Baby" until the show closed three months later. Unfortunately she caught laryngitis and temporarily lost her voice, making it difficult to continue on the stage. It was at this time that a casting director for Goldwyn Pictures hit the Broadway scene looking for new faces. She tested for him and impressed him enough that he finally picked her out of a pool of more than 1000 young girls who tested for the opportunity to go to Hollywood.<br />
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Well in Hollywood followed months of fruitless effort until one day Rupert Hughes saw her riding a horse and gave her a part in a film and she quickly began to attract audiences. She was chosen by Goldwyn Pictures as their "New Face of 1922", through which she signed a contract with the company. After several successful supporting roles, she played the lead in 1923's Souls for Sale. Her growing popularity was reflected by inclusion on the list of WAMPAS Baby Stars in 1923. Her contract was renewed in 1924 when Goldwyn merged with Metro and became MGM.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Souls For Sale (1923)</td></tr>
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She appeared in fewer than forty films during her career, achieving her greatest success in Vidor's The Crowd in 1928. Her moving performance in that film is widely recognized as one of the outstanding performances in American silent films. She ultimately stayed with MGM until 1932. Boardman retired in 1935, and retreated completely from Hollywood and public life. Her only subsequent appearance was in an interview filmed for the Kevin Brownlow and David Gill documentary series Hollywood in 1980.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">With James Murray in The Crowd (1928)</td></tr>
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1926-31 Boardman was married to the film director King Vidor, with whom she had two daughters, Antonia born 1927, and Belinda born 1930, just before shooting of Mamba started . In September of 1926 fellow actors John Gilbert and Greta Garbo had planned a double wedding with them, but Garbo broke off the plans at the last minute. Boardman's second husband was Harry d'Abbadie d'Arrast to whom she was married from 1940 until his death in 1968. She died in Santa Barbara, California at the age of 93.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhq3hyxIaStWfy6gyIh-qENdFwm7VmX-xRjowzHtLNgAJB5giwpC4TDfd3XRzq56XAmbWY2VDLeMxoUlb3cJQ_dNFuaFp6g2qACMWGG7PEm2oNpgnObEvoLEaVD3CubcS-YkjijeQ7dFMM/s1600/King_Vidor_Eleanor_Boardman.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhq3hyxIaStWfy6gyIh-qENdFwm7VmX-xRjowzHtLNgAJB5giwpC4TDfd3XRzq56XAmbWY2VDLeMxoUlb3cJQ_dNFuaFp6g2qACMWGG7PEm2oNpgnObEvoLEaVD3CubcS-YkjijeQ7dFMM/s320/King_Vidor_Eleanor_Boardman.jpg" width="250" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Eleanor Boardman and King Vidor</td></tr>
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Eleanor Boardman has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for her contributions to Motion Pictures.<br />
Mamba was her first talkie and the only film she made in color.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbRdIUrjsb8aDxANls7wBAde5QJO6f-tLenHxp1sVaF9ajmALbawhLsnXTBdaXS7NYVCyY-0oTG4WLnBOJk8AFj6ZHdNKWBY4FXvO95Sx_OYdNhqHoiTJL3rDpIdqv_lWH69SX4CZg0YA/s1600/1928+-+Ralph+Forbes+-+bull+clarence+sinclair.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbRdIUrjsb8aDxANls7wBAde5QJO6f-tLenHxp1sVaF9ajmALbawhLsnXTBdaXS7NYVCyY-0oTG4WLnBOJk8AFj6ZHdNKWBY4FXvO95Sx_OYdNhqHoiTJL3rDpIdqv_lWH69SX4CZg0YA/s400/1928+-+Ralph+Forbes+-+bull+clarence+sinclair.jpg" width="306" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ralph Forbes by Clarence Sinclair Bull (1928)</td></tr>
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<b>Lieutenant Karl von Reiden - Ralph Forbes </b><br />
There is a lot of confusion about Forbes birth date. The date varies from 1896, 1901 to 1904. According to the Civil registration records in the UK, September 30, 1904 is the correct date. Born in an acting family in London, England. Both his parents and little sister were stage actors so the choice of profession might have been easy for young Ralph. He started his career on stage as a teenager in London. This led to some roles in British films, among them the early color movie His Glorious Adventure, shot in Prizmacolor 1922, and also a Swedish version of Charley's Aunt shot in England and Sweden between 1922-26 before leaving for Hollywood in 1926 to play fellow Englishman Ronald Coleman's brother in the Paramount big budgeter Beau Geste.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0Oh5YkO2ZVUPKfDAbjRoToOpPaQaE-nITMA_SxhvLrgfn1rTbtepkbFmJXS9EwN3OcPtZreCHqOxRAhNExGmCVFck4gumcbiBT6eweI1R6UKA3bDqfti-loAZVjdh2TgdwgFIEGR9sZY/s1600/1926+-+Beau+Geste.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0Oh5YkO2ZVUPKfDAbjRoToOpPaQaE-nITMA_SxhvLrgfn1rTbtepkbFmJXS9EwN3OcPtZreCHqOxRAhNExGmCVFck4gumcbiBT6eweI1R6UKA3bDqfti-loAZVjdh2TgdwgFIEGR9sZY/s320/1926+-+Beau+Geste.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Beau Geste (1926)</td></tr>
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In 1924 Forbes married the celebrated Broadway actress Ruth Chatterton who was eleven years his senior. The couple settled down in Hollywood and Chatterton soon also made her debut on the silver screen.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbtAd39piYMl0WoddvU1ERHpPtYERep3u0imqG3w6BzNXFy7bGCdh3HReW4XsiEfltSsHKe1KaUUiFGgW2OHSVFUTrx5CG3zMsg6HcEgrekJanCM_JhwR31NFvrJN4pMrecIvntPBsEKY/s1600/Forbes+%2526+Chatterton.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbtAd39piYMl0WoddvU1ERHpPtYERep3u0imqG3w6BzNXFy7bGCdh3HReW4XsiEfltSsHKe1KaUUiFGgW2OHSVFUTrx5CG3zMsg6HcEgrekJanCM_JhwR31NFvrJN4pMrecIvntPBsEKY/s400/Forbes+%2526+Chatterton.jpg" width="297" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ralph Forbes and Ruth Chatterton</td></tr>
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Forbes striking looks made things easy and he got quite important roles almost immediately. He was cast against many of the biggest names right from the start. Norma Shearer, Lon Chaney, Dolores Del Rio, Clara Bow, Corinne Griffith and so on.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXbBBJePyEibkGv6o_e5o1p7IwChRLrct22X_zHk_f49R9-BjVox5PnPF29U6lFjVZsYatR8jlJMu1nPKAnkNX8GzY4Lue-1Iwf6-5a-StNTYgDoW5vLKMYx_AkGE-jgaOjV7fa_MYNz0/s1600/1930+-+Her+Wedding+Night.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="257" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXbBBJePyEibkGv6o_e5o1p7IwChRLrct22X_zHk_f49R9-BjVox5PnPF29U6lFjVZsYatR8jlJMu1nPKAnkNX8GzY4Lue-1Iwf6-5a-StNTYgDoW5vLKMYx_AkGE-jgaOjV7fa_MYNz0/s320/1930+-+Her+Wedding+Night.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Forbes and Clara Bow in Her Wedding Night (1930)</td></tr>
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Ralph Forbes was perhaps not one of the bigger names in Hollywood, some might even describe him as an MGM bit player, but considering he made about five films a year throughout the 30's and who he made those films with I think it's fair to call him a true movie star.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3IUxMwZ4XbsMrctuc_KhqermDE6HNaB9XHdI-oZ3vrUaybpUbUjBW2a73MxsxSLqiPLHNuUoXQpZNPcbwCDX_0dNsGXHGS1ZoarZ6EEmfjonmp3BdCe4_RsljNaImQWZbaXhgXKAiVgM/s1600/20th+Century+%25281%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="250" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3IUxMwZ4XbsMrctuc_KhqermDE6HNaB9XHdI-oZ3vrUaybpUbUjBW2a73MxsxSLqiPLHNuUoXQpZNPcbwCDX_0dNsGXHGS1ZoarZ6EEmfjonmp3BdCe4_RsljNaImQWZbaXhgXKAiVgM/s320/20th+Century+%25281%2529.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Forbes about to hit John Barrymore in the face in 20th Century (1934)</td></tr>
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Forbes and Chatterton divorced in 1932. Forbes Movie career basically ended in the early 40's but got some new life with the arrival of TV and the Playhose series. In 1951 Forbes fell ill and passed away far to early, he was 46.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiir4Bj-QyWGEvqZpcqsamUJb-328mpXt_Lx6rmuEx4mMCpsxpDtzKQ_zW9EI4vKaSqSgv4e6-E6VKUdpy7xl94Sx3uD8f_Tveu_92Ui82j03xa27OBDpzB-LsLheIBU6O1-9g2iQ1Nf4E/s1600/Mamba+Still+-+Wedding.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="247" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiir4Bj-QyWGEvqZpcqsamUJb-328mpXt_Lx6rmuEx4mMCpsxpDtzKQ_zW9EI4vKaSqSgv4e6-E6VKUdpy7xl94Sx3uD8f_Tveu_92Ui82j03xa27OBDpzB-LsLheIBU6O1-9g2iQ1Nf4E/s320/Mamba+Still+-+Wedding.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Eleanor Boardman and Jean Hersholt in Mamba</td></tr>
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Mamba is a phenomenal early all color talkie that deserves its place in Movie history. Come see for your self and have a chat with me on Monday night at <a href="http://www.astortheatre.net.au/">the Astor in Melbourne</a>. Tickets are still on sale!<br />
<br />Jonas Nordinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06065342609209811314noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3891927412771509295.post-82332045003456326182011-11-04T01:19:00.001+01:002017-03-22T10:00:41.387+01:00Mamba World Premiere in Melbourne Nov 21<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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It's not without pride I can announce that <a href="http://www.astortheatre.net.au/special-events/mamba-an-incredible-35mm-discovery?ybct=1281">Tiffany Pictures 1930 all color triumph Mamba will be shown in public for the first time in about 80 years</a>. This very special event will take place at <a href="http://www.astortheatre.net.au/">The Astor Theatre in Melbourne, Australia</a> November 21.<br />
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My collaborator Paul Brennan and I will be there in person to present the film together. It was Paul who found the long thought lost nitrate reels in 2009, I then edited the whole thing together into a presentable format. Since 2009, when Mamba was found, the complete soundtrack has been added to the film elements thanks to a kind contribution from the <a href="http://www.cinema.ucla.edu/">UCLA Film & Television Archives</a>.<br />
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With all the different elements in place Mamba is now ready to be properly restored. However, when the opportunity to present the film before a live audience came about, and at such a wonderful place as The Astor we immediately decided to share this remarkable discovery even though it's still a work in progress.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgt_6O_1cu4bHcAZ27SCJ2NpUUetSYD8avfEdPqOneUE9a84vKevB_wQAkRwiKIvc9a_XtOGNfgIr6aL5Ldv9WT7nF-_hqOvdmcOPB_FFSY5Uyv_orH52Oi9nnm0Fp6CgXfGe5shtzw5hk/s1600/astor-new-aud-m.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="211" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgt_6O_1cu4bHcAZ27SCJ2NpUUetSYD8avfEdPqOneUE9a84vKevB_wQAkRwiKIvc9a_XtOGNfgIr6aL5Ldv9WT7nF-_hqOvdmcOPB_FFSY5Uyv_orH52Oi9nnm0Fp6CgXfGe5shtzw5hk/s320/astor-new-aud-m.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div>
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"The Astor was built in the 1930s and still retains the art-deco charm of that period. The theatre is a classic, single-screen cinema with stalls and a dress circle, the overall seating capacity of 1,150 is reduced from the original 1,700 - and the auditorium has the same, soft ambience that you will have enjoyed in the foyers. Beautiful curtains cover the screen - there are no jarring, advertising slides to greet you! <br />
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But there is nothing "old-fashioned" about The Astor's facilities. The fully air-conditioned cinema boasts a state-of-the-art sound system and now has Australia's first installation of the superb, Barco 4K Digital Projector which is capable of providing resolution that is up to four times higher than the industry standard." Thus a splendid venue for such an important event.<br />
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This is the first of two articles about Mamba, it's importance in film history and more information about the people who made it. <a href="http://talkieking.blogspot.com/2009/10/mamba-1930-lost-and-found.html">The story about how the film was found can be found here.</a><br />
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Mamba is one of the earliest all talking all color features ever made that also survives complete. The use of color throughout an entire talking feature was something completely new in 1929 and for such a small studio as Tiffany it was unheard of. It’s clear Tiffany decided to take a risk with hopes to become a bigger player in the Hollywood studio system. In the fall of 1929 Hollywood was not only a turmoil of sound but also color. Every studio of note was wiring for sound and the bigger players also wanted color in their productions, if only just short sequences.<br />
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One should note that at this time only about a dozen Technicolor cameras were available in Hollywood altogether. The studios had to battle to use them and the schedules were tight. The big studios monopolized the color cameras quite thoroughly but Tiffany got lucky, probably by some sort of divine intervention and could shoot an entire feature in color. All color talkies was clearly the next big thing and Tiffany decided to go all in right from the start. They were even planning to take technology a step further and shoot it in 3D according to this article in the Film Daily published Nov 12, 1929<br />
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Mamba was shot during approximately 10 weeks, from the end of September to early December 1929. At the time production begun, only two all talking, all color features had been released. Those were two backstage musicals from Warner Bros, <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0020238/">On With The Show!</a> released in July and <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0019936/">Gold Diggers of Broadway</a> in late August. None of the two have survived intact.<br />
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When production wrapped in December, two more WB musicals were ready for release. The two hour extravaganza <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0020403/">The Show Of Shows</a> opening late November and the Jerome Kern operetta <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0020358/">Sally</a> starring Marilyn Miller just before Christmas 1929. These two have survived in black and white only, save from short fragments in color.<br />
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The fifth all color talkie <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0021511/">The Vagabond King</a> from Paramount had its NYC gala premiere late February 1930 (it wasn’t released to the general public until April). It has survived and has been restored by UCLA. Then comes Mamba, released March 10, which makes it the sixth all color talkie ever produced, and the earliest known all color talkie that wasn’t a musical or came from a major studio. It is intact and in quite good shape but it needs to be restored.<br />
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Tiffany Pictures was formed in 1921 as an independent production company by silent superstar <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0615141/">Mae Murray</a> and her then husband and director Robert Z. Leonard. Probably inspired by United Artists, formed two years earlier by Pickford/Fairbanks/Chaplin/Griffith, Tiffany's main goal was to produce Mae Murray vehicles, distributing them through Metro. After having made eight features together, Mae Murray divorced Leonard and left Tiffany for MGM in 1925. She eventually came back to Tiffany in 1929 to remake her 1922 success <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0013487/">Peacock Alley</a> as a <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0021243/">talkie</a>. It didn't work out well and Murray's talkie career was more or less over within a year. She sued Tiffany accusing the company having ruined her career. She lost the case and eventually left the movie business. The rest of her life is a mentally unstable, rather sad story. Mae Murray left us in 1965, a year after her last attempt for a come-back at 75. She was the real Norma Desmond.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqwQ8da-xL4K8e4j5O0QMhuoEZeR7uBI67VBCV3xJgfSfVGBz8pdHGRqiOS6dsXynCg3xB07dYQzMG7egnRBjI7HMjeboQMWM45rH34KJmAtD96goXdFUR0NMd318YLJgcXJN36YYOYRE/s1600/Mae+Murray+-+Merry+Widow+%25281925%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqwQ8da-xL4K8e4j5O0QMhuoEZeR7uBI67VBCV3xJgfSfVGBz8pdHGRqiOS6dsXynCg3xB07dYQzMG7egnRBjI7HMjeboQMWM45rH34KJmAtD96goXdFUR0NMd318YLJgcXJN36YYOYRE/s400/Mae+Murray+-+Merry+Widow+%25281925%2529.jpg" width="268" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mae Murray in The Merry Widow 1925</td></tr>
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What happened to Tiffany Pictures right after Murray's departure is somewhat unclear. My guess is that it was in limbo for a while until someone decided to pick up the pieces. There are indications of Tiffany being reformed from the scraps of the MGM merger in 1924. Considering its close relationship with Metro, many redundant people left over from Metro (and Goldwyn) who wasn't transferred to MGM was probably hired by Tiffany. With a new management and a staff of skilled craftsmen the company was ready for big business.<br />
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Tiffany is often referred to as a poverty row studio. I'm not sure if the term poverty row is a correct label for a company like Tiffany. I think independent studio would be more suitable. After all, they had their own studio from 1927, The Reliance Majestic Studios which had been the home of DW Griffith. <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0004972/">The Birth of a Nation</a>, <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0006864/">Intolerance</a> and <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0009968/">Broken Blossoms</a> were all partially or fully shot at the studio.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBSSugC-AKymx85fRg1QSD8IudgY4P623QtrvcG8xsTacmPQU2u-CSh8Uj_cULLGYY3tLHLfYivvHJr5uFuK_9XtBD9aJPPgVJpN1M7xJ42FDwl8j0Hyvf69G6F-x15Bg0Uhle1aO-SKA/s1600/Tiffany+Studio.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBSSugC-AKymx85fRg1QSD8IudgY4P623QtrvcG8xsTacmPQU2u-CSh8Uj_cULLGYY3tLHLfYivvHJr5uFuK_9XtBD9aJPPgVJpN1M7xJ42FDwl8j0Hyvf69G6F-x15Bg0Uhle1aO-SKA/s400/Tiffany+Studio.jpg" width="285" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Tiffany-Stahl Studio 1929 </td></tr>
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Poverty row units normally had to lease facilities, often cameras and other equipment, sets and sometimes even actors from other studios when they wanted to make a picture. The classic poverty row production was generally a poorly funded venture with very unclear distribution. In an era when the bigger studios also owned the major theatre chains, getting an independent picture into movie houses was a challenge. I guess the Tiffany studio may have served as a base for other smaller companies, thus linking it to the poverty row epithet.<br />
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With the acquisition of the Reliance Majestic in 1927 came the new boss the MGM director and producer John M. Stahl who stayed in power until 1930 when he sold his interest in Tiffany and became a director at Columbia. I guess Stahl was largely responsible for the "New expanding Tiffany" as it coincides exactly with his time as CEO. Stahl was generally considered a really competent and nice man, liked by both staff and actors.<br />
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From August 1929 Tiffany had a very lucrative agreement with RCA. The deal was very straight forward - If a cinema owner agreed to book a block of 26 Tiffany films, RCA would wire the theatre for sound for $2,995, which was a bargain for most managers. By February 1930 no less than 2,460 theaters had signed up for the deal. Tiffany had thus a distribution network, at least for a while.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFT6TkC_QkQ3vK5a4xkS4mRowhoJuupd3ky8e4TiJI4dUIPrsIpGoK40tPQnmGwb7bgR8-I7zuaegyS8EUF-GHRupnXxD5xiE6bt0ASf0HzKWnxOVHRx52VwK-v9AxhTncywxqTXFLNS8/s1600/john-m-stahl.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFT6TkC_QkQ3vK5a4xkS4mRowhoJuupd3ky8e4TiJI4dUIPrsIpGoK40tPQnmGwb7bgR8-I7zuaegyS8EUF-GHRupnXxD5xiE6bt0ASf0HzKWnxOVHRx52VwK-v9AxhTncywxqTXFLNS8/s400/john-m-stahl.JPG" width="294" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">John M. Stahl</td></tr>
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After Stahl left Tiffany in 1930 the company sunk back among the B-players concentrating on westerns, shorts and cheap monkey movies. They finally went out of business in 1932, much because of the ongoing depression, a general lack of funds and a hard time getting their films out to the theaters. According to my sources the main reason for their demise was because "they had no profitable distribution network." So I guess the departure of Stahl also ended the profitable RCA distribution agreement. The studio was sold and the main part of the Tiffany legacy, including most of the original negatives went up in smoke during the filming of <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0031381/">Gone With The Wind</a> in 1939.</div>
