Breaking the Sound Barrier: Musical Comedy Part V Vitaphone Interview
Download | Duration: 00:02:18
"So, the musical was a wonderful way to capture performances. People in the smallest theaters could see big stars like Marilyn Miller, Jolson, all these other great performers onscreen, Belle Baker, Fanny Brice, Sophie Tucker, all these great performers. And you would really feel like you were in a front row seat in a Broadway theater."
Yowza, Yowza, Yowza. This is Brian Marcus Decker, for the Jolson and Friends Blog located on the web at www.JolsonBlog.com, which is the first tech-nostalgic blog dedicated to the musical influences of Al Jolson and Friends.
Well folks, it's now time to continue with Part V of our outstanding Jazz Singer interview with Ron Hutchinson, one of the co-founders of the Vitaphone Project. Due to their extensive efforts working with private collectors, university film archives, the Library of Congress, Warner Bros. and Turner Entertainment they have successfully preserved hundreds of early Vitaphone and Vitaphone Variety film performances. Included in this illustrious Vitaphone catalog include performances by the legendary Al Jolson, Burns & Allen, Baby Rose Marie, Ruth Etting, Weber & Fields, The Seven Little Foys, Georgie Price, George Jessel, Joe E. Brown, Sissle & Blake, Jack Benny, Bert Lahr, Jack Haley, William Demarest, Joe Frisco, Jack Norworth, Molly Picon, Rudy Vallee and many, many more.
We will also have an opportunity to discuss with Ron Hutchinson of the Vitaphone Project the overall involvement with the recent Commemorative 80th Anniversary Edition of the legendary film, The Jazz Singer: This three-disc deluxe DVD EDITION is nothing short of fantastic. For Jolson fans and anyone interested in early 20th century performing arts, music, film and nostalgia, this is a must buy. This incredible three-disc collection includes more than several hours of digital transferred and immaculately refurbished soundtracks from the original Vitaphone Sound on Disc recordings. This special collection also includes behind the scene Jazz Singer photo cards, souvenir programs that include reviews, news articles, a Vitaphone brochure, replicas of postcards that even Al Jolson sent to Jack Warner following the death of his brother and more.
80th Anniversary DVD Edition of THE JAZZ SINGER
Click here to shop for this three-disc DVD from Amazon
Free Jolson and Friends Podcasts
You can listen to the entire series of interviews including my current eight-part interview with Ron Hutchinson of the Vitaphone Project, Rich Conaty of the Big Broadcast radio show, Asa the Magnificent Minstrel, the Vaudeville series with author Trav S.D. and our favorite child actress, Sybil Jason.
To listen to the free Jolson and Friends Blog Podcast published audio files,
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The Twelfth Annual Long Island Jolson Festival
A Tribute to Al Jolson featuring the very special Richard Halpern ("Mr. Tin Pan Alley"), Tony Babino ("The Heart of Al Jolson") and the very distinguished and informative Ron Hutchinson of the Vitaphone Project joined by Professor Joseph Ciolino. Also scheduled to appear are several of my special friends including radio personality Joe Franklin ("King of Memory Lane"), Janet Cantor Gari (daughter of Eddie Cantor) and Brian Gari (grandson of Eddie Cantor).
Tickets are $38.50 per person including meals and entertainment. If you cannot come for the whole day, you may attend just the show, with no food, for $20. Please book early and send checks to:
Jan Hernstat
246 Chance Drive
Oceanside, NY 11572
For additional information on the Twelfth Annual Long Island Jolson Festival, please send email to jolsonvp@optonline.net .
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Jolson Blog: Jazz Singer and Vitaphone Interview with Ron Hutchinson Part V
Brian Marcus Decker: There were many film genres that were part of the early tests with recorded sound films. Why was it that the real success of sound movies started with the musical and the musical comedy?
Ron Hutchinson: Well, a few things. First of all, they tended to be very lively and perhaps it was easier to catch the personalities of some of these performers with the Vitaphone system when they were seen joking with the audience. There is a lot of interaction, breaking that fourth wall, and so on. Also, the fame of the performers could spread rapidly because you could show these films in other countries and not have to understand the language and really enjoy them.
