Yes. You read that correctly! Dick May, who is now in charge of the combined Warner and Turner film vaults, reports that Warner Brothers has supported his proposal to preserve to safety film, and restore from separated disc and picture elements, a program of roughly 100 Vitaphone 1926-39 short subjects per year. Besides the obvious impact of such a welcome restoration program on saving these films, this project has the added benefit of making it possible for people to see these films again. Once restored or preserved, the titles are added to Warner Brothers list of films available to both Turner Classic Movies for broadcast and ultimately for potential home video release.

At Dick's request, The Vitaphone Project provided him with a comprehensive list of over 300 "worthy" Vitaphone shorts titles for consideration. Dick has essentially adopted that list. A large number of these titles are 1930-39 Vitaphone shorts which may only exist on 35 mm nitrate and therefore need preservation on safety film. There is no "master" list anywhere of all Vitaphone shorts now on safety, so a title-by-title check with The Library of Congress is now being made. Some of these titles may already have been put onto safety film. In those cases, they will be put on Warners "available" list. The nitrate-only titles will be preserved. Over 75 disc-and-picture shorts from 1926-30 are also targeted for restoration.

This massive project supplements the ongoing and, in fact growing, restoration work being done by Bob Gitt at UCLA. We've included a very small exerpt elsewhere in this issue of sample titles to be preserved. The significance of the performers (from DeWolf Hopper and Lew Fields to Colonel Stoopnagle and Budd and Jimmy Stewart!) is obvious.

If there is really a God of Nitrate, he is definitely smiling down on Dick May!

A production shot in the Brooklyn studio. Taken around 1931. Note the three cameras.

Our last issue reported that over 600 early talkie soundtrack discs had turned up in four months. Over two hundred more discs, including several particularly important ones, have been found since July of 1998. Here's a rundown of some of what has been located since the last VITAPHONE NEWS