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John M. Stahl later directed several great pictures for Columbia in the 1930's and later for 20th Century Fox, his best known film is the brilliant Technicolor noir <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0037865/">Leave Her To Heaven</a>. 1950's melodrama master Douglas Sirk remade no less than three of Stahls pictures from the 30's. <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0047203/">Magnificent Obsession</a> is one of them.<br />
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My next post will give you more Mamba magic. Stay tuned!<br />
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Jonas Nordinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06065342609209811314noreply@blogger.com4Stockholm urban area, Sweden59.3327881 18.064488159.2032091 17.748631099999997 59.4623671 18.3803451tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3891927412771509295.post-57984246244128291542011-07-20T09:07:00.014+02:002011-07-20T13:22:42.840+02:00The Artist (2011)<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPC_nqZY3JCoOBCG2Lv-fdp2QS3WXbI1CfPKkO0d3DfWRLQh6lFvSzRCwt6rQtLE81t9byYaizsAxRI3sJQDo1kEGc2IFKG9ZaaTXPhEI2yot1DAgHCvZWe-MksLwMVIjArfolDEfeShs/s1600/The-Artist-Poster.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPC_nqZY3JCoOBCG2Lv-fdp2QS3WXbI1CfPKkO0d3DfWRLQh6lFvSzRCwt6rQtLE81t9byYaizsAxRI3sJQDo1kEGc2IFKG9ZaaTXPhEI2yot1DAgHCvZWe-MksLwMVIjArfolDEfeShs/s400/The-Artist-Poster.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5631348101351188354" /></a><br />Just before the holidays I heard about a new film that had had its premiere at the Cannes festival in May. Normally I don't comment on movies made after 1935 but in this case I have to make an exception. French director Michel Hazanavicius new movie The Artist is a silent movie with synchronized score and sound effects and a short scene with dialogue at the end, just like if it was made in 1928. Technically it's thus a part-talkie, but it doesn't stop at that. The story takes place in Hollywood 1927 where swashbuckling film star George Valentin is facing the arrival of the talkies. A film about the transition to talkies naturally has its place on this blog. <div><br /></div><div>Unfortunately I had no possibility to attend the Cannes festival premiere and the movie does not become available to the general public until this fall so I haven't actually seen it yet, but I found <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/film/cannes-film-festival/8518771/Cannes-2011-The-Artist-review.html">this nice review by Sukhdev Sandhu in the online edition of the UK paper The Telegraph.</a> </div><div><br /></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" ><i>"Jean Dujardin plays George Valentin, a dashing and rather arrogant actor whose dynamic, swashbuckling roles in films such as A Russian Affair and A German Affair have made him a huge star of the pre-talkie era. But he’s caught off-guard by the arrival of sound: “If that’s the future, you can have it!” His roles dry up, his wife leaves him, and a move into directing doesn’t work out.<br /><br />All he has left is his Jack Russell terrier and is his memories of the delightfully-named Peppy Miller (Berenice Bojo). She’s the all-smiling, high-stepping would-be actress with whom he’d fallen in love even before her career went into overdrive. They’d never done anything untoward together, but they’ve always looked at each other longingly. Now that he’s seen as “old meat”, now that he’s yesterday’s news, a relic of an abandoned art form, will Peppy still remember him? Does she still carry a flame for him?</i></span><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiab17O9mFasIjvp7_s_5Pj98zQPHNZMs_WavFHkGz26jeXDU3Ky7v1w3l6Sdj78QcH527xuvI7Od_h0W-7oYyUnlPA3bOwwzdXV7mV3SqrPvYD83qcT31yY0vhP5KIMdGnPCqFiqBmSEI/s1600/The+Artist+1.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiab17O9mFasIjvp7_s_5Pj98zQPHNZMs_WavFHkGz26jeXDU3Ky7v1w3l6Sdj78QcH527xuvI7Od_h0W-7oYyUnlPA3bOwwzdXV7mV3SqrPvYD83qcT31yY0vhP5KIMdGnPCqFiqBmSEI/s400/The+Artist+1.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5631385152600835970" /></a><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" ><i>The Artist is not a film that thinks it’s superior to the movies it evokes (I was going to use the word 'pastiche', but that seems inappropriate; 'pastiche' sounds cold, a touch heartless - the very opposite of what this is). Hazanavicius has evidently immersed himself in the silent period, seeing in it liberation rather than restriction: he’s in love with its melodramatic intensity, its lack of irony, the importance it places on lighting and photography. Cinematographer Guillaume Schiffman, drawing on deathless classics such as Murnau’s City Girl (1930), makes black and white look wonderfully warm rather than austere. Ludovic Bource’s score is charming and amplified by two exquisitely clever breaks in the film’s otherwise complete eschewal of natural sounds.</i></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" ><i><span class="Apple-style-span"><br />Dujardin and Bojo excel together, reining in any desire to compensate for their lack of dialogue by exaggerating the physicality of their roles, and offering up some delightful dance routines too. Hazanavicius himself is wise enough not to stuff the screenplay with lots of dialogue just to placate audiences unused to watching silent; the intertitles are kept to a minimum. By the end, it’s all you can do not to cheer on the seemingly star-crossed lovers and not to sigh about how they don’t make films like this anymore. Except, of course, Hazanavicius just has."</span><br /></i></span><br />Let's take a look at the trailer. It gives you a good idea of the style. The trailer editor's choice of music is a bit odd though. I don't see why they went for Louis Prima's swing classic Sing Sing Sing written in 1936 instead of a peppy 1928 fox-trot. But I guess you can't have it all. I will definitely watch the movie as soon as I possibly can and I advise all transition geeks to do likewise.<br /><br /><iframe width="425" height="349" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/XvifS2QOun4" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe></div>Jonas Nordinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06065342609209811314noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3891927412771509295.post-74244866775248510642011-06-09T11:07:00.016+02:002011-06-16T02:06:07.369+02:00Rio Rita - Lost footage found on You Tube<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtP3vISUr4N52n2Ctudch_UWNa1bf8fynmVGB6Ro9yhN8ME-hNlZiTnYBLlaUI1gNo3lUf8CzkOT26Z5qbfPf91rNw6oxFBhItaTtN2-LQAi41EMYekZR6YBySW_W_uNj0woXtuyO9aDw/s1600/RioRita.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 261px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtP3vISUr4N52n2Ctudch_UWNa1bf8fynmVGB6Ro9yhN8ME-hNlZiTnYBLlaUI1gNo3lUf8CzkOT26Z5qbfPf91rNw6oxFBhItaTtN2-LQAi41EMYekZR6YBySW_W_uNj0woXtuyO9aDw/s400/RioRita.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5618583276099673266" /></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#FFCC33;"><div style="text-align: center;"><i>Original promotional material published in Film Daily in July 1929</i></div></span><div><br />The other day I got a mail from my friend Brian who told me about a sensational find he had made on You Tube. Someone had decided to upload two fragments from the supposedly lost 1929 version of Rio Rita. To me this is a sensation! Judging from the number of showings it has, not many people have found it yet. There is almost no information about it other than the uploader says the footage comes from a reel of film he found in an estate sale a while ago.<br /><br />The two snippets Mr McClutching has posted are indeed from the original 1929 version of Rio Rita. The footage is not present in the 1932 re-release version that is in circulation today. The snippets seems to be filmed straight off a screen or a wall but look fantastic nevertheless. The film elements appears to be in almost perfect condition considering its age. The color depth looks amazing, almost too good to be true. Let's take a look at it!<br /><br />The first snippet comes from the beginning of the movie where Dorothy Lee is introduced with a little number called The Kinkajou. As I understand this was the first musical number in the movie. It has been entirely removed in the 1932 version.<br /><br /><iframe width="400" height="330" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/cZQrJEEGW6w?rel=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe><br /><br />The second clip is a fragment from the latter half of the Sweetheart We Need Each Other reprise aboard the pirate barge. This clip comes from the massive color segment towards the end of the movie.<br /><br /><iframe width="400" height="330" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/dHSwp4pEZGI?rel=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe><br /><br />The beginning of the number and more information about the cut/uncut version of Rio Rita can be found in <a href="http://talkieking.blogspot.com/2009/11/cut-musical-numbers-in-1930.html">my previous post about cut musical numbers</a>.<br /><br />Watching these resurfaced fragments it becomes somewhat easier to understand why this footage was cut in the 1932 version. The most obvious reason was of course the running time. A 105 minute move was (and is) an easier sell than a 140 minute movie. But which scenes could be cut without crippling the plot too much? The easiest way was of course to cut songs as they usually don't move the plot forward. But this must have been difficult since Rio Rita was an operetta. Why was the peppy Kinkajou song cut and other slower songs saved? The Kinkajou was after all a major hit and one of the better known songs from the 1927 Broadway show. My guess is that it has something to do with the performance.</div><div><br />Here's a Ampico piano roll of The Kinkajou published in 1927, recorded by Ferde Grofé<br /><iframe width="400" height="257" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/bhKHuAUa4lI" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe><br /><br />In 1929 talkie musicals were something completely new. Methods of cinematography and sound engineering had not found their final form. The crew that made Rio Rita were pioneers in many ways. They had no recipe, they had to improvise.<br />In 1932 however the movie musical stood before its second coming. Almost every aspect in moviemaking had evolved incredibly fast during the three years between the two versions. What was groundbreaking in 1929 was not even yesterdays news in 1932.<br /><br />My guess is that most of the cut material in Rio Rita was considered old-fashioned. Let's face it, Dorothy Lee was adorable in almost every way, but her rendition of The Kinkajou seems a bit clunky and the choreography isn't exactly top notch. The staginess of parading chorus girls walking up and down stairs in the second fragment is very 1929 but had no place in 1932. The 1932 audience was experienced and probably found Rio Rita quite dull even after it had been "modernized". Let's hope these fragments ends up in a complete 1929 version soon. Until then, it feels great knowing they exist and appears to be in great shape.</div><div><br /><iframe width="400" height="330" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/iYE9otIv0_M?rel=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#FFCC33;"><i>The 1929 trailer for Rio Rita</i></span></div></div><div><br /></div>Jonas Nordinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06065342609209811314noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3891927412771509295.post-22639017458166219232011-04-02T10:39:00.015+02:002012-05-10T10:23:35.517+02:00A stolen waltzIn 1929, when the talkies flooded the world, all the musicals produced had to be filled with songs. Naturally all these musicals became a fantastic opportunity for aspiring songwriters to get recognition. Sometimes the songs were brilliant, sometimes not. The music publishers quickly hired songwriters who wrote songs more or less off the cuff. The need for songs seemed never ending. Inspiration wasn't always at hand, so some of the songwriters recycled chord progressions and even parts of melody that had worked before, if only to get a song placed. The songs at this time had to fit the three minute limitation of a record, the radio and now the talkies. Basically, a quite strict template for hit songs was created. This template would be used more or less untouched until the advent of Television and Rock'n'Roll.<br />
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Many of the late silents and early talkies indeed included some brilliant songwriting. Many of the songs became evergreens even if the film it was performed in quickly fell into oblivion. One of the most popular types of theme songs in the late 20's was the romantic waltz. <a href="http://talkieking.blogspot.com/2009/02/original-scores-and-theme-songs-eternal.html">Ramona, Diane, Charmaine</a>, <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0019788/">Coquette</a> to name a few, almost every film had one. The theme song was often performed throughout the picture in many different versions and styles just to show off how versatile it was. Very often it was even turned into a snappy fox-trot. The goal was of course to induce it as much as possible to get it to stick properly with the audience. It was important to get a hit song. With the increasing output it became more and more difficult to tell which songs would work the best. Sometimes publishers were even lurking outside the theatres just to pick up which songs people were humming when leaving.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJ6vncfdU-yyO3nEoc0jSJnCc4gyhTWi7iRqb4dZJlHu81_VsrvB5X8Hb0lR6TUqBtMNIxzymTfPPpGN06qhj5DVGWB27o7GtO_2aeNi6_GQI8fcA2bnCC8xpPbK8jVw2T5OOYh2Tq65k/s1600/OurDancingDaughters+-+Poster.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5592571362408750418" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJ6vncfdU-yyO3nEoc0jSJnCc4gyhTWi7iRqb4dZJlHu81_VsrvB5X8Hb0lR6TUqBtMNIxzymTfPPpGN06qhj5DVGWB27o7GtO_2aeNi6_GQI8fcA2bnCC8xpPbK8jVw2T5OOYh2Tq65k/s400/OurDancingDaughters+-+Poster.jpg" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 298px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 400px;" /></a><br />
The theme song in <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0019237/">Our Dancing Daughters</a> in 1928 was no exception to the rule. I Loved You Then As I Love You Now, written by the team Axt-Mendoza-MacDonald is perhaps not well remembered today but it’s still a very efficient song that is very characteristic. There are several 1928 recordings of it so it was definitely a hit back then. Here is the fox-trot rendition of it from the party scene in the movie:<br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="300" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/qqxII7b_m_I" title="YouTube video player" width="400"></iframe><br />
The chorus works rather well as a fox-trot even if it was conceived as a waltz. If we slow down the tempo a bit, change the meter to ¾ and attach the verse, in its original form it sounds like this, performed by Louis Wick:<iframe width="100%" height="166" scrolling="no" frameborder="no" src="http://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fapi.soundcloud.com%2Ftracks%2F45911174&show_artwork=true"></iframe><br />
<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0019237/">Our Dancing Daughters</a> was released early September 1928 in the US. It was a silent movie but it had a rather elaborate soundtrack, still not synchronized but it included some off camera dialog.<br />
Now we fast forward about six months. The young Swedish songwriter <a href="http://www.julessylvain.se/">Jules Sylvain</a> was hired to write some songs for the first Swedish talkie <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0020473/">Säg Det I Toner</a> (Say It With Songs) in the summer of 1929. Sylvain had seen <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0019388/">The Singing Fool</a> in Berlin late 1928 and immediately understood where it all was heading. According to Sylvain's memoirs the occasion was not only the first time he saw a talkie but also the premiere of talkies in Europe all together. On his return to Stockholm he immediately started lobbying for Swedish talkies. Naturally he saw the opportunity to promote his own songwriting. So when SF, the leading studio finally decided to make a talkie it was quite obvious which composer to hire for the project.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUK8Qzcs28fE6-Q6BnEkTKEwmNMMTD4MppYSeYtjfKdogcClYK4uteCWjEtxpSb5oezJug1-hrzHGJUsP0F2dCzZkSkFGjk9EggvplPn9ApxhdUifQd0KBNrMhGfQi41UCrhQBZtXneGM/s1600/S%25C3%25A4g+Det+I+Toner+-+Sheetmusic.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5592570265021603570" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUK8Qzcs28fE6-Q6BnEkTKEwmNMMTD4MppYSeYtjfKdogcClYK4uteCWjEtxpSb5oezJug1-hrzHGJUsP0F2dCzZkSkFGjk9EggvplPn9ApxhdUifQd0KBNrMhGfQi41UCrhQBZtXneGM/s400/S%25C3%25A4g+Det+I+Toner+-+Sheetmusic.jpg" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 400px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 285px;" /></a><br />
However, Sylvain apparently had trouble finding appropriate songs for the picture. He even admits it in his memoirs. After all he had no experience writing for movies. To get the hang of it he saw as many talkies he possibly could. When shooting was to begin he was over in London where it was much easier to catch a talkie than I Stockholm where only one cinema had installed a Vitaphone system. <br />
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This might sound controversial but I think he must have seen <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0019237/">Our Dancing Daughters</a> sometime during the summer of 1929 and contrary to the official story he more or less nicked the theme song from it to use in “his” film. Judge for yourself but I think the similarities are apparent. <iframe width="100%" height="166" scrolling="no" frameborder="no" src="http://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fapi.soundcloud.com%2Ftracks%2F45912245&show_artwork=true"></iframe><br />
Sylvain’s theme song to <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0020473/">Säg Det I Toner</a> is in the same key, the verse has basically the same melody and the general feel of the songs are very much alike even if the chorus is different in the Swedish song. I'm sure he thought the original was a great waltz and believed he would get a away with murder borrowing parts of it. Actually, I think he did!<br />
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Sylvain wasn't the only one who borrowed stuff from fellow composers. Here's another example, not as evident but every time I hear one of these songs I always sing the melody to the other one on top just because it can be done, well almost.<br />
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Tip-Toe Through The Tulips With Me (Burke-Dubin) From Gold Diggers Of Broadway (1929)<br />
Performed by Nick Lucas and chorus.<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="300" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/UZMHJX4b9bU" title="YouTube video player" width="400"></iframe><br />
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Everyone Says I Love You (Kalmar-Ruby) from Horse Feathers (1932)<br />
Performed by The Marx Bros.<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="300" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/N8hk9pUtVwA" title="YouTube video player" width="400"></iframe><br />
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A special thank you to Aubyn/Rachel at <a href="http://thegirlwiththewhiteparasol.blogspot.com/">The Girl With the White Parasol</a> presenting me with a Stylish Blogger Award!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUz4HCDXD2Xdj1axSWl8L7_Cg6qYolv4p3KRRSi5sL-5o-7sETbviOQOvo9LB9UIVjJ5sgo4Ip8zSDOii3sfJ-JFFYtsmh2lqdOcuDqKFMue9yc5Yy43xClhmdII1bjhuzqDi3Kvt-cAs/s1600/stylish%252Bblogger%252Baward%252B1.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5592583531553536850" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUz4HCDXD2Xdj1axSWl8L7_Cg6qYolv4p3KRRSi5sL-5o-7sETbviOQOvo9LB9UIVjJ5sgo4Ip8zSDOii3sfJ-JFFYtsmh2lqdOcuDqKFMue9yc5Yy43xClhmdII1bjhuzqDi3Kvt-cAs/s320/stylish%252Bblogger%252Baward%252B1.jpg" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 200px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 200px;" /></a>Jonas Nordinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06065342609209811314noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3891927412771509295.post-55735045077944943062010-09-06T13:17:00.014+02:002023-02-21T15:20:41.327+01:00Charles Koechlin (1867-1950) Star struck classical composer<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEib57DNOZC7AxSWAtmz2eD95BoiXzCksz6VCinIGbYp0EorRFiZDMSt32sR8zW2CVX_LMmfZiyFAUr8H8ipNKDXuMT9RDKA3a1WoX8e7e7AYfNMzD56rKJ12nwXLTn2rYM9VKT5RKvzSNU/s1600/Charles+Koechlin.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 281px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEib57DNOZC7AxSWAtmz2eD95BoiXzCksz6VCinIGbYp0EorRFiZDMSt32sR8zW2CVX_LMmfZiyFAUr8H8ipNKDXuMT9RDKA3a1WoX8e7e7AYfNMzD56rKJ12nwXLTn2rYM9VKT5RKvzSNU/s400/Charles+Koechlin.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5513764186316351666" /></a>
This summer I have been away on paternal leave for almost three months. Most of the time was spent in the south of France. Most French cities have a public médiateque, a library not only for books but for movies and records as well. This allows the curious person to get a fuller picture of whatever interest one may have. It's simply brilliant to be able to get several dimensions of a subject going at the same time. I guess some would call it synergy effects. You can for instance read a biography, then complete it with a movie or a soundtrack, take everything with you for further studies at home, all for free.
