NEW VINTAGE VITAPHONE 4 DVD ANNOUNCED TODAY

[LouieD]

How about stirring it up again:
How many agree that's Jimmy Ritz as the bellboy (called "Jimmy" in one scene) in the Billie "Swede" Hall and Company - "Hilda" short?

I guess I gotta check it again?

[Richard Finegan]

I see that on IMDb somebody has just recently added Marjorie Main to the cast of the Harry Fox short.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0019965/combined

[westegg]

Nice heads up about the Vitaphone set in the Sunday NY Times today.

I'm too dumb to provide a link.

[CoffeeDan]

Nice heads up about the Vitaphone set in the Sunday NY Times today.

I'm too dumb to provide a link.

Try this:

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/08/movie ... ref=movies

[Mr. Bear]

Not to get off the subject.
Since Vitaphone is mentioned, does anyone know, or any release dates for the Roscoe Arbuckle Vitaphone short subjects?

[CoffeeDan]

Not to get off the subject.
Since Vitaphone is mentioned, does anyone know, or any release dates for the Roscoe Arbuckle Vitaphone short subjects?

They're in the works, but no definite release date has been set.

[westegg]

Try this:

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/08/movie ... ref=movies

Thanks!

[Changsham]

Finally got my copy after waiting two months. These shorts are generally pretty good. Never seen any previously before. Lots of music, singing, drama and comedy. The picture quality is generally clean and the overall sound quality is far better than I expected. Great work from the Vitaphone Project.

[moviepas]

I concur. Just got mine in the past week and it is great as Changsham says.

[CoffeeDan]

I just ordered my copy during last weekend's sale (along with DON JUAN and its attendant Vitaphone shorts) and I can hardly wait!

[sethb]

I certainly hate to be throwing any cold water on the new Vitaphone shorts set. There's no question that these shorts are historically important for a number of reasons, so I'm glad the film and sound for these shorts have been reunited, and that they have been preserved.

But frankly, I found about 85% of the shorts to be pretty boring. Most of what passes for drama is pretty wooden, and what passes for comedy isn't all that funny, and what passes for music isn't all that great. A lot of the acts were trying to be Burns & Allen imitators, without too much success. I got the impression that most first-rate vaudeville acts were not interested in stepping before the Vitaphone cameras, so what they got was a lot of second-rate vaudeville acts.

While these small-timers are definitely interesting from a historical perspective, they aren't all that entertaining, at least in my own personal opinion. It's easy to see why most of these folks didn't make the Palace bills. Adding to the problem is the fact that production values on these early shorts are pretty minimal, with little more than an in-one painted backdrop and some of the cheesiest sets I've ever seen. I believe the later Vitaphones had a little more money put into them.

It's a shame, because I have purchased and enjoyed all of the previous Vitaphone sets. I don't regret my purchase, because it will hopefully help to fund the preservation of more Vitaphone shorts, and their release on DVD. But I can't say that I'll be watching most of the shorts in this set again anytime soon. SETH

[Changsham]

I see these acts as being more representative of what was going around at the time and all very competant performers for the most part. The vast majority of people could never go to "The Palace" or have the opportunity to see and hear headliners. Perhaps some of those with reputations to protect were hesitant to show their talents in an inperfect media. Through better access and electronic media these days our standards of what should be good is much higher. Like only eating eye fillet and ignoring the lesser cuts of meat.

[Brooksie]

A post about the point I was just about to make already exists earlier in this thread:

We also have to remember that it's easy to look at these things with an over-scrutinizing eye. These shorts were supposed to be quick, breezy diversions on the way to the main feature. Likewise, they were never designed to be watched a dozen in a row. It's more productive to think of them as the YouTube clips of the late 20s than compare them to features of the same era.

These films were never designed to be watched one after another, and nobody ever did to my knowledge. Watch them in smaller sections and you may enjoy them more.

Also happy to reiterate the other part of my earlier post:

I think the work the Vitaphone Project is doing to keep these things from falling into oblivion is outstanding - keep it up!