• Reels 1, 4, and 11 of Fanny Brice's MY MAN ('28)
• the trailer disc for FIFTY MILLION FRENCHMEN ('31)
• reels 1, 4, and 5 of SO LONG LETTY ('29)
• a SAY IT WITH SONGS ('29) pipe organ medley overture
• reel 1 of a two reel Technicolor Ann Pennington music short HELLO BABY! ('29)
• the disc for a funny vaudeville short THE PLANTATION TRIO ('27) which includes "Canadian Capers" played on the piano by its composer
• two early Looney Tunes shorts discs: AIN'T NATURE GRAND? and YODELING YOKELS. They sound a lot better than existing prints!
• the overture disc for NO, NO, NANETTE ('30)
• reel 2 for a 1928 playlet with Hugh Herbert, SOLOMON'S CHILDREN
• exit music disc for MARIANNE (MGM, '29)
• reels 7,9,and 10 for THE SINGING FOOL ('28)
• the overture disc for DON JUAN ('26)
• reels 5 and 6 for WHEEL OF LIFE (First National, '29)
• reel 1 and overture of THE DESERT SONG ('29)
• discs for two 1929 Disney Silly Symphony's, AUTUMN and SPRINGTIME
• one disc for MY SONG OF THE NILE ('29)
• reel 1 for SHOW OF SHOWS ('29)
• long missing disc for Vitaphone short GRACE JOHNSTON & THE INDIANA FIVE ('29)
• disc for the one reel short RAYMOND OVERTURE ('27)
• discs for OUR DANCING DAUGHTERS ('28), TAL HENRY'S NORTH CAROLINIANS ('29), THE JAZZ SINGER ('27) and RED NICHOLS AND HIS FIVE PENNIES ('29) which existed but are still nice to find
• Vitaphone symphonic short SEMPER FIDELIS MARCH ('27)
disc for ROSA RAISA ('27), a long sought after operatic short which now can be restored
• reel 5 for THE SINGLE STANDARD ('29, MGM)
• reel 1 for TENDERLOIN ('28)
• the disc for a Home Talkie, FRANK KETCH AND GERRY, a ventriloquist act from 1929
• disc for a 1929 Vitaphone short JOSIE HEATHER, THE CHARACTER COMEDIENNE, which is now restorable
• 10 and 12 inch trailer or soundtrack discs for KID GLOVES, THE HOTTENTOT, FIDDLESTICKS (Flip The Frog), BEHIND THAT CURTAIN, THROUGH DIFFERENT EYES, CLOSE HARMONY, THE TRIAL OF MARY DUGAN
• discs for 1926-29 Vitaphone shorts SCHOOL DAZE, LONELY GIGOLO, HOLLAND, JAPANESE BULL, BIG MAN FROM THE SOUTH (Looney Tunes) and the 1929 Opening Of The Warner Brothers San Pedro Theatre
• disc of GOLD DIGGGERS OF BROADWAY ('29) exit music
• KING OF JAZZ ('30) reel 8
• UNDER A TEXAS MOON ('30) trailer
• 1926 Vitaphone short disc #287 for HAROLD BAUER in 'POLONAISE'
• MGM short disc for BOB NELSON ('28)
• reels 1, 10, 11 and 12 of DAWN PATROL ('30)
• Reel 8 of FIGHTING CARAVANS (Par., '30)
• reels 2,3,4 and 8 for BATTLE OF THE SEXES (UA, '28)
• reels 3,5,6,8,9,10 and 11 for WONDER OF WOMEN (MGM, '29).
• Technicolor mute nitrate reels for two Tiffany Studio shorts, THE COSSACK'S BRIDE and THE ENCHANTED FOREST (both '30)
• disc for '27 Vitaphone short #450: OVERTURE, MORNING, NOON AND NIGHT
• disc for 1926 Vitaphone short #449 RAYMOND OVERTURE (2nd copy)
• German pressing of 1926 Gigli short #414 CAVALLERIA RUSTICANA (without Lou Costello or Raymond Hatton - inside joke)
• reels 2 and 6 for foreign version of THE LOCKED DOOR (UA, '29)
• reel 17(!) for ROGUE SONG (MGM, '29)
• reels 1 and 2 of Pathe '29 short JUNGLE JAZZ
• reel 1 of GOLD DIGGERS OF BROADWAY ('29)
• reels 7 and 9 of IS EVERYBODY HAPPY? (WB, '29)
• reel 5 of LORD BYRON OF BROADWAY (MGM, '30)
• reel 8 and 2 each of reels 9 and 11 of THE GREAT GABBO (believe dupes of each disc were shipped as protection to theatre they were found in)
• reel 8 of THE GOLDEN CALF (Fox, '29)
• reels 6 and 8 of PARIS BOUND (Pathe, '29)
• reel 10 for UP THE RIVER (Fox, '30)
• reel 11 for SALLY (WB, '30)
• reel 8 for ON THE LEVEL (Fox, '29)
• reel 9 for DADDY LONG LEGS (Fox, '31)
• trailer disc for KING OF JAZZ (Univ., '30)
• reels 4 and 8 of ALOHA (Tiffany, '30)
• reels 1 and 3 of TWO MEN AND A MAID (Tiffanytone, '30)
• reels 2, 4, 5 and 7 of WHISPERING WINDS (Tiffanytone, '30)
• reels 1,3,5,6,7 and 8 for MY LADY'S PAST (Tiffanytone, '29)
• disc for short TRAVELAUGH - MEDBURY IN DEATH VALLEY (Columbia, '32)
• reels 6 and 7 for LILAC TIME (First National, '28)
• ten disc for Celebrity Pictures shorts most with Pathe logo, for RCA Photophone films BIG MONEY, DANCE WITH ME, EBONY SHRINE, FELINE FIGHTERS, HIGH STEPPERS, HOT TAMALES, both reels for KID THE KIDDER
• reel 1 for Pathe feature PARDON MY GUN ('30), and UNDERCOVER. At least some of these are cartoons and Pathe live action Pathe shorts of '29-'30
• reels 1, 3, 5, and 7 for For THE LOVE O'LIL (?)
• reel 7 for BROADWAY MELODY (MGM, '29)
• disc for one reel MGM short WHO'S THAT PRETTY BABY? ('29) with The Happiness Boys
• reels for three 1929 editions of UNIVERSAL NEWSREEL,
• reels for one-reel Vitaphone shorts THE ARNAUT BROTHERS ('27) (now restorable, film exists)
• MISS INFORMATION ('28) with Lois Wilson
• POET AND PEASANT OVERTURE ('27)
• JACK SMITH, THE WHISPERING BARITONE ('26)
• two very late discs from 1933: reels 6 and 8 from the Mary Pickford feature SECRETS (UA) and HERITAGE OF THE DESERT with Randolph Scott (Par).