In my case I wanted to know more about the obscure classical composer Charles Koechlin who lived alongside giants like Claude Debussy (born 1862) and Maurice Ravel (born 1875). Koechlin's teacher was Gabriel Fauré so I wanted to investigate why Koechlin, who had a very big output was so little known. Koechlin wrote in almost any style. Ranging from very strict almost Bach-like counterpoint to outbursts of very spaced-out modernism. One could easily describe him as somewhat of a musical chameleon and as such very hard to put in a certain genre.
Koechlin was no salesman and not very good at promoting himself. He was a respected teacher, wrote several important books on musicology and also the first biography on Gabriel Fauré. Koechlin was a modest man, almost a recluse, who lived uniquely for his music. Some would say he was obsessed with music and tonality. in today's vocabulary, a music nerd. I'm not going to write his biography, it can be found <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Koechlin">here</a>.
So what has this to do with classic movies and early talkies in particular?
In the early 1930's when Koechlin was in his mid 60's he decided to visit one of the Paris cinemas to see what talking pictures were like. Probably by coincidence he ended up watching a movie featuring the British born German actress Lilian Harvey. He became obsessed with her screen persona. The old man was completely star struck. He went to see her movies over and over again. Almost immediately he started to write music in her honor.
<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWp0Bq20UIY6wcTWEiF4WA7x9yAl1qiTNjtxk5kswF3_S8JgEI0RdGIRwH-7trhkaVkFERE7HIe_E7qdT4BPJRbSzPEG3DnXuKXhnoW3SUWSV7hs78z-LvdLJBMJwJrt5PHY53L6AoNOY/s1600/Poster+-+My+Lips+Betray_01.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 270px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWp0Bq20UIY6wcTWEiF4WA7x9yAl1qiTNjtxk5kswF3_S8JgEI0RdGIRwH-7trhkaVkFERE7HIe_E7qdT4BPJRbSzPEG3DnXuKXhnoW3SUWSV7hs78z-LvdLJBMJwJrt5PHY53L6AoNOY/s400/Poster+-+My+Lips+Betray_01.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5513792527022060882" /></a><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#FF9900;"><i>One of the movies Koechlin saw in 1934</i></span></div><div>
The Lilian obsession led to many many nights in different Paris cinemas. While seated in the flickering darkness of the cinema admiring Lilian Harvey, Koechlin found that many of the musical scores were ill fitting. He started to take notes and in some cases even composing music he found better suited for particular scenes. This odd behavior led to several imaginary film scores. He sent several pieces of his music to Lilian Harvey who of course was flattered at first but soon realized the old Frenchman was obsessed with her.
Koechlin was very timid and kept a low profile but when it came to Lilian Harvey nothing could stop him. At one point he even showed up at her summer residence in the south of France with hopes of proposing to her. After a while (and some serious stalking) I guess he soon realized marriage or even an affair with Harvey was out of the question. To my knowledge they never met in person.
However, all the movie going produced some very fine music. In most cases Koechlin's movie related music is a beautiful cross breeding of high and low culture. The finest piece is probably The Seven Stars Symphony which isn't a symphony in classical sense but a collection of tone-poems representing seven movie stars of the day. Douglas Fairbanks, Lilian Harvey, Greta Garbo, Clara Bow, Marlene Dietrich, Emil Jannings and Charlie Chaplin.
Plese listen to some excerpts of it:
The Seven Stars Symphony (1933)
3. Greta Garbo
<iframe title="YouTube video player" width="400" height="300" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/NB1SniWhxAc" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
The Seven Stars Symphony (1933)
5. Marlene Dietrich
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Koechlin wrote music in homage to other movie stars as well, usually chamber music and often incorporating unusual instruments in classical music like the Saxophone, Celesta or even <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ondes_Martenot">Ondes Martenot</a>. When Jean Harlow passed away in 1937 he wrote this absolutely beautiful epitaph.
Epitaph For Jean Harlow (1937)
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My favorites among Koechlin's music are the Danses Pour Ginger op 163 (1937-39) for two pianos, which in some cases have almost Satie-esque qualities.
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At the time movie-stars were often seen as pop-stars with questionable lifestyles by the cultural elite and almost as royalty by us others. To Koechlin the talking pictures and the movie stars served as a main inspiration for over ten years. Did he care he was a well respected composer and teacher in the high brow cultural community of Paris? Was he at any time afraid to fall from grace? Probably not. He just did what he had to do. What do you think?
Thanks to <a href="http://www.youtube.com/user/Wellesz">Wellesz</a> for the fine You Tube clips</div>Jonas Nordinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06065342609209811314noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3891927412771509295.post-88386874149799807312010-05-12T15:12:00.019+02:002023-02-21T15:28:19.757+01:00Color in the movies - Part 2 - ChronochromeThe additive color processes were many and all fairly alike. The basic principle of an additive color system consisted of black and white film stock that was treated with some sort of filters or sequence of filters when shot and up on projection the same filters were applied. Most of the problems with the different processes boiled down to getting the colored filters in perfect sync with the running film. While Kinemacolor had some success it wasn't the best looking additive color system. From a technical point of view it had quite a few shortcomings, most notably the irritating flicker and the limited color spectrum it offered.
The best looking and probably most advanced additive color process was French inventor Léon Gaumont's Chronochrome, patented February 11, 1911. Chronochrome was a three-color system where the three different color images were shot simultaneously rather than in sequence. The camera was equipped with three lenses and three filters, blue, red, green. The resulting positive was then projected by a machine also equipped with three lenses and filters.
<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhO1_4R77qfC9klnAHhvSgDfpKZ9tbnYAkszeJNRZygXeOE8j4ROH8-lIzw7iNxjLLjvjOVQucKC57NnPwxTjy7VJ7Hos2H3mo0Fsn7WWu9go6SKvi0E8Ir8zNCu3Bx59fRFY6fUr4EY1o/s1600/Leon+Gaumont+-+Nadar+1910.jpeg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 304px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhO1_4R77qfC9klnAHhvSgDfpKZ9tbnYAkszeJNRZygXeOE8j4ROH8-lIzw7iNxjLLjvjOVQucKC57NnPwxTjy7VJ7Hos2H3mo0Fsn7WWu9go6SKvi0E8Ir8zNCu3Bx59fRFY6fUr4EY1o/s400/Leon+Gaumont+-+Nadar+1910.jpeg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5472738674219215762" /></a><div style="text-align: center;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#FFCC33;">Léon Gaumont</span></i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#FFCC33;">
</span></i></div>Léon Gaumont was born in Paris 1864. He grew up in a family of humble origins. His mother was a maid and his dad a Paris cab driver. In 1876 young Léon had the oppportunity to enter the Collège Sainte-Barbe, probably with the financial assistance of his mother’s employer, the countess of Beaumont. He was forced to leave school at the age of 16 when his parents separated.
Gaumont continued educating himself by attending classes at different public Paris institutions. In 1888 Gaumont married Camille Maillard, who brought as her dowry a piece of land on the rue des Alouettes, near the Buttes Chaumont, the eventual site of the Gaumont studios and of the 'cité Elgé'.
When Gaumont was offered a job at the Comptoir géneral de photographie in 1893, he jumped at the opportunity. His decision proved fortunate when two years later he was given the chance to acquire the business. In August 1895, he partnered with Gustave Eiffel (the creator of the tower), the astronomer Joseph Vallot and the financier Alfred Besnier to make the purchase. Their business entity, called L. Gaumont et Cie, has survived in one form or another to become the world's oldest surviving film company extant.
The company sold camera equipment and film, but in 1897 inaugurated a motion picture production business. Initially, Gaumont made films for the picture arcade business such as those operated by the Lumière brothers, but it was under the direction of Alice Guy, originally Gaumont's secretary made head of production that they began making short films based on narrative scripts.
<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvQuTSjgZqcaouRQHL0UioOJg0DgsMoniwPyu3IRYcQHmRc6_rJ26YgSRrSx8hwa386sQKEiIMiJL9cELEo0hQ37V7-TwVUftMhequmwst4AOadpMu9VLOgzaV_5L7M8YUXuQTSKIjMWM/s1600/Alice+Guy.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 361px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvQuTSjgZqcaouRQHL0UioOJg0DgsMoniwPyu3IRYcQHmRc6_rJ26YgSRrSx8hwa386sQKEiIMiJL9cELEo0hQ37V7-TwVUftMhequmwst4AOadpMu9VLOgzaV_5L7M8YUXuQTSKIjMWM/s400/Alice+Guy.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5477377565615103506" /></a><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#FFCC33;"><i>Alice Guy</i></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#FFCC33;"><i>
</i></span></div>Alice Guy is considered to be the first filmmaker to systematically develop narrative filmmaking. She was also one of the pioneers in the use of sound recordings in conjunction with the images on screen in Gaumont's Chronophone system, which used a vertical-cut disc synchronized to the film. An innovator, she employed special effects, using double exposure masking techniques and even running a film backwards. Alice Guy pretty much set the standards for what could be done technically at the time. More about the Chronophone system and an example of Alice Guy's phonoscenes can be found <a href="http://talkieking.blogspot.com/2009/02/first-talkie.html">here</a> . She left Gaumont in 1906, before most of the experiments in color film took place.
In papers found after his death Leon Gaumont described the Chronochrome process like this:<div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#FFCC33;"><i>“Each image appearing on the screen in natural colors was formed by superimposition of three images, violet, green and orange. The combined radiation of these three colors results in the reproduction of natural colors. The image was photographed on the film by three objectives placed one above the other, each provided with a glass color filter. These three images were were projected in superimposition through carefully aligned objectives and filters. In this process the single image of ordinary motion pictures is replaced by three images simultaneously projected and superimposed.
If these three images had the same dimensions as used in ordinary motion pictures, 18 by 24 mm each, each scene would require three times the length of film ordinarily used, and would necessitate very rapid movement of the film. Therefore, it was decided to reduce the height of the film by one quarter. By this method, the film length was approximately two and one-half times that of ordinary film.” </i></span>
Three images in different colors would thus overlap on the screen. A servo engine installed on the projector would correct parallax problems. The chronochrome frame measured only 12 mm in height (the standard was 18 mm), which resulted in a panoramic format on the screen. The purpose of the truncaded height of the image was purely economical as less film were used because of this. Three frames were shot on the same space as two with normal height. One could argue that the dimensions of the Chronochrome image was a forerunner to wide screen film of later years.
<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvnD_8Yfy8xy49EI3cERZH5AE5ldNTvlgfd79ToaHgVKMLoU3Ct5yzSA4Y728bXi4q1RjW_dFijcww3f47Kh4BYNu3_EG1G8fjVUSyUbbWoDo1aZVzCojyLJ0UEKCfX2xuYPC1QhbdrGw/s1600/Chronochrome+projection.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 372px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvnD_8Yfy8xy49EI3cERZH5AE5ldNTvlgfd79ToaHgVKMLoU3Ct5yzSA4Y728bXi4q1RjW_dFijcww3f47Kh4BYNu3_EG1G8fjVUSyUbbWoDo1aZVzCojyLJ0UEKCfX2xuYPC1QhbdrGw/s400/Chronochrome+projection.JPG" border="0"alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5477382900472546098" /></a> The most fascinating thing about the Chronochrome process is that it still looks so good. Let's take a look at some of the Chronochrome films which was included in the first public presentations of the system. Ten short films were showed before an amazed audience in Paris, November 15 1912. It was a great success. In June 1913 the system was ready for export and thus presented in New York. The New York show contained slightly different snippets than the Paris showing and contained 16 scenes. To really show off the possibilities of the system both showings started with studio shots of flower and fruit arrangements.
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The next segment showed what 1912 French beach life was like. In this clip there's also some footage used in the New York presentation. The Carnival in Nice, early spring 1913, some shots of Venice and a military parade in Berlin celebrating the wedding of Princess Victoria Louise of Preussia and Ernest Augustus Duke of Cumberland in May 1913.
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At the outbreak of the first world war the Chronochrome and many other techincal innovations were either completely forgotten or put on hold. This snippet was shot at the Victory parade in Paris July 14,1919 and is one of the last scenes filmed in the process before it was finally abandoned in the early 1920's.
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</div>Jonas Nordinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06065342609209811314noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3891927412771509295.post-20482858458091442732010-03-18T13:44:00.017+01:002012-09-13T16:48:25.205+02:00Color in the movies - Part 1 - Kinemacolor<span style="font-style: italic;">Since my second child, my beautiful daughter Juni was born January 22 there has been little time left for writing. Now things are slowly finding their tracks and new routines are being created. Uninterrupted sleep really does wonders for the creativity! <br />
<br />
This is thus part one of a series I have planned for a long time. Many people seems to believe the first color feature was Gone With the Wind in 1939 which of course is untrue. In the series I will try to explain and show examples of some of the early color systems, all of them predecessors to 3 strip Technicolor (the system that was used in GWTW). I will try to leave out most of the technical details and concentrate on the basic principles in each system. Enjoy!</span> <br />
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”3D films will be the next big thing”. It sounds familiar, doesn’t it? I wonder if this modern day tagline was used in September 1922 when the first known 3D film opened. The film was called The Power of Love and was shot with a modified Prizma color camera. Prizma color was a primitive color system that was invented in 1913, but color movies were of course yesterdays news even in 1913.<br />
<br />
The first successful color motion picture process was Kinemacolor. From the start it was a three color system. The roots of the system dated back to the work of Edward R. Turner, a British inventor who had received a patent for a three color motion picture system in 1889. This is really interesting since a working three color system for motion pictures didn't hit the public until 1932. Turner's early three color method was based on a mid-19th century discovery that virtually all colors could be produced by a combination of the three primary colors red, green and blue. This additive principle (bringing together the separate color parts to create a composite full color result) would be the inspiration for Kinemacolor.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmmrPIv9RQ0wHcrmwQ7YOTrgg3jfdz5Yb0WAkjpbQLffCZF17FY-7LwpKJtGYUWmny5zCI5kP4H8Ydu2MBkYoJWdz4tsL2oc2Jdb9DfBZgl1FiwzOqOw7PgbO-zGiDGhfSYwv3-pGrIbI/s1600/Kinemacolor.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5454942638193159298" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmmrPIv9RQ0wHcrmwQ7YOTrgg3jfdz5Yb0WAkjpbQLffCZF17FY-7LwpKJtGYUWmny5zCI5kP4H8Ydu2MBkYoJWdz4tsL2oc2Jdb9DfBZgl1FiwzOqOw7PgbO-zGiDGhfSYwv3-pGrIbI/s400/Kinemacolor.jpg" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 183px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 400px;" /></a><br />
In 1901, Turner went to Charles Urban, an American businessman residing in London, to request assistance in developing the patent, in return for exploitation rights. Urban was instantly enthusiastic, and got his engineer Alfred Darling to design a camera and projector. Research to produce a workable three color system went on for a year until early 1903 when Turner suddenly died of a heart attack in his laboratory. A few individual frames and one short strip of film show that the camera could take pictures, but in projection the images were almost impossible to enjoy because of the heavy flickering. <br />
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This short fragment shows the earlier three color experiments of Edward Turner. Note the distinct presence of the blue color in the footage.<br />
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To obtain a normal projection speed of 16 frames per second Kinemacolor had a speed of 48 frames per second, one frame for every color that was projected in sequence red, green and blue.
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEji9RYEe4QixNH3FWXysdxPBkNiF_O3VdWm01A28fablKqm8FMZYzrv0bgTkksnQjWTrReCAYDC9vFegYcw6hZFhDVuMI9XcsxjaIKiyPNhoT2VPbyAa5miAtxxnYSbXxXQMjeMYzpTaRM/s1600/urban_smith.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5454947141086539234" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEji9RYEe4QixNH3FWXysdxPBkNiF_O3VdWm01A28fablKqm8FMZYzrv0bgTkksnQjWTrReCAYDC9vFegYcw6hZFhDVuMI9XcsxjaIKiyPNhoT2VPbyAa5miAtxxnYSbXxXQMjeMYzpTaRM/s400/urban_smith.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 258px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; margin-top: 0px; text-align: left; width: 400px;" /></a>
<div style="text-align: center;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #ffcc33;">Charles Urban and George Albert Smith</span></i></div><div>
</div><div>Charles Urban quickly bought up the patent rights and set his associate George Albert Smith to work on the project. Several more years of trying to put three colors on the screen failed to yield acceptable results. Ultimately a simpler system using two colors was developed in 1906 and the results were deemed workable. The Kinemacolor system was born.</div><div>
One impediment to producing natural color motion pictures had been the fact that existing film stocks were orthochromatic which means they were basically insensitive to red light. This was probably the major reason color film wasn't invented earlier. Until the commercial availability of true panchromatic black and white film that was equally sensitive to light of all wavelengths in the mid 1920s, color pioneers had to chemically sensitize their film so that it would record more or less of the entire visible color spectrum. Thus Smith and Urban had to make their own panchromatic film stock.
