[78-L] The recording studio in MGM's Sweethearts (1938)

[David Lennick]

I haven't seen that..but it sounds a lot more authentic than the recording 
setup in "Funny Lady", wherein Fanny Brice, in 1930 (maybe late 1929)..

(a) Records onto a lacquer disc (not invented yet)
(b) Records onto a CENTER START lacquer disc
(c) Records a song which the producer SLATES (noop!)
(d) Records with a bunch of hangers-on in the studio

Then she receives the test pressing, which comes to her with a free phonograph 
under it, and it has a locked groove. Of course since Fanny never recorded that 
song, anything goes. Maybe Joel Whitburn was the music consultant...if she 
HADDA recorded it, that's how it would have been done. And with a big lush 
orchestra, too.

dl

Harold Aherne wrote:
> "Sweethearts" may be the best of Jeanette MacDonald and Nelson Eddy's co-starring
> films, both because of the light satirical tone and the witty screenplay by Dorothy Parker and Alan Campbell. There's one scene that sticks out especially for those interested in
> recording technology. It's in the following video beginning at 3:28 with the iris in to
> the fake Nelson Eddy label:
> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n5UqYzu97Ms&NR=1
>  
> Now that I look at it up close, it appears that they just put a sticker over
> a Victor red seal with the circular label. Anyway, Nelson Eddy sings Victor
> Herbert's "On Parade" in a recording studio and for about three seconds 
> (4:32 to 4:35) we get a close-up of the wax master. It's much thicker than 
> the one in "Command Performance" from 1942, and I'm guessing that it's a 
> "cast" blank instead of a "flowed" one. When did Victor start using the latter?
> They were using both kinds in 1940-41 when Billy Murray made his Bluebird
> sides, cutting a given take simultaneously on both varieties (see 
> http://www.denvernightingale.com/discography/bluebird.html
>  
> Was there supposed to be an increase in quality on the flowed wax blanks,
> or were they used for some other reason?
>  
> Getting back to my subject header, is this an actual recording or radio studio
> in the LA area, or was it built on the MGM soundstages? I'm guessing the latter, 
> but I really don't know. I don't recall seeing "On Parade" among his 1938 titles
> in the CED...but I always get a kick out of seeing the musicians dressed up in
> band uniforms, something that would never happen at an actual session! 
>  
> -Harold
> 
> 
>