Some outdoor shooting of a Vitaphone short not far from the Brooklyn studio c. 1932. Note the Vitaphone sound truck at right.

My Man, the 1928 part-talkie feature starring Fanny Brice, has been considered a lost film since its initial release. No film element is known to exist. Until recently, only the disc for the trailer and one reel (with her "I Was A Floradora Baby" number) survived. Late this summer, three discs (apparently master pressings not ever played with the film) turned up in California. They represent reels 3, 4 and 11, and show this film to have been largely a talkie with relatively brief, "silent" passages with music and effects scoring. One disc duplicates the existing "Floradora Baby" reel. However the other two include an extended version of the song "My Man", and a full length version of Brice's "Mrs. Cohen At The Beach" and "I'm An Indian" routines.

We can only hope that like its contemporary "lost" features GOLD DIGGERS OF BROADWAY and IS EVERYBODY HAPPY?, film elements will now start to turn up. Sophie Tucker's '29 feature "HONKY TONK" still has no surviving picture element, but after 68 years with only a couple of discs, three complete sets of discs covering all reels (including a foreign version) are now known.

 
Left: A projector and player system.
Right: A series of 16" soundtrack dubbing turntables at the Brooklyn Vitaphone Studios, c. 1930.

We at the Project have a particular love for late twenties jazz and hot dance bands. A number of such Vitaphone shorts have been restored at UCLA over the years, including three by Gus Arnheim's Orchestra ('27 and '28), Red Nichols ('29), Tal Henry and His North Carolinians ('29), Ben Pollack ('29), Horace Heidt's Californians and Leo Reisman ('29). There are still a number of true jazz shorts still missing elements. These include "Low Down: A Bird's Eye View of Harlem" ('29), Reb Spikes Band ('27), and two 1927 shorts with Roger Wolfe Kahn's Orchestra (one of which also includes the great Mound City Blue Blowers, jazz violinist Joe Venuti and legendary guitarist Eddie Lang).

Among this previously unrestorable group is the 1929 short coupling the great pop singer Grace Johnston with the legendary Indiana Five jazz band. A picture portion has existed for years at The Library of Congress, but no soundtrack was known. Until October 1998.

A disc for this short turned up in northern California in a group with 24 other soundtrack discs. Hearing the performances of "Bashful Baby" and "Glad Rag Doll" by Johnston, separated by a very hot version of "Clarinet Marmalade" by The Indiana Five confirmed that this belonged in the same category as the Nichols and Pollack shorts.

Restoration is being generously funded in its entirety by Larry Rubenstein. Larry is the nephew of prolific songwriter Milton Ager ("Happy Days Are Here Again", "Is She My Girlfriend?", "Ain't She Sweet?"). He had been searching to underwrite a restorable short which included one of his uncle's songs. Ager's "Glad Rag Doll" closes this short.

Restoration work is expected to begin shortly at UCLA under Bob Gitt's direction.

Patrick Picking's wonderful work in developing, linking and updating The Vitaphone Project website at http://www.picking.com continues to payoff. A number of soundtrack discs have been located as a result of folks surfing the Net. If you haven't checked out this site, please do so. Back issues of VITAPHONE NEWS, a photo gallery, Frequently Asked Questions, and articles are included.