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_EYuyEHJjX-6YE5lMzTKO8GCcBKn4TOTWqXQy2c4z_WrJHVTE6EuV7SCC3ce5YVIVI_mYY3V7Obddy3palJMEk7yGRv_Da7fGqUOkdbFKbD2SFf5obHO6nWI9Jr3HWcZBW4Y9-yZIjQk/s1600/Kinemacolor+machines.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5454942643782382866" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_EYuyEHJjX-6YE5lMzTKO8GCcBKn4TOTWqXQy2c4z_WrJHVTE6EuV7SCC3ce5YVIVI_mYY3V7Obddy3palJMEk7yGRv_Da7fGqUOkdbFKbD2SFf5obHO6nWI9Jr3HWcZBW4Y9-yZIjQk/s400/Kinemacolor+machines.jpg" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 285px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 354px;" /></a>
<div style="text-align: center;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #ffcc33;">The Kinemacolor camera and projector</span></i></div></div><div>
The Kinemacolor camera exposed black and white film through alternating red and green filters so that alternate frames were exposed through either the red or the green, but resulting in a black and white positive. The camera speed was 32 frames per second. The blue element in the earlier version was left out which also as a bonus meant less flicker.
In projection the movie was shown through a filter wheel, similar to that in the camera. The filters added the red and green tints to the successive frames. The results were remarkably good, but like all sequential color processes, Kinemacolor suffered from color fringing when objects moved, since the two color records were not recorded at the same time. Many color processes used this approach and all suffered from fringing on moving objects. The images demanded a stronger light in the projector but were often still seen as rather dark and muddy. Sometimes the film was not loaded in the projector in appropriate sync with the color wheel. This gave a undesired almost psychedelic effect. None of the two-color processes could reproduce blue or pure white, but various tricks were used to fool the eye into thinking it was seeing a neutral white.</div><div>
</div><div>Here is a 1906 demonstration of the two color Kinemacolor.
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The first motion picture exhibited in Kinemacolor was an eight-minute short filmed in Brighton titled A Visit to the Seaside, which was trade shown in September 1908. On 26 February 1909, the general public first saw Kinemacolor in a programme of twenty-one short films shown at the Palace Theater in London. The process was first seen in the United States on 11 December 1909, at an exhibition staged by Smith and Urban at Madison Square Garden in New York.
Kinemacolor projectors were eventually installed in some 300 cinemas in Britain, and 54 dramatic films were produced. Four dramatic short films were also produced by Kinemacolor in the United States in 1912–1913, and one in Japan, Yoshitsune Senbon Zakura (1914).
However, the company was never a success, partly due to the expense of installing special Kinemacolor projectors in cinemas. Kinemacolor in the U.S. became most notable for its Hollywood studio being taken over by D. W. Griffith, who also took over Kinemacolor's failed plans to film Thomas Dixon's The Clansman, originally intended as a color feature. The project eventually became The Birth of a Nation (1915) but the color was left out.
<iframe width="400" height="300" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/4VCpkplKUf8" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
Urban's greatest triumph was the Kinemacolor film of the Delhi Durbar. This spectacular ceremony, held in Delhi in December 1911 to celebrate the coronation, was filmed by several film companies, and their black-and-white records had already been seen in Britain by the time Urban returned from India with his team of eight and many thousands of feet of colour film of the ceremonies. The film opened at the Scala on 2 February 1912, and many felt that the filmgoing public would now be tired of the Durbar. Urban proved them very wrong. Offering the public an unprecedented two and and a half hours of film (16,000 feet)was unheard of at the time when a feature film rarely had a duration of more than 50-60 minutes.
Urban presented the film with a stage setting that represented the Taj Mahal, and accompanied it with a 48 piece orchestra, a chorus of 24, a fife and drum corps of 20, and three bagpipes. Its success was phenomenal. Patriotic London flocked to see it, and the proceeds from the Scala run and five road shows made Urban a wealthy man.</div><div>
</div><div>A Kinemacolor fragment of Lillian Russell from 1913.</div><div>
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Kinemacolor was quite successful in Europe and promised to grow and improve. However two events ultimately killed the company. First, another excentric British inventor, William Friese-Greene sued for patent violation. Friese-Greene claimed to have invented virtually everything relating to motion pictures but he lost his suit through all the lower courts in England. He finally did win when he appealed the lower court decisions to the House of Lords. Friese-Greene had discovered a technicality that made the original patents "incomplete" according to British law. This didn't get Friese-Greene anything but it did open up the Kinemacolor technology so that anyone could take advantage of it. The second event was World War I, which nearly destroyed all the European film companies. By the time Europe started to make a comeback Kinemacolor was nearly defunct and Technicolor in Boston, Massachusetts had taken the lead in producing a workable color process. Other additive color processes were also waiting in the wings.
More on those in part 2 so stay tuned.
Most of the information here is to be found on Luke McKernans brilliant site about <a href="http://www.charlesurban.com/">Charles Urban</a>. Please visit it for the full story about Urban and Kinemacolor.</div>Jonas Nordinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06065342609209811314noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3891927412771509295.post-26855036831853372852010-02-10T22:48:00.004+01:002010-09-30T00:24:22.518+02:00Metropolis 2010Hot off the press! Here's a four minute snippet from the newly restored original version of Metropolis which will premiere friday night at the Berlin Film Festival. For those of you who have access to the French/German TV channel <a href="http://www.arte.tv/">ARTE</a>, stay tuned tomorrow night 8:45 pm CET for a Metropolis evening with two documentaries on the subject.<br /><br /><embed src="http://www.arte.tv/flash/mediaplayer/mediaplayer.swf" width="400" height="300" bgcolor="#ffffff" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" flashvars="file=http://download.www.arte.tv/permanent/u3/berlinale2010/metropolis/originalszene_metropolis2.flv&skin=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.arte.tv%2Fflash%2Fmediaplayer%2Fmodieus.swf&dock=true&plugins=sharing,gapro-1&gapro.accountid=UA-3014771-1&gapro.trackstarts=true&gapro.trackpercentage=true&gapro.tracktime=true&sharing.link=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.arte.tv%2Ffr%2Fmouvement-de-cinema%2Fcinema-muet%2F3055836.html%235&abouttext=Scène originale de Metropolis 2010&aboutlink=http://www.arte.tv/fr/mouvement-de-cinema/cinema-muet/3055836.html#5&stretching=uniform&autostart=false&logo=http://www.arte.tv/i18n/content/tv/00__Templates/share_20module/logo__video__arte.png/2790722,property=imageData,v=1,CmPart=com.arte-tv.www.png"></embed><br /><br />Here's a link to the <a href="http://www.arte.tv/fr/mouvement-de-cinema/cinema-muet/690880.html">ARTE special Metropolis site</a>. It's in French but still worth a visit. I think there is a German version of it too but my German is sadly nonexistent.<br /><br />I've had some busy times lately becoming a father for the second time but I expect to back with some regular posts shortly.Jonas Nordinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06065342609209811314noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3891927412771509295.post-24200408715336979642010-01-08T13:06:00.007+01:002010-01-09T03:15:52.092+01:00Metropolis restored<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDQX1ReLj1OKj8uhxpdlti5DlpbTZxg5DP4YV0jxqnWVe4ZaX5fK0l2M-kI1Xi-3gaDyX-73p7e-tzIwvOSUQfO8KEf350VuSRZ1eVV_lIH1woWfyRMCYUiD35p-ggTRHF78gwSC2KZsY/s1600-h/Metropolis.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 303px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDQX1ReLj1OKj8uhxpdlti5DlpbTZxg5DP4YV0jxqnWVe4ZaX5fK0l2M-kI1Xi-3gaDyX-73p7e-tzIwvOSUQfO8KEf350VuSRZ1eVV_lIH1woWfyRMCYUiD35p-ggTRHF78gwSC2KZsY/s400/Metropolis.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5424553178302878466" /></a>Newsflash!<br />The restoration of Fritz Lang's Metropolis is well under way. Please read some info and see a short example of the work at the <a href="http://www.algosoft-tech.com/default-blog.htm">Algosoft website</a>.<br /><br />Fritz Lang’s original cut of Metropolis from 1927 will return to the screen at the <a href="http://www.berlinale.de/en/HomePage.html">60th Berlin International Festival</a> in 2010. At a gala presentation in the Friedrichstadtpalast on February 12, 2010, the classic silent film - reconstructed and restored by the Friedrich-Wilhelm-Murnau Foundation – will celebrate its premiere 83 years after the original version had its world premiere. Based on the original score by Gottfried Huppertz, the screening will be accompanied by the Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin under the direction of conductor Frank Strobel. <br /><br />After the opening ceremony on February 12, the world premiere of the restored original version of Fritz Lang’s Metropolis will be transmitted live to the public from the Friedrichstadtpalast to a screen at the Brandenburg Gate. The public is invited to enjoy this significant moment in the history of film – free of charge – at this very special setting.<br /><br />While I'm at it, please take a look at this:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZLsqry70CNdAQPTBLeZcPExXiHjeCV0r07eVuGeoFS09lJt7CDBUWZIco7lLRsGROUCTEcODpwx14r9OJKvrt4BTlSIKFUlY24eKwWKrpJsW2MajQR6GiWvlXNCxJeHkNBbValzs5meE/s400/film+strip+buster+keaton+01+with+text.BMP"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 329px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZLsqry70CNdAQPTBLeZcPExXiHjeCV0r07eVuGeoFS09lJt7CDBUWZIco7lLRsGROUCTEcODpwx14r9OJKvrt4BTlSIKFUlY24eKwWKrpJsW2MajQR6GiWvlXNCxJeHkNBbValzs5meE/s400/film+strip+buster+keaton+01+with+text.BMP" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />The Movie Preservation Blogathon is hosted by:<br />Marilyn & Roderick at <a href="http://ferdyonfilms.com">Ferdy On Films, etc</a><br />Farran - <a href="http://selfstyledsiren.blogspot.com/">The Self Styled Siren</a><br />Greg from <a href="http://cinemastyles.blogspot.com/">Cinema Styles</a> also participates.<br /><br />Visit the <a href="http://www.filmpreservation.org/">National Film Preservation Foundation here.</a><br /><br /><object width="400" height="300"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/1xVK_qhXkKE&hl=sv_SE&fs=1&rel=0&color1=0x3a3a3a&color2=0x999999"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/1xVK_qhXkKE&hl=sv_SE&fs=1&rel=0&color1=0x3a3a3a&color2=0x999999" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="400" height="300"></embed></object>Jonas Nordinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06065342609209811314noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3891927412771509295.post-39199424933701315192010-01-01T02:27:00.018+01:002011-12-01T10:59:02.687+01:00Paramount On Parade 1930 - A lost Swedish version80 years ago, in January 1930 a huge movie revue was in mid production at the Paramount lot. Paramount on Parade was their contribution to the revue craze that was going on at the time. The movie was made in several different languages, a quite common procedure, except this time they decided to make a Swedish version (!). This fact is not very well known here in Sweden since the Swedish version of the film is considered lost since the early 30's. The Swedish film institute has no idea where the film took off, there's no trace of it here apart from a box of stills. In some Swedish filmographies it's even stated that the film was never made. I know for sure it was made, shown and reviewed in the Swedish papers. The US version opened in April '30 and the Swedish version somewhat later. Below is a publicity for it dating from May'30, saying it "will certainly be the attraction the coming fall".<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9XRRAyrWX-SJuTntTmvl78OyzcqOg4N22YOsW7wu9xIpVECRPy-8tJ8cDULYFy1VoF_cYV8jFiERJt3VKmcpn7pAm66A2taqinkrcrD_cExhb6_gbQXzfN1zvcEkPlA-ePecQGiKEzNY/s1600-h/Rolfs+Revy+1930+-+08+-+Paramount.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5421627077050497666" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9XRRAyrWX-SJuTntTmvl78OyzcqOg4N22YOsW7wu9xIpVECRPy-8tJ8cDULYFy1VoF_cYV8jFiERJt3VKmcpn7pAm66A2taqinkrcrD_cExhb6_gbQXzfN1zvcEkPlA-ePecQGiKEzNY/s400/Rolfs+Revy+1930+-+08+-+Paramount.jpg" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 400px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 304px;" /></a><br />
In 1929 Paramount had approached Ernst Rolf, the Swedish king of entertainment since almost 20 years. In many ways he was the equivalent to Florenz Ziegfeld with the distinction he also was a performer. Rolf signed a lucrative contract with Paramount running for two years. In January 1930 he and his soon to be wife Tutta Berntzen boarded the liner Annie Johnson heading for Hollywood. They were to stay about ten days in Hollywood shooting some six to ten numbers for the production. Rolf was given Skeets Gallaghers's role as Master of Ceremonies in the Swedish verson. According to the reports Rolf raised hell on the sets, running around blowing in some sort of navy whistle in a very demanding manner. This behavior so impressed the Paramount executives that he was soon allowed to shoot stuff for his own use while he had the technology at hand. For this task Paramount appointed no other than George Cukor as Rolf's personal director.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgr8YXcAKd85zlYChpBFxvWGEaAFQjTJ0rMrJclaFL25HR_NNlSk1mIDIUelSe_yCPQ0ZDrHAhsRn9QdUGhazu_S160Pfr4oERZrZ2jlc22nRf_hOg7Dj-lE-aE_fxtbYxDswmEamuh7kA/s1600-h/Ernst+%26+Tutta+Rolf+in+Hollywood.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5421597132653202578" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgr8YXcAKd85zlYChpBFxvWGEaAFQjTJ0rMrJclaFL25HR_NNlSk1mIDIUelSe_yCPQ0ZDrHAhsRn9QdUGhazu_S160Pfr4oERZrZ2jlc22nRf_hOg7Dj-lE-aE_fxtbYxDswmEamuh7kA/s320/Ernst+%26+Tutta+Rolf+in+Hollywood.jpg" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 320px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 292px;" /></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #ffcc33;"></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #ffcc33;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #ff6600;">Rolf and Tutta in Hollywood 1930</span></i></span></div>
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Paramount on Parade was a giant production, it was Rolf's third movie and it had been five years since his last. He was by no means an actor. I will even extend that to say he couldn't act at all. He was mainly a singer, made around 900 recordings and was gifted with a photographic memory for lyrics. He had a fantastic sense for finding hits and spotting talent. He discovered many of Sweden's top entertainers for years to come. Rolf always kept a notebook where he jotted down text lines and ideas for others to materialize for him. British band leader Jack Hylton once said he had only met one true entertainment genius in his life, that genius was Ernst Rolf.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtkRhO4uHy4VhhZogfSLo6XJaPsvOaWJRxBAAPX824Q1i6XfpB9xjD2pFSffIUS1JtlD66DpNMLRc5ZNUlwWysmZvXda7LpOLqZL_KtlGvg2lgz65cN0G2y0b_iJPU5MztQDil0gxomjI/s1600-h/Rolfs+Revy+1930+-+10+-+Paramount.jpg.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5421627323637455698" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtkRhO4uHy4VhhZogfSLo6XJaPsvOaWJRxBAAPX824Q1i6XfpB9xjD2pFSffIUS1JtlD66DpNMLRc5ZNUlwWysmZvXda7LpOLqZL_KtlGvg2lgz65cN0G2y0b_iJPU5MztQDil0gxomjI/s400/Rolfs+Revy+1930+-+10+-+Paramount.jpg.jpg" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 400px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 307px;" /></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #ff6600;"></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #ff6600;"><i>Rolf and Clara Bow on the Paramount lot.</i></span></div>
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Unfortunately Paramount On Parade was the only movie Paramount made with Rolf due to the depression and the studio halting or cancelling all planned musicals during the summer 1930. Since Rolf was a song and dance man who couldn't act he stayed on the roster as long as he could as he got a steady income from it anyway and without being forced to be available in Hollywood.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikXcC8u1BQOGyHNjN0rjf2n35T1Kf2FAeBU4Vy9hM5bfPA5Fnfkf2Yk2_LnMjvxEXAX4emew4rCnzJm1BV0mAFNaySYk-MDLzPH3WQra_bWAU4pIWFLataG4-suO9mlo4p8FnczL4lPAM/s1600-h/Rolfs+Revy+1930+-+15+-+Paramount.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5421627544319308626" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikXcC8u1BQOGyHNjN0rjf2n35T1Kf2FAeBU4Vy9hM5bfPA5Fnfkf2Yk2_LnMjvxEXAX4emew4rCnzJm1BV0mAFNaySYk-MDLzPH3WQra_bWAU4pIWFLataG4-suO9mlo4p8FnczL4lPAM/s400/Rolfs+Revy+1930+-+15+-+Paramount.jpg" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 400px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 299px;" /></a><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #ff6600;"><i>Rolf, Mitzi Green, Clive Brook and Tutta.</i></span></div>
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Another thing which is intersting is that Paramount really loved Rolf's wife Tutta and apparently offered her an even better contract which would make her the new Nancy Carroll. Rolf however, didn't allow her to accept it. I guess he couldn't stand the idea of his wife becoming a bigger star than himself.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgY9AWKo0MpTGBMp7CIJLv-plU-e8W7Af6HaRUG6onfl3UmG6eOsSlMQ2n0y6hEYDZGcTbTponFLt57lT-VRI9CyNrBZXlp3fDRLEnrZX3fy91LoZb9lvegPTJilm2ibd3qUAqNAszI49c/s1600-h/Rolfs+Revy+1930+-+09+-+Paramount.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5421627785790238274" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgY9AWKo0MpTGBMp7CIJLv-plU-e8W7Af6HaRUG6onfl3UmG6eOsSlMQ2n0y6hEYDZGcTbTponFLt57lT-VRI9CyNrBZXlp3fDRLEnrZX3fy91LoZb9lvegPTJilm2ibd3qUAqNAszI49c/s400/Rolfs+Revy+1930+-+09+-+Paramount.jpg" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 400px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 306px;" /></a><br />
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<i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #ff6600;">Rolf and Tutta fraternizing with the Paramount stars</span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #ff6600;">.</span></div>
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My main interest is to locate all the "Swedish" footage. Some of it have survived but about two thirds is missing and has been missing since the thirties. Was something shot in color? Since Rolf had a total craze for anything modern and any possible trends, I'm absolutely sure he at least tried to persuade Paramount to shoot a scene or two in color, but maybe he didn't manage, I don't know. I know he bought some novelty shorts in 3D to show in his 1930 summer revue though.<br />
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Anyway, The Swedish version of Paramount On Parade was definitely made and shown here but flopped hard. Whatever happened to the film after this is completely in the dark.<br />
Let's take a look at a snippet of the survivning footage from the Swedish version of Paramount on Parade directed by George Cukor. Ernst Rolf singing "Jag Är Törstig Efter Kyssar (I'm thirsty for kisses)" written by Rolf and Fritz-Gustaf.<br />
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Unfortunately Rolf died from a suicide attempt that ended up successful on Christmas day 1932. Tutta Rolf later married choreographer Jack Donohue whom she had met in Hollywood. Her son with Ernst Rolf, Tom was about four when he followed his mother to Hollywood in 1935. Tom Rolf later became an award winning film editor and is still living in Hollywood. I'm sure Tutta would have made it in Hollywood but she didn't get a second chance.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglwLmt0oNfgen5wH55Hna-KXj8z6y2GRATK8o1kjF0XQNRpYVRYWeym_by7K8gI-9nygvqIo2Zcv49Vv8rfUiPak0li75Rbsc7XnCsNEdSXTwt9tCtO03TMxoGphQIAJBva24iM2O0T2E/s1600-h/Rolfs_Revy_1930_03_G_r_N_gonting.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5421628027708717506" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglwLmt0oNfgen5wH55Hna-KXj8z6y2GRATK8o1kjF0XQNRpYVRYWeym_by7K8gI-9nygvqIo2Zcv49Vv8rfUiPak0li75Rbsc7XnCsNEdSXTwt9tCtO03TMxoGphQIAJBva24iM2O0T2E/s400/Rolfs_Revy_1930_03_G_r_N_gonting.jpg" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 400px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 303px;" /></a><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #ff6600;"><i>Stills from one of the lost Swedish numbers - </i></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #ff6600;"><i>Gör Någonting</i></span></div>
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Until 1996, the only available prints of the American version of Paramount on Parade were missing all the color sequences, each of which was a major musical number: "Sweeping the Clouds Away" with Chevalier; "Isidore the Toreador" with Harry Green; "Nichavo" with Dennis King," "Come Drink to the Girl of My Dreams" with an all-star cast; and "Torna a Sorrento" with Nino Martini. (Fortunately, "Sweeping the Clouds Away" survived in a black and white version.) The running time of this cut version is about 77 min. This version is the one doing the rounds among collectors today.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLy3f7E9eC5P_ZSC7DA2yl4930tub0WBUdmU07KpOgtqS2ntV_gAAlpRCMHtlQTRw8051aP2RC4-E91dD-7v1FVgfz6KdIZpJcnGN9mqjklEiEqwCXiIgkOaASFcxO_Iq7jtsC5s3Wu-Q/s1600-h/Rolf+Paramount.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5421617706500428626" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLy3f7E9eC5P_ZSC7DA2yl4930tub0WBUdmU07KpOgtqS2ntV_gAAlpRCMHtlQTRw8051aP2RC4-E91dD-7v1FVgfz6KdIZpJcnGN9mqjklEiEqwCXiIgkOaASFcxO_Iq7jtsC5s3Wu-Q/s400/Rolf+Paramount.jpg" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 400px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 262px;" /></a><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #ff6600;"><i>Rolf presenting "Dancing To Save Your Soul"</i></span></div>
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In 2007 the UCLA reconstructed a nearly complete print, using new-found sound track recordings and most of the missing color footage. (One scene has soundtrack only plus still photos, another has image only without sound.)<a href="http://vitaphone.blogspot.com/2007/10/sweeping-clouds-away.html"> Please read Jeff Cohen's walk-thru of Paramount on Parade here</a>. Until we get it on DVD it's the best description available of it.<br />
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What happened to the Swedish version is a complete mystery. Here's a song that Rolf and his wife recorded for the movie but where the footage is lost.<br />
The song is "Gör Någonting! (Do something!)" written by Karl Wehle and Tor Bergström.<br />
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</div>Jonas Nordinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06065342609209811314noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3891927412771509295.post-24423467837281508912009-12-08T21:35:00.023+01:002023-02-21T15:36:34.064+01:00An early talkie Christmas - Part 2Just when we thought we had seen it all <a href="http://www.wbshop.com/Warner-Archive/ARCHIVE,default,sc.html">Warner Archive</a> is releasing yet another batch of four totally brilliant early talkies to add to your wish list in the "must have" section.<div>
<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEistmqFWdQEIhZP-I9i-hPU4a45vVfZt2oC35RzIlc9MyfGp7gedvT4PFikA_lPiPP6EleaoZAj7meo_pldrGahL5YZonVuqcYQebN9twsMh69bJfCpHcCcXWgBKdAor_Rzce_z8ZbZihk/s1600-h/1929+-+The+Show+Of+Shows.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 241px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEistmqFWdQEIhZP-I9i-hPU4a45vVfZt2oC35RzIlc9MyfGp7gedvT4PFikA_lPiPP6EleaoZAj7meo_pldrGahL5YZonVuqcYQebN9twsMh69bJfCpHcCcXWgBKdAor_Rzce_z8ZbZihk/s320/1929+-+The+Show+Of+Shows.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5413021755942609202" /></a>
<a href="http://www.wbshop.com/Show-of-Shows-The-1929/1000124307,default,pd.html">The Show Of Shows (1929)</a> was Warner's contribution to the revue craze that had begun a few months earlier with MGM's Hollywood Revue. However, this revue is probably the least magnificent of them all. <a href="http://talkieking.blogspot.com/2009/05/static-talkie.html">It's incredibly stagy</a> and drags on for just over two hours. All of it but the prologue was originally in color but the only color sequence still present in most prints is the Chinese Fantasy featuring Nick Lucas and Myrna Loy. I have heard rumors of more existing color footage but I have never seen any of it. Winnie Lightner's rendition of Singing In The Bathtub surrounded by a troupe of all male bathing girls is probably the most memorable number from it.
