[78-L] Vitaphone Program at Film Forum and Ron H on WNYC tomorrow

[Steve Ramm]

I just received this email from Ron Hutchinson of the Vitaphone Project:
I am on Leonard Lopate's talk show on NPR out of WNYC-FM tomorrow in the
12:40-1PM segment to plug the 7/20 Film Forum Vitaphone show.  

Attached is the program rundown.

Ron.
I'm not sure if they will archive the show. The listserve does not allow attachments so I've copied text of the Program for Film Form below.
Steve Ramm
 

All of the restored disk-recorded Vitaphone shorts on this program are making their first appearance on an American screen since their first release over 8 decades ago. These films are part of a group of over 50 that have recently been restored by Warner Brothers, UCLA, The Library of Congress and The Vitaphone Project. So there’s even more to come! Funding for the new 35mm prints was by generous Vitaphone benefactor Dudley Heer.
 
                                    [ NOTE:  Order of program may vary]
 
GOTHAM RHYTHM BOYS (1929)  - A Spanish, tenor, and steel guitar blend on one standard and two brand new (1929) pop tunes in this Brooklyn-filmed short.
 
BORN & LAWRENCE in 'THE COUNTRY GENTLEMAN' (1928) - here’s a totally unknown vaude team who mix comedy, music and dancing.  And, like Shaw & Lee, you’ll long remember them. Filmed in Burbank. 
 
CARLENA DIAMOND, HARPIST SUPREME (1929) - Where else can you see a combination harpist and dancer?  Diamond was a truly unique talent, the kind that soon disappeared when vaudeville did.
 
HENRY B. WALTHALL in 'RETRIBUTION' (1928) - An early dramatic playlet starring D.W. Griffith stalwart Walthall in his talkie debut, filmed on the west coast.
 
HARRY FOX AND BEATRICE CURTIS IN 'THE BEE AND THE FOX' (1929) - stars the originator of the Fox Trot, vaudevillian, composer and music publisher Harry Fox and his (then) wife Bee Curtis.
 
OKLAHOMA BOB ALBRIGHT AND HIS RODEO DO FLAPPERS (1929) - Songs, dancing and stories in this peppy act shot in Brooklyn in May, 1929.
 
CONLIN & GLASS in 'SHARPS AND FLATS (1928) - Before becoming a Preston Sturges  perennial, Jimmy Conlin  was  half of a top vaude team with his wife Myrtle Glass. He also wrote the songs for this short.
 
                                                                                                          (over)
 
 
 
BRYANT WASHBURN AND HELEN JEROME EDDY in 'NIAGARA FALLS' (1929) - reportedly also filmed in an early widescreen process, this playlet features movie veterans Washburn (over 350 film credits date back to 1911) and Eddy (no slouch at 130 films back to 1915). A few months earlier,  Eddy played Wheezer’s mom in the first Our Gang talkie, SMALL TALK.
 
VAL & ERNIE STANTON in 'ENGLISH AS SHE IS NOT SPOKEN' (1928) - 
a wild British comedy team who sing, joke and play ukes. They later appeared in a number of features and on Rudy Vallee’s Fleischmann Hour. Several of the team’s relatives will be attending this screening.
 
ARTHUR “PAT” WEST in ‘SHIP AHOY’ (1928) -  Chubby West specialized in a comic sailor character, and was paid $500 to recreate his stage act which blends song, dance and comedy patter.  Filmed in October, 1928 on the west coast.
 
FRANK WHITMAN, THE SURPRISING FIDDLER (1928) - The incredibly versatile Whitman plays his violin with an array of items, including a bottle, a card and a bow the size of a matchbook. One of those ‘must be seen’ vaude acts. Directed by Bryan Foy.
 
AL LYONS AND HIS FOUR HORSEMEN in 'A MUSICAL MELANGE' (1928) -  
We close the show with a frenetic  and funny novelty accordion act. Lyons later fronted a big band  that, not surprisingly, also spotlighted accordions.  They can be see, in beautiful 3 strip Technicolor, in the 2 reel MGM short HOLLYWOOD PARTY (1937). Ironically, The Vitaphone Project also located the long-lost soundtrack for that Charlie Chase-hosted all star short --- in Australia.  
 
 
The Vitaphone Project was founded in 1991 and has sought the missing 16”: soundtrack disks that match the otherwise mute 35mm picture portion of nearly 2000 1926-30 early talkie shorts and features. To date, they have located over 3500 disks worldwide in private hands. More than  130 Vitaphone  shorts and 12 disk-recorded features have been restored, in partnership with UCLA, Warner Brothers, The Library of Congress, BFI, and many generous private collectors who loan use of their disks or fund the restorations.  For more information, go to the Project’s website at www.vitaphoneproject.com   Restorations of shorts currently cost $4500 (fully deductible) thru UCLA. At present, there are still roughly 35 vaudeville, music, playlet and operatic shorts that are restorable and are awaiting funding. The Project can be contacted at  ron at vitaphoneproject.com 		 	   		  
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