Thanks to Patrick for his work in helping to take our message worldwide, with tangible results after just a few months!

We often learn of film discoveries which do not fall into the narrow category of 1926-30 sound on disc sound films. Such was the case in October, 1998, when we were contacted about 10 reels of silent 16mm black and white silent home movie film taken by Earl Carroll's Vanities bandleader Ray Kavanaugh. Kavanaugh's niece found the film in the family's eastern Massachussetts home, and asked us to help identify the content.

What we saw was a pristine glimpse back into 1928-33 Broadway. Clear, long takes of onstage routines from the 1928, 1929, 1930, and 1933 Vanities, plus the 1931 show "Murder At The Vanities", were unreeled for nearly two hours. Extended shots, taken during rehearsals and actual performances, show Vanities star W.C. Fields performing his "Dentist" sketch (much more risque than in his Sennett short), a schoolroom sketch, and other routines. We also see Patsy Kelly, Jack Benny, Jimmy Savo, comic Will Mahoney, Al "Rubber Legs" Norman, William Demarest, and countless others both on stage and clowning at the stage entrance. There are also shots of the Earl Carroll theatre under construction in 1930, lots of marquees, shots of the Roxy across the street, and much more.

It was easy to be transported back to late-twenties Broadway because the films look like they were shot yesterday. Plans are in the works to make these films available, both in documentaries ("Broadway" and Betsy Baytos' eccentric dance project) as well as possibly as a home video. We'll keep you posted.

 
Left: The sound recording staff at the Brooklyn Vitaphone Studios, circa 1930.
Right: Joe Henabery (I) director, with Jack Dempsey during the making of an unknown 1932 short.

We've just received word from documentary producer Tom Santorelli that he is beginning work on a two hour documentary on the history of Vitagraph studios. Tom indicates he may continue his story slightly into 1925-26 to cover the Warner Brothers' acquisition of the Vitagraph Stuidios and exchanges, and their conversion of the studios to talkies. Because NBC Television still shoots several of its soap operas in the 1928 Vitaphone studio building in Brooklyn, the site qualifies as the oldest still-operating production studio.

Bob Gitt and his staff at the UCLA Film & Television archives have a very full fall restoration schedule. As we go to press, work is being finished on the 1929 Technicolor ROGUE SONG trailer with Lawrence Tibbett and Laurel & Hardy, CHIPS OFF THE OLD BLOCK (Vitaphone, '28), another Technicolor reel of GOLD DIGGERS OF BROADWAY (WB, '29), BUTLER & BRENNAN (Vitaphone, '29), WARINGS PENNSYLVANIANS (Vitaphone, '27), HAWAIIAN NIGHTS (Vitaphone, '27), SWEETHEARTS AND WIVES (a 1930 Billie Dove WB feature), WHEN A MAN LOVES, a February '27 WB silent feature starring John Barrymore and having a score entirely composed and original for the film, JONES & HARE, THE HAPPINESS BOYS (Vitaphone, '27), VAN & SCHENCK (Vitaphone, '27), and, thanks to Leith Adam's (of the Warner Museum's) suggestion, our long desired restoration of GEORGIE PRICE in 'DON'T GET NERVOUS (Vitaphone, '29) co-starring on-screen director Bryan Foy trying to calm the nervous Price about making his first Vitaphone short in Brooklyn.

The Project was also was happy to help Bob on an eleventh-hour addition to the just-restored feature EVANGELINE (UA, '29). UCLA had used as many discs as existed, but several (reels 1, 2, 3, 4, and 9 were still missing shortly before the screening. Bob had used excerpts of other discs to fill in the gaps. Through the Vitaphone Project, Bob was put into contact with collector Michael Thomsen of Denmark, who had discs for reels 2, 4 and 9. Michael kindly transfered his discs to digital audio tape and sent this to Bob in time for last minute incorporation into the restoration. Now, only sound for reels 1 and 3 is missing. Does anyone out there have these?

