[78-L] It's a Wonderful Life

[DAVID BURNHAM]

I just watched "It's a Wonderful life", for the first time in my life believe it or not, and there is a quick shot of a record on a Gramophone.  There's no way anyone could have seen it at the time but with a DVD's freeze frame capability, it is possible to stop it and read the label of the record.  The title correctly says "Buffalo Gals" and the artist is shown as Arthur Black and his orchestra.  The label is a late 20s batwing label but there is no indication of Victor Talking Machine; there is some sort of logo which can't be seen clearly and the words "Velvet Tone".  Arthur Black is listed in the opening credits as the assistant director.  The music heard when the record is playing is Buffalo Gals but the sound certainly isn't that of an acoustic Gramophone.  Does anyone know if this was a real record?  As I said, I'm surprised they took this effort to put all this information on the label when it couldn't have been read anyway back in 1947.

db