Tell me about these early Technicolor/part TC features

[N_Phay]

I found this linked on an interesting blog piece about "The March of Time":



I put this in the talkies bit, as I think most of them are talkies.

What survives, in (or not in) Technicolor, out of this list? What can people tell me about these films, many of which I know nothing about? "Gold-Diggers of Broadway", I've seen the remaining extracts of, "Footlights & Fools" w/Colleen Moore and "Paris" w/Irene Bordoni I'm sure are lost. "Hollywood Revue of 1930" I think is "March of Time" itself. "Broadway" i remember there being a discussion of here. "Rogue Song" I think is the one with the ballet dancers. A few others I recognise. I love the look of 2-strip, its so beautiful....

[N_Phay]

The blog I got the image from is here:

http://talkieking.blogspot.com/2008/10/ ... -1930.html

[misspickford9]

Most of those are silents no? I mean I cant imagine talkies listing "Toll of the Sea" which was 1922 (and the first full length 2 strip color film, Anna May Wong). Maybe 1930ish by the early talkies listed.

The Black Pirate was Douglas Fairbanks in what 1925? Both that and Toll of the Sea exist and I believe both are on DVD.

[Harold Aherne]

This ad is simply a roll-call of the more prominent and prestigious films that had featured Technicolor since 1922. Most are 1929-30 talkies, but of course some are silents or part-talkies. Here's what I know about their survival status:

Presumed lost (i.e. no known picture at all):
Bride of the Regiment (1930)
Footlights and Fools (1929)
Hit the Deck (1930)
Hold Everything (1930)
No, No, Nanette (1930)
Paris (1929)
The Rogue Song (1930) [some fragments exist]
Song of the Flame (1930)
Song of the West (1930)
Wanderer of the Wasteland (1924)

Colour survives only in B&W
Bright Lights (1930)
The Broadway Melody (1929)*
Golden Dawn (1930)
On With the Show (1929)
Puttin' on the Ritz (1930)*
Sally (1929) ["Wild Rose" sequence survives in colour]
Show Girl in Hollywood (1930)*
The Desert Song (1929)*

Titles with an asterisk had colour sequences only; the others were all-colour. The Mysterious Island and The Show of Shows were mostly Technicolor with some B&W. Complete (or nearly so) B&W survives of both; I think only some faded colour footage exists for Island and only the "Chinese Fantasy" and perhaps the "Meet My Sister" number survive in colour for Show of Shows.

Chasing Rainbows is in the regrettable position of having its colour sequences *completely* lost (i.e. not even B&W footage of them is known). The B&W portions of the film do exist and TCM has (very rarely) run it with a disclaimer noting its incompleteness and using still reconstructions with the plot summary printed at the bottom of the picture.

I'll come back later on to finish posting about the status of the remaining titles...unless someone beats me to it.

-Harold

[rudyfan]

The Viking has screened on TCM and I've seen King of Jazz

[Jack Theakston]

It's interesting that neither BEN HUR nor THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA are mentioned on the list (however, HELL'S ANGELS, for which there is only one color scene, is). Both films where in re-issue at that point.

Most of Technicolor's negatives were junked in the late '30s, when the studios were given notice. Negatives for films like TOLL OF THE SEA, BLACK PIRATE, and FOLLOW THRU all exist under usually special circumstances (BLACK PIRATE, for instance, is lost in its original color-- the color version we know today is actually made from outtake negatives found in Europe).

[Harold Aherne]

A few more notes:

UCLA has restored Toll of the Sea, Dixiana, Glorifying the American Girl, Mammy, Pointed Heels, The Vagabond King, and Under a Texas Moon within the last couple of decades and all are essentially intact, including colour. The one exception is Toll of the Sea, which was missing its last reel; Robert Gitt used a vintage Technicolor camera to re-film the last shot of the ocean. They've also worked on Paramount on Parade, which (from what I've heard) had its colour sequences deleted entirely for the MCA TV prints--or perhaps they were no longer present at all. Anyway, UCLA has reinstated some of the colour scenes, although I don't know if all the soundtrack material has been located.

At one time or another TCM has run The Viking, The Hollywood Revue of 1929, Devil-May-Care, and It's a Great Life. The first three are intact or essentially so, including colour. The last time TCM ran It's a Great Life (1997-ish) the "Sailing on a Sunbeam" number was missing, but it does survive and I think it's been reinstated. A fashion show sequence early in the film starts out in colour but abruptly changes to B&W, so I wonder if some colour might be missing.

Rio Rita and The King of Jazz both survive with colour, albeit in edited reissue prints from 1932 and 1933, respectively, rather than original cuts. Peacock Alley (1930) also survives with colour, and Redskin is available in the Treasures III DVD collection.