Some quick news briefs on Vitaphone Project Activities Ron Hutchinson was honored to be among the presenters on May 29th (alongside Betty Comden) of the Lincoln Center's awards for excellence in Performing Arts books. Ron presented an award to Don Crafton for his outstanding book, "THE TALKIES" (Oxford University Press). You MUST have this book if you are at all interested in the transition to sound.

Sound restoration wizard Seth Winner spent nearly four hours in his Long Island studios upgrading the sound from the sole disc for the ROGUE SONG trailer. The disc found by collector Bruce Miller aquired was poorly recorded originally by MGM, and was badly worn. Taking seconds at a time, Seth upgraded the sound dramatically and provided a DAT to UCLA for synching up with the newly struck safety print of the Technicolor trailer.

The Project's Dave Goldenberg and Ron Hutchinson spoke on the Project to a packed house for two hours at the annual Record Collectors' Bash June 21st in South Plainfield, NJ. Despite sweltering conditions in the meeting room, no one left!

Film collector Murray Glass, whose Glenn Photo Supply markets many early sound restorations of PD items [818-881-8110), has volunteered to restore three early sound shorts whose 16mm and 16" discs were discovered in a San Francisco garage last year by pianist Peter Mintun last year. They are POP AND SON ('29) with Benny Rubin, HE'S A SHE ('29) with Sunny Jim, and a 1929 TONY SARG MARIONETTE short.

Many thanks to Sheldon Hochheiser of the AT&T Archive in Warren, NJ for providing the Project with a 300+ page copy of the Archive's Vitaphone shorts catalog, including deleted titles and a wonderful May 1927 supplement.

Professor Roy Liebman of Cal State continues to go over the data he collected during three months sabbatical in the USC Warner Brothers archives. Roy focused on learning more about the Vitaphone shorts numbering system, and the hope of finding a "magic bullet" complete list of every short and number. Here are some highlights of what he's learned so far:

• Numbers 1 - 1999 and B-1 up are Brooklyn shorts.
• 2000-999 and A-1 up were produced in Burbank.
• The west coast produced few shorts from 1929-1939 (when the Brooklyn studio closed).
• Some early numbers may never be completely identified. On rare occasions, a memo was found saying a number wasn't used.
• Sometimes two reels were made, but only one was released. A few shorts were apparently never released.
• The lowest number positively identified so far is #131.
• At some point in the 1940's, Warners finally discontinued their practice of assigning every released reel, short or feature, a separate number.
• There were apparently file folders for each short, but there are now many gaps.
• Some numbers were skipped, possibly just due to carelessness. Cases of overlapping numbers were also found. Roy concludes that keeping the numbers was not apparently a high priority at WB.
• A numerical card file has been copied which now allows looking up a specific number to determine the reel's tirle, cast and content. This is perhaps the most significant discovery of Roy's digging.

With the Project's success has come increased expenses, largely for the printing and mailing of VITAPHONE NEWS. Our mailing list is now over 450 per issue, with roughly 10% going overseas at around $1.00 each. We will soon have to pare down our distribution list, so it's important that if you are receiving this issue and have not written or contributed to us in over a year, that you do so as soon as possible. It's important for us to know that you are still interested in our efforts and in receiving the newsletter.

If you've already written in the last year or donated, no need to contact us. Otherwise, please write now. Thanks! Checks should be payable to RON HUTCHINSON (not the Project). While not deductible, they are appreciated!

Do you have film soundtrack discs (Vitaphone, Paramount, MGM, etc.), production information, stills, or other ephemera on pre 1940 short films?  We urgently need this data for a major film restoration program.  Replies will be kept confidential.  Project endorsed by copyright owners.
THE VITAPHONE PROJECT

To contact The Vitaphone Project write to:
Ron Hutchinson
5 Meade Court
Piscataway, NJ 08854
Phone 1.732.463.8521
FAX 1.732.336.2603
or email Ron at medusashaircut@erols.com
or project member Bill Cappello at billcapp@ix.netcom.com 

 Write to:  Patrick@Picking.com