So, a lot of the short subjects, of which there were 2,000 made by Warner Bros. beginning in 1930, there were almost 2,000 shorts, many of them were band shorts, singers, many operatic and so on. And then, of course, as the features took hold, all talking features, the mainstay of talking pictures was the musical, the backstage musical, with lots of production numbers and so on. But, that wore out its welcome pretty fast, so that by the mid part of 1930, films were very often advertised, "This is not a musical," because people were so sick of musicals, backstage Broadway stories, all this kind of stuff, that musicals pretty much, people forget, pretty much died around mid-1930 and didn't resume until 42nd Street. So, there was a period where they were just persona non grata.
And there were even some films; Broadway shows that Warner Bros. bought, 50 Million Frenchmen, a great Cole Porter show, full of wonderful music. And by the time it appeared onscreen, there were no songs in it. So, the musical was a wonderful way to capture performances. People in the smallest theaters could see big stars like Marilyn Miller, Jolson, all these other great performers onscreen, Belle Baker, Fanny Brice, Sophie Tucker, all these great performers. And you would really feel like you were in a front row seat in a Broadway theater. And I think that's why initially, it was such a hit. But, eventually, like I said, they did wear out their welcome.
Jolson Blog: Vitaphone Project Interview Part VI: August 31, 2008
- Andrew Sarris, the film critic, also said, "The Jazz Singer marked the beginning of the end, rather than the end of the beginning." We see that there were a number of professional casualties associated with the advent of talking pictures among silent film actors, directors and vaudeville performers. Can you share with us some examples of some of these casualties, both from film and theater?
Wait a Minute, wait a minute, wait a minute:
Jolson and Friends Blog Required Viewing and Reading List
80th Anniversary DVD Edition of THE JAZZ SINGER
This three-disc deluxe DVD EDITION is nothing short of fantastic. For Jolson fans and anyone interested in early 20th century performing arts, music, film and nostalgia, this is a must buy. This incredible three-disc collection includes more than several hours of digital transferred and immaculately refurbished soundtracks from the original Vitaphone Sound on Disc recordings. This special collection also includes behind the scene Jazz Singer photo cards, souvenir programs that include reviews, news articles, a Vitaphone brochure, replicas of postcards and more.
Click here to shop for this three-disc DVD from Amazon
No Applause--Just Throw Money: The Book That Made Vaudeville Famous (Paperback) by Trav S.D.
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My Fifteen Minutes: An Autobiography of a Child Star of the Golden Era of Hollywood (Paperback) by Sybil Jason
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When Jolson Was King: (Paperback) by Richard Grudens
Richard Grudens has written an entertaining and informative (must read) book for anyone interested in the legendary, Al Jolson "The World's Greatest Entertainer".
"The book contains many facets of Jolson' career including those around him, his competition, employers, and comments from those he inspired enough to form their own careers, the issue of minstrel, blackface performers, fabled stories of the famed Friar's Club, a chapter of the infamous Shubert Brothers, and chapters covering Jolson's experiences in film, radio and his extensive USO travels. Covered too are vignettes of the theatres in which Jolson performed, and of those great theatrical competitors like the Barrymore's and where they were voicing their talents while Jolson was pulling them in at the Winter Garden, and a full feature on Jolson's films from the first talkie, The Jazz Singer to his famed bio-pics The Jolson Story and Jolson Sings Again." - Richard Grudens
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Changes to Jolson and Friends Blog
In the upcoming months I am looking to continue to evolve the Jolson and Friends Blog and wanted preview some upcoming changes. I am continuing to promote the sale of Al Jolson, Eddie Cantor, Houdini, History of Baseball and several other unique Limited Edition T-shirt designs (featured above) all with free U.S. shipping. The sales from these items help offset the cost of maintaining this blog. Your continued support is greatly appreciated and besides they are just great T-shirts.
Due to the time intensive nature of ongoing research, content development, production and maintaining and the Blog, the next blog update will happen on August 31st. I am continuing to work on several future Jolson and Friends projects including:
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