<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXmttVnkGkcrVakF2DaE6WeCrpqvmlMOblWAufVwg4Wdo-h82QJ-tVUlFcvnJngP8N97PS_RXcelhXutH0r279jdlmrl-eSVkH6FljanLqqn0zdkGDjhKgc3GLKprpCpcay0fB8SzELQw/s1600-h/SLL-Lima-12-08-29.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 296px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXmttVnkGkcrVakF2DaE6WeCrpqvmlMOblWAufVwg4Wdo-h82QJ-tVUlFcvnJngP8N97PS_RXcelhXutH0r279jdlmrl-eSVkH6FljanLqqn0zdkGDjhKgc3GLKprpCpcay0fB8SzELQw/s320/SLL-Lima-12-08-29.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5412979430582848658" /></a>
<a href="http://www.wbshop.com/So-Long-Letty-1929/1000124305,default,pd.html">So Long Letty (1929)</a> This is a must for all of us fans of Charlotte Greenwood and it's her talkie debut. There are actually two So Long Letty movies based on the same play by Oliver Morosco and Elmer Harris. The original play opened at the Broadway Shubert Theatre in 1916. Charlotte Greenwood did Letty on stage and the role was something of a breakthrough for her. In the first movie version made in 1920, Greenwood was overlooked and the role instead went to Grace Darmond. I guess Charlotte may have been located at the east-coast at the time. The 1920 version is still very interesting as it is one of Colleen Moores earlier pictures. As far as I know it's believed to be lost, like so many other of Colleen's movies are.
Both movies are pure farce. The basic plot is a wife-swapping game. Two couples are next door neighbors. Although Harry loves his sweetly domestic wife Gracie, sometimes he longs for somebody a little more festive. On the other hand, Tommy wants nothing more than a lot of well-cooked meals while his spouse, Letty would rather go dancing. The two men get together and decide they'd be better off if they switched wives and work on encouraging their better halves to get divorces. But Letty and Grace catch on to their plan and spoil it by suggesting a one-week trial. During that week, they treat their temporary husbands so abominably that the men are more than glad to have their original wives back. The 1920 version sticks fairly close to the Oliver Morosco play on which it was based. The talkie version directed by Lloyd Bacon adds a few plot twists, is slightly modernized and contains some catchy songs. Here's Charlotte in one of them, My Beauty Shop.
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</div><div style="text-align: center;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#FF9900;">Let me see your bald spot - it fascinates me! </span></i></div><div>
We move on to some pre-code grit with Ann Dvorak, one of our favorite pre-code actresses who just a few years earlier had been one of <a href="http://talkieking.blogspot.com/2009/06/sammy-lee-at-mgm-1929-30.html">MGM's leading chorus girls and dance director Sammy Lee's assistant.</a> In the spring of 1932 Ann Dvorak made three movies that definitely made her go from chorus girl to character actress. Scarface, The Crowd Roars and <a href="http://www.wbshop.com/Strange-Love-Molly-Louvain/1000124862,default,pd.html">The Strange Love of Molly Louvain</a>. The last of them is now finally out on DVD. Directed by Michael Curtiz (Casablanca), it is an odd story about a woman torn between different but equally bad guys. Lee Tracy is memorable as the reporter who tries to save poor Molly from the gutter.
<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhKu-X7vTi2IBHZhpNAwnz4FYdl5hyt1GmSP4HzXwMYzGA2PwMW6SjyOLBkVesbLGEJOmYCmX4NNb6JFQunngHMGVUTio1K-KoH_gdyJDj02E5KXwn_XT2gP7uZ6_swTx3E9IDWocg63Y/s1600/Ann+Dvorak.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 330px; height: 410px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhKu-X7vTi2IBHZhpNAwnz4FYdl5hyt1GmSP4HzXwMYzGA2PwMW6SjyOLBkVesbLGEJOmYCmX4NNb6JFQunngHMGVUTio1K-KoH_gdyJDj02E5KXwn_XT2gP7uZ6_swTx3E9IDWocg63Y/s1600/Ann+Dvorak.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#FFCC33;"><i>Ann Dvorak as Molly Louvain</i></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#FFCC33;">
</span></div>The best thing with Molly Louvain is the theme song written by Val Burton and Will Jason, When We're Alone or Penthouse Serenade as it often is called. An absolutely beautifully written song with clever lyrics. Please listen to this fine rendition by The Arden-Ohman Orchestra with vocal stylings by Frank Luther.
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</div><div>Today's last entry is <a href="http://www.wbshop.com/They-Learned-About-Women-1930/1000124852,default,pd.html">They Learned About Women (1930)</a> Real-life vaudevillians Gus Van and Joe Schenck, whose piano act carried them to fame in the Ziegfeld Follies footlights and on early-radio airwaves, headline this spirited 1930 musical that combines World Series heroics with the quest for romance (The Broadway Melody’s Bessie Love plays the female lead). This is a unique opportunity to see vaudeville veterans Van and Schenck in action. It's their only full length feature and also their last joint effort on film. Six months after the premiere Schenck died of a heart attack in Van's arms at the age of 39. During production it changed title several times like the ad below indicates. Other working titles were "Take It Big" and "Playing The Field". They Learned About Women served as blueprint for <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0041944/">Take Me Out To The Ball Game (1949)</a>
<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEik_EZvMlkRYAYki7CSSoGtYoXjFqCEXnD6f_yUNE88m7lmDfoiEgp5vn4J3WxOEv7yFL0-_3ul9k_ilMJLEHO9FTk4UDnrmo_n6jHfhDjMOiqB42puCMJpfJfdyW5zGTx-xEzDu0Ke_MQ/s1600-h/Van+Schenck+-+Pre-Production+1929.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 236px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEik_EZvMlkRYAYki7CSSoGtYoXjFqCEXnD6f_yUNE88m7lmDfoiEgp5vn4J3WxOEv7yFL0-_3ul9k_ilMJLEHO9FTk4UDnrmo_n6jHfhDjMOiqB42puCMJpfJfdyW5zGTx-xEzDu0Ke_MQ/s320/Van+Schenck+-+Pre-Production+1929.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5413013047275504802" /></a><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#FF9900;"><i>Publicity material for They Learned About Women</i></span></div>
Warner's are on a roll! Will there be even more?
</div>Jonas Nordinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06065342609209811314noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3891927412771509295.post-35909561698207690112009-12-03T12:53:00.015+01:002009-12-09T01:04:56.331+01:00An early talkie Christmas!Today Warner Brothers announced the release of some really interesting titles in the fantastic <a href="http://www.wbshop.com/Warner-Archive/ARCHIVE,default,sc.html">Warner Archives</a> series. In this latest batch we find some absolute necessities for the early talkie fan. Below I have selected seven titles I would buy at once if I resided in the US (which I don't) as the Warner Archives series is only available to film fans in the US.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjav4tiHIIUpHBq-ubnqpv0qgywxxs_n5-G9yOXOTSxlYmJrfDViiyP0kjcekNXyfUR6reqoK3eu8woeYp4MeMo9zCQUi4kQhHYDaIlQ3HaEzkBTAjqyQSGJyztGOV936Q5Y02B4_A1XtY/s1600-h/hollywoodrevue29.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 224px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjav4tiHIIUpHBq-ubnqpv0qgywxxs_n5-G9yOXOTSxlYmJrfDViiyP0kjcekNXyfUR6reqoK3eu8woeYp4MeMo9zCQUi4kQhHYDaIlQ3HaEzkBTAjqyQSGJyztGOV936Q5Y02B4_A1XtY/s320/hollywoodrevue29.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5411129521366934850" /></a><a href="http://www.wbshop.com/Hollywood-Revue-of-1929/1000124439,default,pd.html">The Hollywood Revue Of 1929</a> A very prolific movie, instrumental to the movie revue and musical craze of 1929-30. It is unique in many ways. It was the first attempt at filmed musical revue and features all your favorite MGM stars except Lon Chaney and Greta Garbo. It is also the only movie in which you get a good glimpse of Queen Norma Shearer and John Gilbert in living color. Cliff Edwards is performing the original version of Singing in the Rain, a song that was written for this film. Be sure to get a copy of it!<div><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcTfM49BCWTHZM15VBncDRVVIzKK1-0d9SkT5D77RijhHt1TIslm8rNbLLcbB-xkQeQklVAPszC5slAxa_PJAsp0VLUkwSFgP9NrDRwyYMzRusLryc3Ip-MHlOgwlQSHO0XK2crkTXdvY/s1600-h/On+With+The+Show+-+Poster.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 237px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcTfM49BCWTHZM15VBncDRVVIzKK1-0d9SkT5D77RijhHt1TIslm8rNbLLcbB-xkQeQklVAPszC5slAxa_PJAsp0VLUkwSFgP9NrDRwyYMzRusLryc3Ip-MHlOgwlQSHO0XK2crkTXdvY/s320/On+With+The+Show+-+Poster.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5411129524468917362" /></a>Next in line and equally important is the first all color talkie ever made, <a href="http://www.wbshop.com/On-With-the-Show-1929/1000124436,default,pd.html">On With The Show! (1929)</a> Unfortunately, all color prints are lost since long but at least the film survives intact. Among the many great songs we find Am I Blue performed by Ethel Waters.<div><div><i><br /></i></div><div><i>"With unpaid actors and staff, the stage show Phantom Sweetheart seems doomed. To complicate matters, the box office takings have been robbed and the leading lady refuses to appear. Can the show be saved?"</i></div><div><div><div><br /><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 207px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-LUGs2mFWJyP6-RVXhnDucWPnc5b6MRNO2f2629CQVsXA5DSPwI1j-u2t5WCKpMkAxgqnaMG-_IkuWEza4DEzxKnhS1KHMRJkuaqO1YqhzBrRzY9zJl1JG3cFfoby6yy9COpL_c0B3kA/s320/rio-rita.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5411129535203927554" />A personal favorite I have mentioned many times on this blog. <a href="http://www.wbshop.com/Rio-Rita-1929/1000124435,default,pd.html" style="text-decoration: none;">Rio Rita (1929)</a> was the biggest hit of the 1929-30 season. This is the 1932 re-release print I wrote about in my last post, but until the original 1929, 140+ minute version resurfaces it will have to do. </div><div><br /></div><div>Rio Rita helped put RKO on the map and paved the way for a string of no less than 22 Wheeler & Woolsey comedies between 1929 and 1937. It was much thanks to the success of those early films RKO was able to give us all the fantastic Fred & Ginger movies during the later part of the 1930's. Say thanks by getting yourself a copy of Rio Rita, the film that started it all!</div><div><br /></div><div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJIg2Yt8Cj63l0k7EEcB3jfVxSaCFncKp1XbTX-eS-_n7_vb4u7NFT3PNdUt9rNhew4Mjenp0H29iC-V6F_df8l8_Hvi1xqXCgmFxj1HzxGCqM7tt9885insK2cCFNs2yEXVYMBqtvLEs/s1600-h/It's+A+GreatLife+(1929).jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 204px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJIg2Yt8Cj63l0k7EEcB3jfVxSaCFncKp1XbTX-eS-_n7_vb4u7NFT3PNdUt9rNhew4Mjenp0H29iC-V6F_df8l8_Hvi1xqXCgmFxj1HzxGCqM7tt9885insK2cCFNs2yEXVYMBqtvLEs/s320/It's+A+GreatLife+(1929).jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5411129541925273346" /></a>We move on to two movies which both opened in December 1929. The first <a href="http://www.wbshop.com/Its-A-Great-Life-1929/1000124438,default,pd.html">It's A Great Life (1929)</a> Starring Rosetta & Vivian Duncan (in their only full length feature) and Lawrence Gray. A very typical 1929 musical including three great Technicolor sequences. Let's hope the last of them hasn't been cut like it has been on several occasions when aired on TCM.</div><div><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoTdv7IFhSymvBNblTASbKD6xSAUEwIDdwc7a0gi0YG3wUO_bgjjhsw5z92EF3hkezqGN2m3KJrkpXXJyEZD4GvWiPXLy0NeUoHVHx6p4IuEvhX_w6iC-a7sauqs_YaW1ATUFiVZ-UeJo/s1600-h/Sally+-+Poster.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 241px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoTdv7IFhSymvBNblTASbKD6xSAUEwIDdwc7a0gi0YG3wUO_bgjjhsw5z92EF3hkezqGN2m3KJrkpXXJyEZD4GvWiPXLy0NeUoHVHx6p4IuEvhX_w6iC-a7sauqs_YaW1ATUFiVZ-UeJo/s320/Sally+-+Poster.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5411129538832795650" /></a><a href="http://www.wbshop.com/Sally-1929/1000124433,default,pd.html">Sally (1929)</a> Ziegfeld superstar Marilyn Miller in her first film of three. Sally was a no expenses saved all color talkie which used the biggest indoor sets ever built to that date. Sadly the color prints are lost except for a fragment of four minutes I hope is included in this Warner Archive print.<br /></div><div><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7w4YrpSyKVKmlJpF7L_qMfLoYv9fwt3srYmgukqepgCfQLwLIRp_hnAR9NZGmRk191rGniMFWVvD-cR7qdpwjms79YxA16r2Fx067vRxyiZnG49nPHZ8KTPoOnOXNZL_Go75Ehgu_W54/s1600-h/Showgirl+In+Hollywood+2.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 236px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7w4YrpSyKVKmlJpF7L_qMfLoYv9fwt3srYmgukqepgCfQLwLIRp_hnAR9NZGmRk191rGniMFWVvD-cR7qdpwjms79YxA16r2Fx067vRxyiZnG49nPHZ8KTPoOnOXNZL_Go75Ehgu_W54/s320/Showgirl+In+Hollywood+2.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5411130483387981634" /></a><a href="http://www.wbshop.com/Show-Girl-in-Hollywood-1930/1000124431,default,pd.html">Show Girl In Hollywood (1930)</a> See Alice White play Dixie Dugan. A totally charming musical showing how a musical talkie was made from the inside. Don't miss it! The final reel was originally in color but now we'll have to do with Alice White in grayscale.</div><div><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMnRo4OM_z4YbJ4Qiio1xrUO5l_AtVdEfx66yiUKH6mgeNKWR5mP3Ud-vtPWnHWGerCn5sMa5PdE1BxjedebM-FW7xbMbGdt8Z8UcpYjrQTBLxPPLwAuf_2T3Fql08FekLzrUKMKk7qgE/s1600-h/Golden%252BDawn%252B-%252B1930%252B-%252B1S.jpg" style="text-decoration: none;"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 202px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMnRo4OM_z4YbJ4Qiio1xrUO5l_AtVdEfx66yiUKH6mgeNKWR5mP3Ud-vtPWnHWGerCn5sMa5PdE1BxjedebM-FW7xbMbGdt8Z8UcpYjrQTBLxPPLwAuf_2T3Fql08FekLzrUKMKk7qgE/s320/Golden%252BDawn%252B-%252B1930%252B-%252B1S.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5411130488344855106" /></a><a href="http://www.wbshop.com/Golden-Dawn-1930/1000124415,default,pd.html">Golden Dawn (1930)</a> Another all color talkie musical. Golden Dawn is probably the most bizarre musical ever made and deserves a post of its own. Set in German East Africa we get Noah Beery in blackface singing a strange song to his whip. Marion Byron beating up her beau Lee Moran etc. Good score and wonderful songs by Stothart and Hammerstein but it stays a very peculiar picture. </div><div>More on Golden Dawn soon, stay tuned...<br /></div></div></div></div></div>Jonas Nordinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06065342609209811314noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3891927412771509295.post-18878234407679973332009-11-01T23:41:00.044+01:002010-09-30T00:39:08.284+02:00Cut musical numbers in 1930<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIjE25Self2BkYKhY1p32zfDVylOGLV_guYCZ25glJdRdyo7b2IyWX301eD_8BfHdaXYp5G1kpOkHuI4Musu0fgEsMyQ2lxz9CzJPxcEa95vqePQRGBa4AYuWI5RNleXkuqHZu6_HJffE/s1600-h/TopSpeed193001.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 315px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIjE25Self2BkYKhY1p32zfDVylOGLV_guYCZ25glJdRdyo7b2IyWX301eD_8BfHdaXYp5G1kpOkHuI4Musu0fgEsMyQ2lxz9CzJPxcEa95vqePQRGBa4AYuWI5RNleXkuqHZu6_HJffE/s400/TopSpeed193001.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5399625584301158226" /></a><br />The first life of the Hollywood movie musical ended in the summer of 1930. The movie goers were fed up with backstage dramas and movies built around a generous bouquet of songs. The songs could be great but plots were often thin and it was hard to tell the difference between two films. The studios were taken by surprise by this sudden change in behaviour. They were convinced they had found the ultimate form of entertainment. Something quickly had to change, it was inevitable. The musicals that were already made waiting for release were put on hold, in hope the reluctancy towards musical films would wear off. Many of the musicals in pre-production, or projects that were planned for the 1930-31 season were canceled. The most ill fated and expensive of the aborted projects was of course <a href="http://talkieking.blogspot.com/2008/10/march-of-time-unfinished-mgm-1930.html">MGM's The March Of Time which has a post of it's own.</a><br /><br />Some studios, most notably Warner Bros, came up with a third solution: They simply cut out as many songs as possible turning a would be musical into a comedy. Sometimes it almost worked, mostly it didn't. This is the reason many movies of this period are very short. If a 1930 movie end up with a running time of something between 60 or 70 minutes one can be quite sure there were cuts, most certainly songs.<br /><br />This was the case with First National/Warner's <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0021486/">Top Speed</a> that opened almost songless late August 1930. Joe E. Brown and Jack Whiting play two clerks who poses as rich playboys at a swanky summer resort. (The movie was shot almost entirely at the <a href="http://new.lakenorconianclub.org/">Norconian Resort</a>). One of them falls in love with a millionaire's daughter who has a very disapproving father, until he wins, through fate and fortune, the Big Boat Race, in the vessel owned by his sweetheart's father.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihZqahest0tb1vuve7H3-ygZOia87t4DS5Ops34URilPzhqEQXUUx4y4CigKRs9yf2mZV2NAgB4xMWIJcWwUOeW3Mm5h81V6HSsFrRguTHnpqhefLmgmzfiUKbefWI0UzGaa04rNFxpQU/s1600-h/Capture_048_exposure.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihZqahest0tb1vuve7H3-ygZOia87t4DS5Ops34URilPzhqEQXUUx4y4CigKRs9yf2mZV2NAgB4xMWIJcWwUOeW3Mm5h81V6HSsFrRguTHnpqhefLmgmzfiUKbefWI0UzGaa04rNFxpQU/s400/Capture_048_exposure.