You folks who put your own time and money into restoration often don't get the recognition you deserve. So again, bravo Vitaphone Project.

[vitaphone]

Thanks for the kind comments about The Vitaphone Project! And don't forget that I wrote notes for the 4 DVD VITAPHONE VARIETIES set. Just drop me an email if you'd like a set, at [email protected]

Ron.

[Harlett O'Dowd]

Finally got a chance to start watching these.

Conley's an odd duck - as if the love child of Paul Lynde and Nathan Lane tried doing a Harry Langdon impersonation.

And no one warned me about Jay C. Flippen and that flippin cigar! That wasn't nice, nitratevillains!

[Wm. Charles Morrow]

I haven't watched all the shorts yet, but one of my favorites so far is The Wild Westerner, with Val Harris & Ann Howe. (It's at the end of Disc #1.) The first time I saw it I believed Harris really was as elderly as he appears to be, and when goes into his dance I thought "Hey, the old guy is pretty good!" Then I found out that the old guy was in his mid-40s at the time.

Also enjoyed the short with Jimmy Conlin and his wife. He was a terrific eccentric pianist, as enjoyable as Chico Marx. I don't know why he didn't play more often in movies -- maybe he just wasn't offered the opportunities. He plays a little bit in The Palm Beach Story, during the Ale & Quail Club sequence, but it's sort of lost in all the chaos.

[GooseWoman]

Unfortunately I seem to have lost track of this subject. Can someone better infortmed kindly clarify wehat exactly is now out there by way of collections of these fascinating subjects. In particular are the following available:

(1) the set of 20s shorts including A Plantation Act which were I think omce issued on FRI 29 JUL 2011

(2) the set of shorts which accompanied Don Juan and also I believe were once out on FRI 29 JUL 2011

(3) the recently rediscovered and restored Hello Baby with Ann Pennington and the Larry Ceballos Roof Garden Revue

Many thanks

[CoffeeDan]

Unfortunately I seem to have lost track of this subject. Can someone better infortmed kindly clarify wehat exactly is now out there by way of collections of these fascinating subjects. In particular are the following available:

(1) the set of 20s shorts including A Plantation Act which were I think omce issued on FRI 29 JUL 2011

(2) the set of shorts which accompanied Don Juan and also I believe were once out on FRI 29 JUL 2011

(3) the recently rediscovered and restored Hello Baby with Ann Pennington and the Larry Ceballos Roof Garden Revue

Many thanks

I'm not real sure what exactly you're looking for, but here are the Vitaphone shorts collections currently available at the Warner Archive. Click on each individual collection to see the contents.

A PLANTATION ACT is available as an extra, along with other Al Jolson and early-sound-related material, on THE JAZZ SINGER set.

[vitaphone]

Correct.

HELLO BABY with Ann Pennington was a 2 strip Technicol musical short from 1929 and was not restored as the film portion does not survive. The disk for reel 1 (which I have) is all that is around at the moment for this title. The LARRY CEBALLOS GARDEN REVUE short of 1928, which features Lyda Roberti in possibly her first film appearance, was restored about 8 years ago and should be out on a future Vitaphone DVD set.

Hope this helps!

[GooseWoman]

Many thanks for that. The 20s shorts I had in mind are indeed covered by the Jazz Singer and the originals in the WB Don Juan release. My query would perhaps have made a bit more sense if my phone had not chosen to post "on Friday 29 July" rather than "on lasedrisc".

With regard to Hello Baby I was literallygoing by the Vitaphone Varieties statement that it was a film which had emerged from the shadows That now seems not to be the case in any satisfactory sense.

[ajabrams]

Correct.
The LARRY CEBALLOS GARDEN REVUE short of 1928, which features Lyda Roberti in possibly her first film appearance, was restored about 8 years ago and should be out on a future Vitaphone DVD set.
Hope this helps!

So glad to hear that there will be a future Vitaphone DVD set. These sets are absolute must haves. I hope that the next one will include the Butler and Brennan short -- historically important as it is as close as we will ever get to experiencing the legacy of the legendary Bert Savoy.