Chaney Shearer sound film test

[sepiatone]

I read somewhere that Lon Chaney, Norma Shearer and ? one other person did a talking film screen test together in 1928. I can't remember who the third person was, it may have been ?William Haines. Chaney was dressed in a bowler hat that looked similar to his get up in stills from The Big City and similar bowler hat scene in the sound The Unholy Three. I can't remember the book I saw this in. There were still pics of the actors in the book from the screen test. I was wondering if the screen tests possibly survive at Turner or WB?

[Jack Theakston]

That doesn't seem likely to me. Chaney's contract was made out so that he wasn't obligated to doing talking pictures until he renewed his contract in 1929 or 1930, and Shearer was in talking pictures almost a year before Chaney was.

[bobfells]

In 1928, Dodge Bros. sponsored a series of radio broadcasts with film stars. One of them, perhaps the first, starred Charlie Chaplin, Doug Fairbanks, Dolores Del Rio (subbing for Pickford whose mother had just died), and John Barrymore. It was piped into movie theaters but the weather was so bad over much of the country, many had poor reception with a lot of static. Critics wrote that Del Rio was not understandable, and audience members felt that Chaplin and Fairbanks both had "voice doubles." Only Barrymore came out with any praise but when asked he said he didn't think much of "this radio thing." Ironic that in his last years, he earned most of his income from radio work.

Michael Blake's excellent books on Lon Chaney reports on a radio broadcast he did around 1929 that is preserved on disc at MGM, I believe. He also quotes generous excerpts of Chaney's talk.

[Redbeard]

Speaking of radio appearances, Phil Riley claims that Chaney and Mary Philbin did a promotional broadcast for The Phantom of the Opera. Riley also claims that he or some other individual posessed the transcription disc of the broadcast. Is there any validity to this claim or is Riley just talking out of his hat?

[sepiatone]

That doesn't seem likely to me. Chaney's contract was made out so that he wasn't obligated to doing talking pictures until he renewed his contract in 1929 or 1930, and Shearer was in talking pictures almost a year before Chaney was.

that pertained to a full length theatrical release. It doesn't mean Chaney couldn't have done a non-theatrical voice test on film. I remember in the book the photos of the actors had the actual voice waves from their test printed below the pics just like on a strip of sound-on-film. It was really intriguing cause I knew Chaney had only made one sound film and it was the only known remaining aural example of him.

[sepiatone]

In 1928, Dodge Bros. sponsored a series of radio broadcasts with film stars. ..... Only Barrymore came out with any praise but when asked he said he didn't think much of "this radio thing." Ironic that in his last years, he earned most of his income from radio work.

One reason Jack may have responded that way is because most of the radio broadcast he was asked to do were readings of Shakespeare. Barrymore by then was burned out on plays like Hamlet and Richard III. Several of the Shakespeare broadcast/and or recordings survive and are available on CD or on historic omnibus sets with other Shakespearean actors.

[bobfells]

In 1928, Dodge Bros. sponsored a series of radio broadcasts with film stars. ..... Only Barrymore came out with any praise but when asked he said he didn't think much of "this radio thing." Ironic that in his last years, he earned most of his income from radio work.

One reason Jack may have responded that way is because most of the radio broadcast he was asked to do were readings of Shakespeare. Barrymore by then was burned out on plays like Hamlet and Richard III. Several of the Shakespeare broadcast/and or recordings survive and are available on CD or on historic omnibus sets with other Shakespearean actors.

True, but you're about a decade too early. Barrymore recorded a Victor 78 around this time, 1928, a HAMLET sililoquy, that was a best seller for many years. He also announced one performance of HAMLET over the Labor Day weekend that same year, in the Hollywood Bowl, I think. He never performed it. In the summer of 1937, NBC signed him up for a series of "Streamlined Shakespeare," 45-minute weekly broadcasts that competed directly with CBS summer replacement series for Lux Radio Theater.

Both series survive and it's obvious that the CBS series was much more carefully planned. Barrymore was pulling himself together at the time and did a fine job not only as Hamlet and Richard III, but with roles he never performed in the theater such as Macbeth, Twelfth Night (both as Malvolio and Sir Toby Belch), and as Petruchio in THE TAMING OF THE SHREW. THis last has survived in its original full length, the others were cut down to 30 mins. each and circulated by NBC in 1950. Meanwhile at CBS, Edward G. Robinson also played Petruchio in an hour long broadcast so it's interesting to compare Barrymore's and Robinson's interpretations of the role, broadcast just a few weeks apart during that summer. I kept seeing Don Juan in JB's Petruchio, and I kept seeing Little Caesar in Robinson's, but maybe that's just me.