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5400519012424926066" /></a><i><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 204, 51); ">The Norconian Resort in Top Speed 1930</span></div></i><div><br /></div>Top Speed had been shot as a full musical containing ten songs, some of them quite big production numbers. When it opened only three songs were left. With a running time of 73 minutes my guess is that the seven cut songs equals about 20 minutes of footage. This treatment of course paved the way for comedians like Joe E. Brown who had three musicals turned into comedy in 1930. But for other performers it was a sad experience. Singers like Bernice Claire had many of her best moments cut, ending up on the cutting room floor. Look at this very fine example of how this was carried out:<br />Bernice is just going to sing a fine song to her beau Jack Whiting, "As Long as I Have You and You Have Me". The music cue fades up, but just as she is about to open her mouth... Cut!<br /><br /><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='400' height='333' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dygy2VgM4I15zF7YinWjeQWOlDAePH89u7974U2oWryWY6eA5oAMgwgt-nAumWv11b2_GI3eDWJDBomIxt_9g' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe><br /><br />Earlier blockbusters were also tampered with at this time. <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0020332/">Rio Rita</a>, the big Christmas success of 1929 was re-released in 1932 in what was called a "modernized version". The modernization consisted of cut musical numbers. <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0020332/">Rio Rita</a> was a mammoth picture running in "massive 14 reels" which means that it had a running time of about 140 minutes. With the coming of the talkies a standard running time of 8-10 reels was quickly established. The silent movies had often been much more extravagant and extreme running times were common during the silent era. <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0020332/">Rio Rita</a> was one of those really extravagant movie operettas with the distinction it also was hugely successful. The earliest talkies aged very quickly, <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0020332/">Rio Rita</a> was no exeption. With it's rather slow pace, it had in many ways the form of a silent movie. To make this giant work wonders again something had to be done.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjll0MYJdHLxVkkA0fPbJs8McET41NflFhROG-aSyR0vMDxixbpOuN6XzZk7QJs2yB5kMhD7gCiWXPLl2Rrj8eVad5GWfAEIqF-_BACGvIxN0WRzAOOS-JNkbDxLwJjvxsRM1xSx9ovL4s/s1600-h/Rio+Rita+-+LC.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 310px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjll0MYJdHLxVkkA0fPbJs8McET41NflFhROG-aSyR0vMDxixbpOuN6XzZk7QJs2yB5kMhD7gCiWXPLl2Rrj8eVad5GWfAEIqF-_BACGvIxN0WRzAOOS-JNkbDxLwJjvxsRM1xSx9ovL4s/s400/Rio+Rita+-+LC.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5400035602995330930" /></a><i><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#FFCC33;">The missing pirate girls in the 1932 version of Rio Rita</span></div></i><br />It's been said that the cuts to <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0020332/">Rio Rita</a> which formed the 1932 re-release version were done by the hand of none other than David O. Selznick, but whether true or not, the fact remains that the film was slashed by somewhere between four and five reels in length, amounting to at least 40 minutes of deletions. The <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0020332/">Rio Rita</a> seen today is thus about two thirds of what it once was. Let's examine what we have and see if we can find any obvious cuts:<br /><br />Just as the color portion begins we find one of the ugliest cuts. The anonymous singer has just finished crooning when we can see an acrobat act entering the stage. We also see a mass of chorus girls towering at the back of the stage. Cut!<br /><br /><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='400' height='333' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dzvOMxMPzeZ0YAASfepnbjjogdrh5X7Rp5_5tbOPZn54O05NdSuXvUeTYcVDSstMbEKkQ8qFJaD_r18xWm2Cg' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe><br /><br />Luckily most of the soundtrack to the 1929 version has survived. It's in terrible shape, but after some heavy filtering the truth emerges, the missing two and half minutes are there:<br /><br /><embed src="http://www.google.com/reader/ui/3523697345-audio-player.swf" flashvars="audioUrl=http://www.fileden.com/files/2009/12/8/2680870/Deleted_Footage_1_-_Rio_Rita_-_1929.mp3" width="400" height="27" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer"></embed><br /><br />Another cut in <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0020332/">Rio Rita</a> is a giant production number of Sweetheart We Need Each Other. Look first at the 1932 version, just after the risque hint of male kissing both couples fall overboard... Cut!:<br /><br /><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='400' height='333' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dzTWrEvyeSVfSMA4IRBnYQN619TXoX_C6ovh3rtu6Df1DrnUKkYue3H2ZUiPfQHAtQJSIqIYNmrZYHnmA5mpQ' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe><br /><br />Then listen to what is happening on the 1929 soundtrack:<br /><br /><embed src="http://www.google.com/reader/ui/3523697345-audio-player.swf" flashvars="audioUrl=http://www.fileden.com/files/2009/12/8/2680870/Deleted_Footage_3_-_Rio_Rita_-_1929_.mp3" width="400" height="27" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer"></embed><br /><br />I'm positive I'm not the only one who would like to see that number.<br />Let's hope that 1929 original version of <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0020332/">Rio Rita</a> resurface some day soon. My firm belief is that it has just been replaced or mislabled, sitting on a shelf in an institution somewhere. The latest public showing of the original Rio Rita I have heard about took place around 1980.<br /><br />Let's end this post with one of the three songs from <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0021486/">Top Speed</a> that was considered too good to cut. Laura Lee and Joe E. Brown perform Knock Knees by Al Dubin and Joseph Burke. The dance director is of course Larry Ceballos.<br /><br /><object width="400" height="300"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/AXG0dmYvWys&hl=sv&fs=1&color1=0x3a3a3a&color2=0x999999"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/AXG0dmYvWys&hl=sv&fs=1&color1=0x3a3a3a&color2=0x999999" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="400" height="300"></embed></object>Jonas Nordinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06065342609209811314noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3891927412771509295.post-68795249481838235192009-10-21T22:20:00.028+02:002011-09-18T01:35:12.743+02:00Mamba (1930) - Lost and Found<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjbTiaM_FzW9hAqfr8FwAbMUetyD8na54_P0SfR37LogbIk8mSSD0raROyMFjHsLMcRHxBl0vLCXxN_rQBEj0szj7mQgMrHimPj8u1ZtEEk2AWlMvDZw7EZqxrGEjpljTbIbsJakTQGa0/s1600-h/Mamba22.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 281px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjbTiaM_FzW9hAqfr8FwAbMUetyD8na54_P0SfR37LogbIk8mSSD0raROyMFjHsLMcRHxBl0vLCXxN_rQBEj0szj7mQgMrHimPj8u1ZtEEk2AWlMvDZw7EZqxrGEjpljTbIbsJakTQGa0/s400/Mamba22.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5395183940008464978" /></a><br />In the summer of 1929 poverty row studio Tiffany Pictures decided to put all their eggs in one basket when they embarked on what was to become their biggest project ever. Warner Bros had done a similar move when they went all in with the <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0018037/">Jazz Singer</a> in 1927. Luckily the world embraced sound with open arms and Warner's got a place in the movie studio Pantheon.<br /><br />Inspired by "Warner's Supreme Triumph" Tiffany Pictures decided to go all color, all the way. They had done short subjects in Technicolor before, but never an entire feature. The only two all color talkies that had seen the flickering lights from the projectors at the time production on Mamba began were <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0020238/">On With The Show</a>, that had opened in July 1929, and <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0019936/">Gold Diggers Of Broadway</a> that opened a month later. Both were musicals. There were three more all color talkies in production or slated for release at this time, they were all musicals. Mamba was thus to be the first all talking, all color drama to be produced.<br /><br />Production was cumbersome and Mamba kept running out of money. In order to fool the creditors, the production kept two sets of identical costumes available so that the cast and crew could keep working in case one set was confiscated. Production cost landed at about $500,000 which was an enormous amount for Tiffany, a studio that was used to make movies at a fifth of this cost.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEic0qDctOX5v1Oqv6BzrfqrqBL1pGlTHtdUcDMyBPIoOwr3735lVpohnXAzCjVkTvzqww_9qtk3T3l-a2ZGvZzcm8DiYk9QKHeiSSZKvS3NYqwfJKLvmsjbpPOjxlwFLmmXHdUnZH48JPQ/s1600-h/Technicolor+Ad+-+Photoplay+May+1930+-+Mamba+sm.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 286px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEic0qDctOX5v1Oqv6BzrfqrqBL1pGlTHtdUcDMyBPIoOwr3735lVpohnXAzCjVkTvzqww_9qtk3T3l-a2ZGvZzcm8DiYk9QKHeiSSZKvS3NYqwfJKLvmsjbpPOjxlwFLmmXHdUnZH48JPQ/s400/Technicolor+Ad+-+Photoplay+May+1930+-+Mamba+sm.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5395880682743046114" /></a><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#FF9900;"><i>Mamba is mentioned in a Technicolor ad in the May 1930 issue of Photoplay. Note that the Weeler & Woolsey movie Radio Ramblers mentioned in the ad was never shot. </i></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#FF9900;"><i>(click image for a bigger view)</i></span></div><div><div><br />Appointed director Albert S. Rogell's speciality was tight action dramas and westerns, this made him well suited for the task. The main characters were played by fine actors, Danish character actor Jan Hersholt (<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0015881/">Greed 1924</a>), Eleanor Boardman, star of her husband King Vidor's <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0018806/">The Crowd</a> (1928) and British born Ralph Forbes who did lots of supporting roles at MGM both before and after Mamba. The sets were elaborate, camera work and editing very fluid and suprisingly modern. Tiffany had their connections to MGM and it showed. All in all Mamba was a swell film that clocked in at 78 minutes.<br /><br />Plot: August Bolte (Hersholt), the richest man in Neu Posen, a settlement in German East Africa in the period before World War I, is called "Mamba" by the locals, which is the name of a deadly snake. Despised by the locals and the European settlers alike for his greed and arrogance, Bolte forces the beautiful daughter (Boardman) of a destitute nobleman to marry him in exchange for saving her father from ruin. Upon her arrival in Africa, she falls in love with an officer (Forbes) in the local German garrison. When World War I breaks out, Bolte, unable to avoid being conscripted, foments a rebellion among the local natives.<br /><br />Mamba opened March 10, 1930 at the Gaiety Theatre in New York. It was the sixth all color talkie ever made and the first that wasn't a musical. It got great reviews, broke the box office record and ran for over two weeks, which was long in 1930. With the demise of Tiffany Pictures in 1932 Mamba quickly disappeared into oblivion for almost 80 years. Its fate wasn't helped by the fact that most of Tiffany's original nitrate prints were used as fuel in the burning of the Atlanta depot fire in <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0031381/">Gone With The Wind</a>. Yes, it's true, a lot of invaluable movies went up in that fire.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-nHpz0jprkq3kxCFQL96tIJzZWrv43GWfryBec6FnKdUCThoz7h1J0xQhMrbdDn1o2Xaox4uBY4lYl5RD4NSWzIzskbmk2Bev5UQNxnV1Q83lGsIzrVd10qqlF-wQVmNejRGlo1XIlOY/s1600-h/Mamba+Review+-+Photoplay+May+1930+sm.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 285px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-nHpz0jprkq3kxCFQL96tIJzZWrv43GWfryBec6FnKdUCThoz7h1J0xQhMrbdDn1o2Xaox4uBY4lYl5RD4NSWzIzskbmk2Bev5UQNxnV1Q83lGsIzrVd10qqlF-wQVmNejRGlo1XIlOY/s400/Mamba+Review+-+Photoplay+May+1930+sm.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5395880932168190738" /></a><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#FF9900;"><i>Mamba review in the May 1930 issue of Photoplay.</i></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#FF9900;"><i>(click image for a bigger view)</i></span></div></div><div><br />Mamba was considered lost until early 2009 when my friend Paul Brennan, film assessor for events at heritage cinemas in Sydney, Australia stumbled upon an entry at the IMDb messageboard.<br /><br /><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#FFFFCC;">”I have just had the opportunity of viewing the complete 1930's Tiffany Production of Mamba… …Unfortunately, this was seen without the accompanying Vitaphone [RCA Photophone] disc soundtrack… The early two-colour Technicolor was amazingly bright and made this screening a surprisingly pleasant experience. …according to the authors of Forgotten Horrors, "only about 12 minutes of silent footage remain." I can refute this information as there exists in Australia a complete 35mm version of this film, in good condition.”</span></i><br /><br />Paul contacted the author of this post and after some time he was able to verify that it was true. A complete nitrate print of Mamba was found in a collection that had been inherited by an old cinema projectionist and was now located in an old warehouse in a remote area in Australia. All nine reels were in great shape. They were even stored in original Tiffany cans. Sadly only four of the nine soundtrack records were to be found.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmp-06s0hk7lNqQhdIWLPnvFirQinvv7WbNWWlOqHhxFMnRW_oe-jtE9fjGoRZ4p9lIWwuOxMbbdZ1iJGjyPS2Yta3rE3huG31S92XA88Pbs04FAHZew-0quNDHEHKxfVs8IzB-R8aY40/s1600-h/Credits+01+Master.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 292px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmp-06s0hk7lNqQhdIWLPnvFirQinvv7WbNWWlOqHhxFMnRW_oe-jtE9fjGoRZ4p9lIWwuOxMbbdZ1iJGjyPS2Yta3rE3huG31S92XA88Pbs04FAHZew-0quNDHEHKxfVs8IzB-R8aY40/s400/Credits+01+Master.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5395522147387186754" /></a><br />Why did Mamba end up in Australia of all places? There is actually a logical explanation for this, Australia (and New Zealand) was the end of the distribution line. Sometimes it took years for a movie to reach this far from Hollywood. The prints were often in bad shape or incomplete when they finally showed up. My hypothesis why Mamba survived intact is that it reached Australia quite quickly and in good shape. It had it’s run but when it was to be shipped back to Hollywood Tiffany Pictures simply had ceased to exist.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIwsZPacj7NUxHxnDnntZ4w6NGowcsAQMb9IywUJfrfZh89Ij1xo93j30m0gvoFTDP3ysDBOeDpYINufChn4KFGo98EvpybUPoroEuV0foOxoZH_rEmdjpjBXGy9XxFet3_-jouFCoTe8/s1600-h/Mamba+2.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIwsZPacj7NUxHxnDnntZ4w6NGowcsAQMb9IywUJfrfZh89Ij1xo93j30m0gvoFTDP3ysDBOeDpYINufChn4KFGo98EvpybUPoroEuV0foOxoZH_rEmdjpjBXGy9XxFet3_-jouFCoTe8/s400/Mamba+2.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5395522417203599218" /></a><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#FF9900;"><i>Jan Hersholt</i></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#FF9900;"><i><br /></i></span></div>Mamba isn’t the only presumed lost movie that has shown up in Australia. Many cinema owners were and are also film collectors. When they returned their shown films to the renting office they used to go through the scrap heap of films that weren't to be sent back to the US. Therefore many movies marked for destruction ended up in the collections of cinema owners in forgotten desert towns throughout Australia. Paul had seen this quite often and went to the press to tell this story. The result was a new rule that no films was to be destroyed but instead donated to archives in Canberra and Melbourne.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWQfjDxI-sociUIkL4Cusuia5aXd4OX3NbyDu9euVvziVhI6fXAGlqOjH9rnmZRR8MyFCJbzCA4bw5qgdel9eeHiEZj8P1JEKpdLkDkR2r578zxohtIA-IdspSzTmWJVWa8es0pnACXGQ/s1600-h/Mamba+3.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWQfjDxI-sociUIkL4Cusuia5aXd4OX3NbyDu9euVvziVhI6fXAGlqOjH9rnmZRR8MyFCJbzCA4bw5qgdel9eeHiEZj8P1JEKpdLkDkR2r578zxohtIA-IdspSzTmWJVWa8es0pnACXGQ/s400/Mamba+3.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5395522631270440962" /></a><div style="text-align: center;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#FF9900;">Eleanor Boardman and Ralph Forbes</span></i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#FF9900;"><i><br /></i></span></div>Paul managed to get copies of the film elements and the remaining sound disks and sent them to me. I then synchronized the sound with the images. This wasn't an easy task. Leaving out technical details, basically when a movie is transferred to DVD the frame rate of the movie is automatically changed to comply with the standard for TV signals. With the result that in most cases the movie runs about 4% faster on a DVD than at a cinema. This gives that the separate soundtrack had to be sped up accordingly. I lined up the picture elements and the separate soundtrack reel by reel on my computer. <div><br /></div><div>I immediately ran into trouble, a classic problem with the sound on disc process and also the main reason it was given up in the early thirties: If a single frame or even a sprocket hole is missing in the film strip the sound inexorably goes out of sync. On the other hand, the discs could become scratchy or break, also making the film unwatchable. I worked it through reel by reel fending eventual jumps and cuts the best I could, ending up with four full reels of Mamba magic in both sound and color.