"Hollywood Revue of 1930" is indeed a working title for The March of Time. Colour segments filmed for the project survive in various short subject. I don't know what Radio Ramblers is--possibly RKO's never-produced early talkie revue. In any case, they never released a film with that title.

I don't know the status of General Crack, Mamba, Son of the Gods, The Dance of Life, or The Melody Man, although I read once on AMS that some colour footage from Mamba had been rediscovered.

-Harold

[vitaphone]

A complete mute Technicolor nitrate print of MAMBA was found recently in Australia. The Vitaphone Project was contacted last month regarding the location of discs they were missing (they had only 3 or 4. Fortunately, UCLA has ALL the discs so a complete restoration is now possible. Bob Gitt is now investigating the possibility of getting this funded.

We'll be posting some color frame blow-ups on our website ( www.vitaphoneproject.com ) in about 2 weeks.

Ron.

[Danny Burk]

GENERAL CRACK survives in a silent b&w version. DANCE OF LIFE survives in b&w; I haven't heard of any color material. KING OF JAZZ was released in its cut form on VHS (and, I think, laser disc) by Universal ages ago; a longer version (not sure if it's 100% complete) was owned in 16mm (a very worn print) by Bill Everson.

[Penfold]

(BLACK PIRATE, for instance, is lost in its original color-- the color version we know today is actually made from outtake negatives found in Europe).

Outtakes, or an export version ???? Why would Technicolor export negatives of outtakes???

[DeutscheFarben]

A complete mute Technicolor nitrate print of MAMBA was found recently in Australia. The Vitaphone Project was contacted last month regarding the location of discs they were missing (they had only 3 or 4. Fortunately, UCLA has ALL the discs so a complete restoration is now possible. Bob Gitt is now investigating the possibility of getting this funded.

We'll be posting some color frame blow-ups on our website ( www.vitaphoneproject.com ) in about 2 weeks.

These are beautiful news
I'm looking forward to seeing samples of this interesting movie which, in 1931, could not be released in Germany due to political tendencies...

[Jack Theakston]

Outtakes, or an export version ???? Why would Technicolor export negatives of outtakes???

For 'B' negative replacement footage. Outtakes don't necessarily mean bad takes, just ones that weren't used.

[drednm]

My copy of It's a Great Life has the color sequence intact..... And the Duncan Sisters are terrific!

[vitaphone]

If any of you have IT'S A GREAT LIFE on video, you can verfy a discovery I made. In the very beginning the Duncan Sisters are running to work because they are late. They run down some MGM streets and several times you see cutways to an Italian street vendor with a vegetable cart. Freeze frame to see what he looks like. A few seconds later they collide with him and knock him and the cart over. It's a very distinctive fall taken by a different person as the mustachioed vendor. Freeze frame and advance slowly and you'll see it's Buster Keaton!

Vitaphone Ron.

[drednm]

Wow.... I'll look for Keaton. How on earth would anyone have discovered this?

[gjohnson]

........because no one else takes a fall quite like him??

Gary J.

[drednm]

yes that's true.... I'll have to rewatch this film this weekend.... it's worth it to see Rosetta and Vivian spoof "An Old Spanish Custom" and "Tell Me, Pretty Maiden."

[drednm]

but "Sailing on a Sunbeam" is not in this version....

[Jack Theakston]

Of course, there is a mystery about CHILDREN OF PLEASURE, too.

The film was released initially with no advertisement about Technicolor. Technicolor has no mention of it in their files.

There are three existing versions of the song, "Dust." The first is in the existing, all black-and-white version that Warners has. A color version, edited differently wtih different takes, is seen as a sequence in the short, ROAST BEEF AND MOVIES. Another existing reel of the scene exists as a full-aperture, dye-transfer print that came out of a San Francisco MGM exchange. To add to the confusion, THAT version is made of different takes as well.

So what is the story about CHILDREN OF PLEASURE?

[drednm]

Harold A said: At one time or another TCM has run The Viking, The Hollywood Revue of 1929, Devil-May-Care, and It's a Great Life. The first three are intact or essentially so, including colour. The last time TCM ran It's a Great Life (1997-ish) the "Sailing on a Sunbeam" number was missing, but it does survive and I think it's been reinstated. A fashion show sequence early in the film starts out in colour but abruptly changes to B&W, so I wonder if some colour might be missing.

I watched this again yesterday and "Sailing on a Sunbeam" is indeed missing from this TCM print I had on VHS from years ago. But I think someone wrote somewhere it was in their copy but I don't remember who.

As for color, yes the fashion show is in color and shifts to B&W when the show is over and the scene goes backstage. The only other color sequence is the "Hoosier Hop" dream sequence in which Vivian Duncan refers to "sailing on a sunbeam."