[sepiatone]

cool thanks. Katharine Hepburn criticised those recordings intimating she may have seen(& preferred) him perform live in the 1920s. Barrymore was quite touching reading from Julius Caesar, with Orson Welles circa 1940. In addition to Hamlet & Richard III Barrymore did play Romeo on stage in the 1921 Shakespearean pageant, Margalo Gilmore was Juliet. That's not too well known but interesting nevertheless.

[jcp7701]

Although this question is a bit tardy, I'm intrigued by the mention of the 1929 Chaney broadcast.

While I would prefer to purchase the book, spending $60 for a used copy on amazon is a bit beyond me right now. Are there any other details or substantiation that can be offered?

[Jack Theakston]

No. There is no evidence that such a radio broadcast took place.

[jcp7701]

Thank you for letting me know. I have even less incentive than before if a biography either mis-identifies or fabricates a radio broadcast.

[coolcatdaddy]

As far as the existence of a recording of a radio broadcast promoting "Phantom of the Opera" with Cheney or a Cheney broadcast from 1929 that might survive at MGM...

Before the early 1930s, recordings of radio broadcasts were extremely rare. Up until around 1930 or '31, these were done experimentally or for a very specific purpose, like commercial release of a special broadcast on record or business wanting to preserve a broadcast for some reason. The process was expensive - the disc had to be recorded like a traditional commercially released recording - a wax master was recorded, metal masters were made, and discs pressed. Special arrangements had to be made with a record company to do it.

A 1925 recording of a broadcast would be unlikely, but not unheard of. Mostly what survives from this period are experimental recordings made of broadcasts and special events.

A 1929 disc of a Cheney broadcast might be more likely. It was a little more widespread and common at that point, with some record company facilities that produced sound on disc films using the same equipment to record radio broadcasts on 16" discs for various purposes.

If MGM had sound on disc equipment, they could have just had one of their engineers wire up a radio to the system or record a broadcast with a microphone, then sent the master to Columbia or Victor to be pressed up.

Another possibility is that MGM might have specially recorded the broadcast in a studio and planned to (or actually did) distribute it to radio stations on transcription discs - syndication of shows in this way was starting to happen around this time.

If someone has a contact at MGM, where the disc might be located, talk with them and see if they might release it in some way or make a copy accessible to old time radio researchers. Any early broadcast like that is rare and is of great interest to broadcast historians, particularly if it's an aircheck of an actual broadcast.

You might find this guide useful in thinking about early broadcasts of Hollywood stars and in what form the recordings might survive:

http://www.midcoast.com/~lizmcl/earlyradio.html

[Jack Theakston]

Phil Riley's book claims the disc was from 1925 and at Universal. There's no way Chaney would have been doing any publicity for Universal in 1930 (when the re-issue was released).

[Michael F. Blake]

For the record......

I have NEVER said Chaney did a radio broadcast in 1929, nor that the discs are stored at MGM. That is completely wrong. Nor is it in my books. Unless I could confirm by two independent sources, I would NEVER make such a claim.

Phil Riley on the other hand would say just about anything, with no facts to back him up.....read his works at your own risk.

NEVER heard of Chaney doing a sound test with Norma Shearer or any other actor.

As I state in my books, Chaney did not make a voice test until February-March of 1930 after working out a new contract under Thalberg's guidance.

Michael F. Blake

[Scoundrel]

Thanks Mike.

[bobfells]

Reading over the old posts in this thread from two years ago I find that I'm the guy who linked Michael Blake with the bogus Chaney broadcast. Mea culpa, mea culpa, mea maxima culpa. I had been doing a lot of reading on Chaney at that time including the Blake books and Riley's PHANTOM script. Then I had no reason to doubt the report of a radio broadcast but I thought it extraordinary that it would have been recorded and that the recording still existed. At worst, I might have been accused of giving the wrong author credit for this info. Now we know it was totally false. Michael, please accept my apology. I thought we left the era of the pseudo-film historian back in the 1960s but evidently there's one still kicking around.

[FrankFay]

Speaking of radio appearances, Phil Riley claims that Chaney and Mary Philbin did a promotional broadcast for The Phantom of the Opera. Riley also claims that he or some other individual posessed the transcription disc of the broadcast. Is there any validity to this claim or is Riley just talking out of his hat?