<br /><br />It's not without pride I can present to you, exclusively for this blog, two snippets from Mamba, one of the earliest surviving complete all color talkies we have left.</div><div><br /><iframe width="400" height="300" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/z93iV9eShT4" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe><br /><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#FF9900;">Excerpt from reel 5</span></i><br /><br /></div><div>Take a close look at the editing in the following clip. I think it's rather modern looking for a movie produced in 1929!</div><div><br /><iframe width="400" height="300" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/Gg9p9JtKeyA" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe><br /><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#FF9900;">Excerpt from reel 8</span></i><br /><br /></div><div>Mamba is a truly astonishing find because of the Tiffany Studio rarity and the sensational quality of the production. Also it represents the best technical qualities of the period, quite a gamble for such a small studio and its attempt to leap into A studio status.<br /><br />Paul and myself naturally wants to see Mamba restored, new 35mm prints struck, the film presented at film festivals in 2010 (for its 80th anniversary) and presented as a shining fascinating example of the joys and necessities of film history restoration. Because the film is actually really exciting and well produced. It delivers the goods as a piece of spectacular entertainment, and in glorious Technicolor. It truly is a seriously terrific surprise for any public film festival audience. A prestige DVD release with all sorts of Tiffany tales and surviving studio film clips would be a great collectors piece and would add lustre to the value of film preservation and restoration. We each have a massively exciting opportunity to promote and grip the public's interest. All that is missing now is funding.<br /></div><div><br /></div><div>Great thanks to Bob at the ever splendid <a href="http://operator_99.blogspot.com/">Allure</a> for the Photoplay scans. </div></div></div>Jonas Nordinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06065342609209811314noreply@blogger.com20tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3891927412771509295.post-1752458648860266632009-10-08T22:14:00.013+02:002010-09-06T16:16:36.873+02:00Colleen bobs her hair<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZLq2Et0LpmabdLDe_bB0-GZY0CnozStzd2IGwjsRoK6fS7QtWt8urGS1i4SGqxwEsOljsff69JjaRPWUPYLF6F4etwM8NBEMdSWVPJwxmDVh8GrW4BLMfnKRLYVT9ZcDZzwHhM0__wmg/s1600-h/bernice_cov.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 310px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZLq2Et0LpmabdLDe_bB0-GZY0CnozStzd2IGwjsRoK6fS7QtWt8urGS1i4SGqxwEsOljsff69JjaRPWUPYLF6F4etwM8NBEMdSWVPJwxmDVh8GrW4BLMfnKRLYVT9ZcDZzwHhM0__wmg/s400/bernice_cov.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5390330510326822466" /></a><i><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 153, 0); ">The cover of the May 1920 issue of Saturday Evening Post </span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 153, 0); ">in which Fitzgerald's short story first was published</span></div></i><div><br /><div>When F. Scott Fitzgerald published his short story <a href="http://books.google.se/books?id=MGncdshiU2AC&lpg=PP1&ots=i1dLEN9e9R&dq=bernice%20bobs%20her%20hair&pg=PP1#v=onepage&q=&f=false">Bernice Bobs Her Hair</a> in the May 1920 issue of Saturday Evening Post, little did he know about the stir it would provoke. Up until this time, long, glorious, pampered hair was a key component of traditional feminine beauty. The idea of bobbed hair, which came into style after the first world war was considered scandalous and, as Bernice herself jokingly comments in the short story, even "unmoral". The fact that a simple hair cut could so upset an entire town may seem ludicrous to us now, but if we consider it in the context of the changing social period Fitzgerald lived in, it makes more sense. Long hair represented both a woman's beauty and her virtue – and bobbing one's hair simply wasn't seen as something a respectable, well-bred girl would do.<br /><br />Enter the flapper. I will not turn this post into a feminist manifesto but some events were crucial for the flapper to appear like Phenix from the flames. The first world war forced the women out of the house and into society. With the right to vote - the modern woman was born. Suddenly women had an independency they never had experienced before. With this independence also came the desire to express their personalities in a new way. The women freed themselves from bustles and corsets, cumbersome attire which in many ways had been a prison sentence of about 500 years for all womanhood. Skirts went up, knees were shown and the long glorious hair was cut off.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYVH1cQWlRh0N1NS5D9_4eBd1hh0OWsJvqbWh5mE0GH20-oWt21qZS_JLYCSb5aDnOdQqhxGR9l4V6_tUaEu1WRSBxhUWS_8eva1ysm0tSZedXWmcccBYkhmsLI7Tuu7MX3kpA1By9N-0/s1600-h/Held.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 382px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYVH1cQWlRh0N1NS5D9_4eBd1hh0OWsJvqbWh5mE0GH20-oWt21qZS_JLYCSb5aDnOdQqhxGR9l4V6_tUaEu1WRSBxhUWS_8eva1ysm0tSZedXWmcccBYkhmsLI7Tuu7MX3kpA1By9N-0/s400/Held.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5390343145488771554" /></a><i><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 153, 0); ">A flapper gets a haircut. </span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 153, 0); ">Illustration by John Held j:r (Life Magazine, 1926)</span></div></i></div><div><br /></div><div>The first actress who adopted the new style on a broad scale was Colleen Moore. She was born Kathleen Morrison 1900 (some sources say 1902) in Port Huron, Michigan. Her family later moved to Florida and that's where she grew up. The family summered in Chicago, where young Kathleen nourished her acting dreams in the company of her Aunt Lib (Elizabeth, who perhaps inspired by the times had changed her name to "Liberty" Lib for short) and her uncle Walter Howey. Howey was an important newspaper editor in the publishing empire of William Randolph Hearst, and he was the inspiration for Walter Burns, the fictional Chicago newspaper editor in the play and the 1931 Lewis Milestone film <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0021890/">The Front Page</a>. </div><div><br />Somehow uncle Walter knew D.W. Griffith and Aunt Lib had him arrange a meeting with Kathleen who had decided she wanted to go Hollywood at age 15. Griffith agreed to a screen test to see if her eyes (one brown, one blue) would photograph close enough in darkness as not to be a distraction. Her eyes passed the test, and so she left for Hollywood with her grandmother as chaperon and her mother along as well. Her name was changed to Colleen Moore and she debuted as such in <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0007673/">The Bad Boy</a> in 1917. Colleen was a smart girl and slowly moved up in the budding studio system. She proved to have great comic timing and got gradually bigger and better parts. Her big break came in First National's <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0014045/">Flaming Youth (1923)</a>.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQIrV1p3DiJhW5tJonMutCkxwwukascpq7A_HCpUrT3qCaUn6T1HoHU3YbhPCxHdG43-stxmFlEoIY3DvDE5uQHGNMTRyzw055KTvnHx6W2I7B2mmxfEk6-wx5AIqbaASUOHPUvkRaDmg/s1600-h/114197310_5600070b64_b.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 318px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQIrV1p3DiJhW5tJonMutCkxwwukascpq7A_HCpUrT3qCaUn6T1HoHU3YbhPCxHdG43-stxmFlEoIY3DvDE5uQHGNMTRyzw055KTvnHx6W2I7B2mmxfEk6-wx5AIqbaASUOHPUvkRaDmg/s400/114197310_5600070b64_b.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5390349857514251762" /></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#FF9900;"><div style="text-align: center;"><i>The poster for Flaming Youth (1923)</i></div></span></div><div><br /></div><div>In Flaming Youth Colleen plays a vivacious flapper and had to cut her hair short to fit with the image. The idea for how it should be carried out is almost too simple to be true. In her autobiography Silent Star, published in 1968 Colleen tells us all about it. Her mother had a Japanese doll which she loved dearly and simply suggested that Colleen cut her hair to resemble it for the role as the flapper. Colleen agreed and the result is history.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgThjV4GA97aU06VBSJwWyM-ftqepQSky34y24cDyntZaI77Oqn7su_8vVBOXvrqodbgDNRV6_qlPjJ8A3EqsVQwdOV4ue7DCoZL-0jvoLu3oxqSD4ex2-Ds1RVOwLORERmvM75wRJQCnQ/s1600-h/Colleen+Moore+1927+C2.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 272px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgThjV4GA97aU06VBSJwWyM-ftqepQSky34y24cDyntZaI77Oqn7su_8vVBOXvrqodbgDNRV6_qlPjJ8A3EqsVQwdOV4ue7DCoZL-0jvoLu3oxqSD4ex2-Ds1RVOwLORERmvM75wRJQCnQ/s400/Colleen+Moore+1927+C2.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5390325486142066418" /></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#FF9900;"><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic; ">Colleen Moore 1927</span></div></span></div><div><br /></div><div>Flaming Youth made both Colleen Moore and her haircut overnight superstars. As important a film Flaming Youth was for the Jazz Age, as sad is the loss of it for us today. Only one reel of it is reported to exist in a vault somewhere.<br /><br />Colleen Moore is one of those screen legends that is almost totally forgotten today because most of her movies are lost. Of her about 60 movies we only have a little more than a handful left to enjoy. One of them is <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0016822/">Ella Cinders</a> from 1926, a wonderful "modern day" Cinderella tale where Colleen makes good use of her comic talent and striking looks. Here's a clip from it. Please enjoy Collen Moore at the height of her career:<br /><br /><object width="400" height="300"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/RMz2fI3q5wg?fs=1&hl=sv_SE&color1=0x3a3a3a&color2=0x999999"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/RMz2fI3q5wg?fs=1&hl=sv_SE&color1=0x3a3a3a&color2=0x999999" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="400" height="300"></embed></object><br /><br />The bobbed Japanese doll haircut soon became synonymous with the flapper image and was copied by girls all over the world. One actress who took this hairstyle to another level was of course Louise Brooks, who used it to charge her appearence with allure and enigma. But she didn't bob her hair until 1926.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3Bi_CkhMIL1EQhVAXxDknZMYh1ZUR0eitFsVwJB9UxrXPeMZ_znvtb00wXa9kXSJtcOqgiJvnGLT4Fwvgpys0lc9VKDGQvBdCKoyfEKeVUjbHEAN5PO2E57F6t1oKqzCMG6ab680hJe0/s1600-h/Louise+Brooks+1929.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 308px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3Bi_CkhMIL1EQhVAXxDknZMYh1ZUR0eitFsVwJB9UxrXPeMZ_znvtb00wXa9kXSJtcOqgiJvnGLT4Fwvgpys0lc9VKDGQvBdCKoyfEKeVUjbHEAN5PO2E57F6t1oKqzCMG6ab680hJe0/s400/Louise+Brooks+1929.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5390325479234017650" /></a><div style="text-align: center;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#FF9900;">Louise Brooks 1929</span></i></div><br /></div><div>Both Colleen Moore and Louise Brooks left their incredibly successful silent movie careers around 1930. Colleen made her last film as Hester Prynne in a poverty row production of <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0025747/">The Scarlet Letter</a> in 1934. She married a stock broker and learned how to invest her fortune. At the height of her fame, Moore was earning $12,500 per week. She was an astute investor, and through her investments remained wealthy for the rest of her life. Throughout her life she had a fascination for dolls (probably also their haircuts). Over the years, starting in her childhood she spent a fortune on a gigantic dollhouse, a fairy castle which still can be visited at <a href="http://www.msichicago.org/whats-here/exhibits/fairycastle/">The Museum Of Science and Industry in Chicago</a>. In the 1960's she ran a television production company together with King Vidor. In her later years she would frequently attend film festivals, and was a popular interview subject always willing to discuss her Hollywood career. She was a participant in the 1980 documentary film series Hollywood, providing her recollections of Hollywood's silent film era. Colleen Moore left us in 1988, probably aged 87.<br /><br />Louise Brooks hit the silver screen for the last time in 1938 with the forgettable western <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0030545/">Overland Stage Riders</a>. Contrary to popular rumor, this was not intended to be her "comeback" to Hollywood, she made it simply because she needed the money. She then opened a dance studio in Beverly Hills. It failed because of a financial scandal involving her business partner. In 1940, Brooks boarded a train back to Kansas, leaving Hollywood for good. She opened a dance studio in Wichita and wrote a book, "The Fundamentals of Good Ballroom Dancing". She later became a quite successful writer and painter. Louise Brooks left us in 1985, aged 78.<br /><br />Let's end with a citation from the writer who started it all:</div><div><br /><i>"I was the spark that lit up Flaming Youth, Colleen Moore was the torch. What little things we are to have caused all that trouble"</i></div><div><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>- F. Scott Fitzgerald.<br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#FFCC99;">The title picture of this blog is a poster for the 1927 movie Twinkletoes starring Colleen Moore.</span></div></div>Jonas Nordinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06065342609209811314noreply@blogger.com17tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3891927412771509295.post-68919876292729373862009-09-25T12:51:00.019+02:002023-02-21T15:41:55.580+01:00New York Nights (1929)<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1kday1CDaFDs9iyZR8Y_v_HPD_ZDGFmil4vw6ijD6XmR6M2PCOQG8jqRkZIS-6Fog6dmz7VKKeEbTNZ-wIv9ANg9SeQKfK7wJlne0h-TJSXkdCZ4Lbr5fY76_QjCW3j0Sc7wZVO__QIU/s1600-h/new_york_nights.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 266px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1kday1CDaFDs9iyZR8Y_v_HPD_ZDGFmil4vw6ijD6XmR6M2PCOQG8jqRkZIS-6Fog6dmz7VKKeEbTNZ-wIv9ANg9SeQKfK7wJlne0h-TJSXkdCZ4Lbr5fY76_QjCW3j0Sc7wZVO__QIU/s400/new_york_nights.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5385357554905613954" /></a>New York Nights is one of those early talkies that has survived but in severely truncated form. It's hard to tell exactly what was cut but it seems to be quite a lot. The print in circulation, the 1938 re-release clocks in at a mere 64 minutes compared to a reported initial length of 82 minutes. Some sources even state it ran for a staggering 102 mins.
I suspect the cuts made must have been some musical numbers from the Broadway show now only mentioned in the plot. One of the cut numbers is a cameo appearence of Al Jolson singing a number, unclear exactly what as with the rest of the cuts. In the beginning of the picture there is a nice songwriting scene also pictured on the poster above. The song performed is A Year From Today, written by Al Jolson, Dave Dreyer and Ballard McDonald. This is interesting because it is a very nice little song and the only song now present in the movie. The song is used in several different versions throughout the picture. Maybe the cut Jolson number is his rendition of his own song? Here's a little montage to show how a song was plugged in a non musical in 1929. It was important to show how versatile the song was and that it could be played in many different ways. I appologize fore the terrible sound quality:
<object width="400" height="300"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/ZusNC3fSoZI&hl=sv&fs=1&color1=0x3a3a3a&color2=0x999999"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/ZusNC3fSoZI&hl=sv&fs=1&color1=0x3a3a3a&color2=0x999999" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="400" height="300"></embed></object>
New York Nights, is a sort of gangster drama starring Norma Talmadge who definitely was one of the talkie casualties. So was her sister Constance who made some 80 silent pictures but no talkie. Norma Talmadge's fall from stardom is seldom mentioned in the litterature because her career ended for no reason. Her acting is fine, her voice is great, it just didn't work. I guess her ended career possibly can be blamed on bad scripts and bad direction. Maybe also her age played a part. In 1929 Norma Talmadge was 36 and had done 160 movies. New York Nights is her first talkie of two and she even gets to sing in it.
<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicrttbgI_gio686OERh1sTrBgkZ-KcW02Al9x9IUlLXeudJ1ADbzywGTXoI1e9if69XMvz5t0Uojy_QqCYbzJMMRmArrIRS7r8RiNxTCVjzDwvuuM0eZTcPUCMPEZXal8OghKuE2YbiaI/s1600-h/YearFromToDay.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 305px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicrttbgI_gio686OERh1sTrBgkZ-KcW02Al9x9IUlLXeudJ1ADbzywGTXoI1e9if69XMvz5t0Uojy_QqCYbzJMMRmArrIRS7r8RiNxTCVjzDwvuuM0eZTcPUCMPEZXal8OghKuE2YbiaI/s400/YearFromToDay.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5385357292230859042" /></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#FFCC66;"><div style="text-align: center;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#FF6600;">A Year From Today - Sheet musc cover</span></i></div></span><div></div>
<div>The story is simple...
J<span style="font-style:italic;">oe Prividi (John Wray) is a mobster who happens to be backing a Broadway show. He has the hots for his leading lady, Jill Deverne (Talmadge), who only has eyes for her song-writer husband, Fred (Gilbert Roland). Prividi engineers a chorus girl into Fred's drunken arms at a speakeasy one night and arranges for a raid. Jill won't believe her husband to be innocent and she dumps him. Months later she is Prividi's mistress and after a shooting during a party is taken along with Prividi to the police station. There she discovers her husband, a down and out tramp without her. They patch up their differences and plan to escape New York to begin life anew, but Prividi has other plans for Fred...
</span>
<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEit-2Aoxek10SbB17p4iRuRanpZ1slkiNyED4SSkuPrQU714ql4b9ddO6rLxeHXMd_RdhKVpp44g8lOV52h51jKwWqJGpfxCYY4cRdzXzn_3xOmIy2eVZlVl1UCLy1oJHUwkzKWCPROOHY/s1600-h/New+York+Nights.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 313px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEit-2Aoxek10SbB17p4iRuRanpZ1slkiNyED4SSkuPrQU714ql4b9ddO6rLxeHXMd_RdhKVpp44g8lOV52h51jKwWqJGpfxCYY4cRdzXzn_3xOmIy2eVZlVl1UCLy1oJHUwkzKWCPROOHY/s400/New+York+Nights.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5385358315176964114" /></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#FFCC66;"><div style="text-align: center;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#FF6600;">Lilyan Tashman, Norma Talmadge and John Wray</span></i></div></span></div><div>
</div><div>80 years after its release, it is impossible to determine what sank this wonderful little film at the box office. But, sank it did.
A promotion failure? Did the rumor mill kill it? It's clear it didn't live up to the public's expectations. The only thing I can figure about the original failure of this film is that people had a certain idea about their silent stars and, for the most part, giving them a voice just took away the magic and made them seek out new faces - Cagney, Blondell, Tracy, and Hepburn among others. Very few weathered the transition and Norma Talmadge was among the many casualties. It doesn't take much more.
After one more picture, the glittering career of Norma Talmadge, a star that shone so bright would be extinguished. Her sister Constance didn't even get to make a talkie, her career ended in France with a forgettable late silent in 1929, she was 32.</div><div>
<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjN8lb7HZkE4eKm2Cz3Gkmzouqjjmo9wT0BSdLOKsWKipqfvnvhCp6lnwnIitbxqGo5g8qUOe92zyXvRLkjpWiSHjjn2hSlU_yNyAx3khuRI_7VTDyhLuhyphenhyphenRydE-f0ouDbj2x6RFiiFU04/s1600-h/talmadge-constance-and-norma_1.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 287px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjN8lb7HZkE4eKm2Cz3Gkmzouqjjmo9wT0BSdLOKsWKipqfvnvhCp6lnwnIitbxqGo5g8qUOe92zyXvRLkjpWiSHjjn2hSlU_yNyAx3khuRI_7VTDyhLuhyphenhyphenRydE-f0ouDbj2x6RFiiFU04/s400/talmadge-constance-and-norma_1.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5385729436886413986" /></a><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#FF6600;"><i>Norma and Constance Talmadge</i></span></div></div><div>
</div><div></div>If you're a fan of the early talkies I recommend you check this one out if you get the chance. It's a rare opportunity to see Norma Talmadge in a film since so very few of her silent films survive. That's too bad since she was one of the most popular dramatic actresses of the silent era.
Here's a nice and snappy version of A Year From Today played by Leo Reisman and his orchestra. The recording was made by Victor in October 1929.
<embed src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/GNCniOztevc" flashvars="audioUrl=http://www.fileden.com/files/2009/12/8/2680870/Leo%20Reisman%20-%20A%20Year%20From%20Today%201929%20.mp3" width="400" height="300" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer"></embed>Jonas Nordinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06065342609209811314noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3891927412771509295.post-48012436642807642522009-08-24T11:03:00.011+02:002023-02-21T15:52:59.628+01:00To colorize or not?It feels good to be back in business after a vacation in the tropics. I direct a heartfelt thanks to <a href="http://outofthepastcfb.blogspot.com/">Raquelle</a> who wrote a nice guestpost on <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0020516/">The Trial Of Mary Dugan</a>, Norma Shearer's first talkie during my absence. Thank you <a href="http://outofthepastcfb.blogspot.com/">Raquelle</a>!<div>
Let's stay a while in 1929. This week it will be 80 years since one of the biggest hits of 1929 opened. <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0019936/">Gold Diggers Of Broadway</a>, the second all color talkie ever made. Now more or less a lost film as only the two last reels or about 15 minutes of it still exists. During the spring and summer of 1929 color became an indispensable ingredient for all major studios starting in july when the first all color talkie <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0020238/">On With The Show</a> opened to mixed reviews. Color quickly became the next big thing after sound had come to stay. At the end of 1929 this ad was published in many movie related magazines to further emphasize the importance of adding color to the movies:
<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQCkvovxEdI0leLEhfojktMzqIxN6clkMnnK9BZM9PK1ZPjTO4umWGbnM3xs9y66t5Sl44nGFNyJYb3l6ufLEm7L7KmkfO9ExKyPA-e0ESq0DEKmlg3zTW42S__KFt3Z1GJCfNv7yN2hs/s1600-h/Color.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 257px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQCkvovxEdI0leLEhfojktMzqIxN6clkMnnK9BZM9PK1ZPjTO4umWGbnM3xs9y66t5Sl44nGFNyJYb3l6ufLEm7L7KmkfO9ExKyPA-e0ESq0DEKmlg3zTW42S__KFt3Z1GJCfNv7yN2hs/s400/Color.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5373639529837033570" /></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#FF9900;"><div style="text-align: center;"><i>(Click on image for a larger view)</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>
</i></div></span></div><div> Sadly, no color prints have survived of On With The Show but bits and pieces are found here and there from time to time. The latest find from it was a 20 second snippet found in a toy projector when it was sold at an auction. Luckily someone recognized the strip of film and turned it in to the UCLA. Here's a frame from the color snippet found of On With The Show
<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcN0PwL3P5ihrZJZjk7fpzkKNm8jLX59Ql_MYD5cNZwHa_DrtIxFgTfWvAo7eXaIUbY7ZW4EqXt0X27pGyxikgvlNcxVALeOZGR7jBrZIjsVws37MQgtDR1selwpr0vwwuuokyVx0mIz4/s1600-h/vit-74-nitrateclip2.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcN0PwL3P5ihrZJZjk7fpzkKNm8jLX59Ql_MYD5cNZwHa_DrtIxFgTfWvAo7eXaIUbY7ZW4EqXt0X27pGyxikgvlNcxVALeOZGR7jBrZIjsVws37MQgtDR1selwpr0vwwuuokyVx0mIz4/s400/vit-74-nitrateclip2.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5374734416311819922" /></a> Isn't it sad the first talking picture ever made in color only exists in black and white save for a 20 second snippet? The second all color talkie doesn't even exist in black and white!
Let's have a look at one of those fragments from Gold Diggers Of Broadway, an absolutely charming number, make way for Nick Lucas singing his signature tune Tip Toe Through The Tulips:</div><div>
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</div><div>The third all color talkie was Warner's giant revue <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0020403/">The Show Of Shows</a> which I have discussed and shown a number from earlier. Only about 10 minutes of its over two hours still exists in color. </div><div>
</div><div>Let's move on to the fourth, <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0020358/">Sally</a>, opening in December of 1929 starring Marilyn Miller, a true superstar of the 1920's who was given the opportunity to turn her legendary stage performance of 1920 into a big budget movie in both sound and Technicolor. Miller's movie career was short, Sally was her first movie of three and the olnly one shot in color. Unfortunately only four minutes of Sally's all color splendor is left for us to enjoy but those four minutes are fabulous. In this clip the color fragment has been spliced in in the otherwise black and white print. Another interesting detail is that the original soundtrack disks have been used for the color footage but not for the rest of the movie. I don't know if this was done to further enhance the magnigifence of the fragment or if the old optical soundtrack from the 1950's transfer had to stick around for economical reasons. In either case here is The Wild Rose with music by Jerome Kern. This particular scene was the largest indoor set ever built in 1929</div><div>
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</div><div>The oldest all color talkie that has survived is the fifth, <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0021511/">The Vagabond King</a>, starring Jeanette MacDonald and Dennis King. It has been restored but is very rarely shown.
This leads to a question which is more of a dilemma really.
We are all familiar with digital colorization of classic movies. This was a quite popular fad in the late 80’s when a lot of old movies were colorized this way. I didn't like it then and don't like it now. I will always prefer the original black and white versions of these movies no matter what. </div><div>
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</a><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#FF9900;"><i>Colorized Stooges</i></span></div>
But what about movies originally made in color where the no color prints have survived to our days? Like On With The Show or Sally. Would it be completely wrong to colorize them? I’m not sure I think so. If proper research was carried out it might actually work. Maybe the results could turn out just fine.</div><div>
Let’s say there is also surviving color fragments of the movie in question, like with Sally for instance. Would it be blasphemy to colorize the rest of it in the same hues and style? I think not. A movie shot in two-strip Technicolor should naturally be colorized in the limited spectrum two-strip color offered. Every measure should of course be taken to do the colorization as close as possible to the original.
When releasing colorized movies on DVD a choice should naturally always be an option for those who prefer watching the "original" version. I'm not interested in any color if the movie originally was shot in black and white. Like Casablanca for instance, I know a colorized version was made of it 20 years ago. I still don't want to see it colorized. Two-strip Technicolor movies made "full color" isn't better. It's trying to make it something it never was.
My question is simply if the movie originally was made in color, like On With The Show or Sally, and where no color prints has survived to our times, could a computerized colorization be seen as some sort of restoration? I my opinion it could, if it was done with a great sense for what the original could have looked like. What do you think?
</div>Jonas Nordinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06065342609209811314noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3891927412771509295.post-54658062501850910102009-07-30T03:59:00.005+02:002009-07-30T18:37:03.572+02:00Guest Blogger Raquelle ~ The Trial of Mary Dugan (1929)You are probably wondering where Professor Jonas has disappeared to. The self-proclaimed Talkie King is gallivanting around in exotic Thailand with his family, eating his way through the delicacies of the country and getting custom 1920's style suits fitted to his Swedish frame. Before he left, I promised Jonas that I would write a nice guest post for him to keep his blog active and so that he would have a nice little present waiting for him when he got back. Jonas recently sent me a copy of The Trial of Mary Dugan (1929), starring my favorite actress Norma Shearer so I thought I'd write about this film, as it's an important part of early talkie history. And here it is! Enjoy.<br /><a href="http://outofthepastcfb.blogspot.com">Raquelle - Out of the Past ~ A Classic Film Blog</a><br /><br /><br /><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0020516/">The Trial of Mary Dugan (1929)</a><br />When you think of early talkies, musicals immediately come to mind. What better way to celebrate the marriage of light and sound on screen, than to have music, singing and dancing? In February of 1929, MGM premiered it's first all-talking picture <a href="http://talkieking.blogspot.com/2009/02/it-was-80-years-ago-today.html">Broadway Melody (1929). </a> It was an extravagant film that spawned a series of sequels as well as a host of other pre-code musicals. While most hardcore film buffs know about Broadway Melody, they may not be as familiar with MGM's first all-talking dramatic film, The Trial of Mary Dugan (1929) which was released in April of 1929. <br /><br />Now what doesn't come to mind when you think of early talkies is courtroom drama. But why not? A Courtroom drama is one of the best ways to take advantage of the talking picture form. The action during a trial is strictly dialogue-driven. Lawyers, judges, witnesses, jurors and defendants are all talking their way to the story's climax and resolution. While courtroom dramas were not common in silent film format, they were perfect fodder for live theater. When talking pictures became all the rave, film makers had a wealth of material in the form of plays, many of which came with a security blanket of having their own history of success.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEie_qVojlicbzIa1oqmptF8Rg4lhqoHrk_Wrsvq8kxxtimpdGhFl-9NadjVZbN5jyb-6woLMi72r0nQDlR5v3t3xzQqxdaiFEBawOol5qAlR86ufNPLu4u_mmOxZbvy9aPxD79Uj1H_NcU/s1600-h/Dugan.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 306px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEie_qVojlicbzIa1oqmptF8Rg4lhqoHrk_Wrsvq8kxxtimpdGhFl-9NadjVZbN5jyb-6woLMi72r0nQDlR5v3t3xzQqxdaiFEBawOol5qAlR86ufNPLu4u_mmOxZbvy9aPxD79Uj1H_NcU/s400/Dugan.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5364068090388288242" /></a><br />When Paul Bern suggested making The Trial of Mary Dugan into a film, MGM Producer Irving Thalberg didn't want to take any chances. While the play had been a Broadway hit, he proceeded cautiously and had a shortened version of the film with select scenes shown to a live audience to gauge their reaction before he went full steam ahead with the film. When the audience reaction proved to be favorable, Thalberg went searching for the perfect actress to play the title role of Mary Dugan. He didn't originally have his wife, Norma Shearer, in mind although it was pretty clear that she was hungry for the part. At first Shearer's arch rival Joan Crawford was considered, but director Bayard Veiller didn't think she would suit the character's delicate nature. Thalberg suggested Shearer to Veiller and Veiller had her try out some of the dialogue on one of MGM's new sound stages. Shearer was absolutely terrified and after rehearsing one quick scene, Veiller shooed her off set. While Shearer thought she had failed, her petrified and distraught audition was just what Veiller was looking for. Mary Dugan is on trial for a murder and depending on the outcome of the case, she could either have been executed or set free. Fear and panic in her voice would be absolutely necessary to convey this on screen. So Norma Shearer was chosen and filming began. <br /><br />I can't continue on with this post without talking about the sound elements of the film. Professor Jonas would wring my neck if I neglected this. The Trial of Mary Dugan was one of the first films, legendary sound and recording engineer Douglas Shearer (brother of Norma Shearer) worked on in his long career at MGM and in Hollywood. The film was shot almost simultaneously with Broadway Melody. This was also one of the few MGM films recorded with sound on discs. Throughout the movie there are breaks in the sound which serve as signals for theaters to change the records. Also, because the new sound equipment was so expensive, the film had to be shot as economically as possible. Filming only took 19 days and there were lots of long takes, few camera tricks and most of the film is shot in one courtroom.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVPWzgemUMY372Uvh0X3FSJUvuiPRiLNez09QWs3Lj3fJLN6_1BudIv2Frz4LJSsjnztq-qByyPwoloT9cuZB3i9GWz5fLoWLgNKbPgVHxl2dEhCWPGtS57xfE_A5D8qOyJl6LY4C754o/s1600-h/Shearers.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 308px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVPWzgemUMY372Uvh0X3FSJUvuiPRiLNez09QWs3Lj3fJLN6_1BudIv2Frz4LJSsjnztq-qByyPwoloT9cuZB3i9GWz5fLoWLgNKbPgVHxl2dEhCWPGtS57xfE_A5D8qOyJl6LY4C754o/s400/Shearers.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5364068100672653554" /></a> <br />If you are lucky enough to watch this rare film, you'll notice that MGM really experiments with sound. In one scene, an empty courtroom is suddenly flooded with loud and boisterous people. They are all excited about watching a salacious trial unfold and nearly trip over themselves to get to their seats and fill the courtroom with chaotic and raucous sound. Then the scene switches drastically to stark silence as Mary Dugan sits quietly in her jail cell waiting to be beckoned to the courtroom. <br /><br />Norma Shearer brings her dramatics from her silent picture days but is a visual and aural delight in talkies. Her voice, tinged with a slight twinge of a Canadian accent, worked beautifully in talkies. If anything, her career skyrocketed when she successfully transitioned to talkies. She achieved more success in talkie form than she did with all of her silent pictures combined. The Trial of Mary Dugan helped earn Norma Shearer the title The First Lady of the Talkies.<br /><br />The story of The Trial of Mary Dugan seems rather irrelevant to the film as an entity. It's main draw, at least for me, is what the film represents at a critical moment in the history of film. It showcases how film studios had to drastically change their approach to films as silent movies quickly faded into the past. These studios had to radically alter everything they did and forge ahead into unknown territory. However, what they had was the potential to make serious money as audiences were hungry for talking pictures. At this point, they could really afford to experiment and to make mistakes, because even a poor quality film, would make money simply off it's novelty. However, the film industry was still a business and they knew that they couldn't just throw money to the wind and had to make serious and clear-headed decision on those early talkies. While The Trial of Mary Dugan made $400,000 profit to Broadway Melody's $1.5 million, it was still a success and it demonstrated that MGM had a bright future in making all talking dramatic pictures.<br /><br />~Raquelle for Jonas~Jonas Nordinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06065342609209811314noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3891927412771509295.post-53168951887688158952009-07-16T13:05:00.004+02:002011-04-02T19:31:20.355+02:00A Lovely Award and vacation<a href="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v228/robertpollard/1lovelyblogaward.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 300px;" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v228/robertpollard/1lovelyblogaward.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />I just got an award! Or two to be honest. The Lovely Blog Award was given to me by Lolita of <a href="http://lolitasclassics.blogspot.com/">Lolita's Classics</a> and Louie of <a href="http://www.elbrendel.com/">Give Me The Good Old Days</a><br /><br />Thank You both! Your blogs are definitely among my favorites!<br /><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#33CC00;">The rules: Accept the award and post it on your blog with the name of the person that gave it to you. Pass on the award to as many bloggers as you wish and let them know you chose them for the award.</span><br /><br />As usual I'm the last one in line and everyone I know already got multiple awards, so I give this blog to all bloggers who writes about classic movies, silents, talkies, silents and talkies, film noir or particular stars of the classic era. Congratulations all of us! We make the blogosphere so much more interesting!<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiduUYFm4I5oDioBypeSDpMcZWwQK-eXZoBGZ982Q_7l8jy1Vx2fwR_sxRO2zVlF0Qew_2Fwtx3ucgWk-pdWyBbTMeznsjAcUahgN0QmqvpqTdVg1RIXGM_hel00SMLbfqGGEJH5clZGtw/s1600/koh-samui-beach1.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 278px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiduUYFm4I5oDioBypeSDpMcZWwQK-eXZoBGZ982Q_7l8jy1Vx2fwR_sxRO2zVlF0Qew_2Fwtx3ucgWk-pdWyBbTMeznsjAcUahgN0QmqvpqTdVg1RIXGM_hel00SMLbfqGGEJH5clZGtw/s400/koh-samui-beach1.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5591040005282504290" /></a><br />Right now I'm on an extended holiday in the far east, but will soon be back in business with more old news. One or two surprises might turn up during my absence though, so stay tuned.<br /><br />JonasJonas Nordinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06065342609209811314noreply@blogger.com6