If he's talking 1925, the idea seems far fetched. A transcription would be very novel as the electric recording process was quite new.

If he's talking the sound reissue there's more possibility - Norman Kerry & Mary Philbin might have have done some radio publicity.

[sepiatone]

For the record......

NEVER heard of Chaney doing a sound test with Norma Shearer or any other actor.


Michael F. Blake

with all do respect Mike, I love your readings and tv appearances on Chaney, and I like Phil too his reconstructions of 'London' and 'A Blind Bargain'. I hope there's no misunderstanding but the fact that you never heard of it doesn't mean it didn't take place. The book I saw this in was at fairly major University in their undergraduate library(early 1990s). The collection has since been consolidated into their graduate library and it doesn't help that I don't know the title. It was one of those random thumb throughs. I made an attempt last week to look for the book, which means I had numerous books on 'silent', 'talkie' films to pick thru until/or if I find the correct work. Just trying to narrow down an approximate section in the stacks and Im still looking. The title may have been deleted from the collection to the University's off site archive. But alas that's where I saw the example of the sound test(with the sound waves) of Chaney, Shearer, ? Haines circa 1928.

[bobfells]

Sepiatone,

It's possible that you and Michael Blake are both correct. The book you remember seeing back in the 90s could have been anything including a science text on imaging voice patterns. The sample of Lon Chaney's voice could have been lifted from the soundtrack of THE UNHOLY THREE (1930) so it would not have proven that a separate "voice test" was ever made by Chaney.

I have read that the studios made lots of voice tests circa 1928 and I recall an on-camera recollection by Buddy Rogers (possibly from the Hollywood Pioneers series) discussing this. I wonder what happened to those various recordings? This seems to be one of the least documented events in the history of the studio system era.

[jcp7701]

In regard to the book mentioned initially, I can't think of the title either, but I have seen the tantalizing photos of Shearer, Gilbert, and Chaney with the dialogue spoken as well as whatever accompanying sound waves or whatsoever they might be. I believe that Gilbert gave some sort of greeting, either "Good morning" or "Good evening," and yes, Mr. Chaney did have a rather dour look. That they were grouped together did make me wonder how early they were performed, meaning 1928 to my mind, which was of course wishful thinking.

In regard to sound tests, which could form an entirely different topic, is there any remaining documentation or knowledge about whom would have been the subject of such an "experiment?" Would this have extended back to 1926/27,the infancy of sound, or been more common in 1928? For example, and please don't groan, but I've often wondered if a cowboy star such as Fred Thomson, who died in late December 1928, and was under contract to FBO, although inactive for most of the year....if he would have made such a test. Thus, who would have been tested with the eventuality of the sound transition looming?

[The Blackbird]

The book is 1984's Movies of the Silent Years (Consultant Editor David Robinson, Edited by Ann Lloyd). Page 216 has three separate photos of Gilbert, Shearer and Chaney (in derby and pinstripes), over captions of them "saying," respectively, "Good morning," "Oh Brother! Telephone" and "What's That?" It's not explained where the still originated from. It looks to me like it could easily have been just some publicity gimmick the studio threw together.

[sepiatone]

The book is 1984's Movies of the Silent Years (Consultant Editor David Robinson, Edited by Ann Lloyd). Page 216 has three separate photos of Gilbert, Shearer and Chaney (in derby and pinstripes), over captions of them "saying," respectively, "Good morning," "Oh Brother! Telephone" and "What's That?" It's not explained where the still originated from. It looks to me like it could easily have been just some publicity gimmick the studio threw together.

thank you, thank you, thank you...yes, Chaney has a sort of expression to the camera if I remember. His bowler tilted up in that famous fashion of his. I stand corrected on Haines , but Gilbert so I knew there was another male with Chaney and Shearer. No pun intended but it looks like a regathering of the cast of TOWER OF LIES. But alas I can't vouch if it was an actual test or a demo for that chapter in the book.

[The Blackbird]

My pleasure, sorry I didn't remember where it was from earlier. It's a fine book too, I recommend it to all. I tentatively assume the still of Chaney is from THE UNHOLY THREE (the clothes match the suit he wears). Shearer and Gilbert are dressed well but I have no idea where the stills originate from.

[missdupont]

More than likely, it's just a publicity still representing nothing but free publicity.