musicalnovelty

HeyesKid said... I have them on video, but the quality is not good. My dad plays Penrod. ********************************************* Hey that's great - your Dad is Billy Hayes! - We also can see him in the Roscoe Arbuckle short HEY POP (1932), recently released in great quality on DVD by Warner Archives. About the Vitaphone "Penrod" shorts, I've always known about them, being a fan & collector of all things Vitaphone and Dead End Kids & related series (as I'm sure you know, Bobby Jordan and David Gorcey appear in most of the Penrod shorts, years before most people think their film careers started) bit it had been hard to find copies. About ten years ago a friend acquired 16mm prints of all seven of the Penrod shorts from a film rental company that was selling off some of its stuff. He transferred them to video and made them available to some friends. He then moved to Florida and (I believe) sold the prints. Copies of his videos may be floating around, but the films have never been officially released on video or DVD, nor shown on TV since the 1950's (if even then) or on TCM. There's a bit of "political incorrectness" in many of the shorts, so that unfortunately may keep them from being seen again. Too bad, as they're fun kids stories, not anything that should be banned or censored or locked away. In fact, some interesting actors appear, including Ray Collins as Penrod's dad, ten years before his more famous feature film debut in that Orson Welles movie about a sled.

That's Gloria Warren.

RayFaiola said... No love for Shemp Howard as the robot in Universal's CRACKED NUTS?? ========================== Great lobby card! But yes, I mentioned Shemp in a post back on April 29, just after this thread started. Gotta keep our beloved Universal B's represented!

Dothery said... Yes he is. And didn't he play some crazy parts? I remember when he was pretending to be a wild man in dark greasepaint and kept saying "Rumi mu" to the heroine. ************************************* I think that movie was HER PRIMITIVE MAN (1944) - Universal, co-starring Louise Allbritton, Robert Benchley and Edward Everett Horton.

Frank Capra: BROADWAY BILL (1934) Remade as RIDING HIGH (1950).

They are Betty Jaynes and Douglas McPhail. They were in a few MGM musicals in the early 1940's.

That's James Craig.

It sounds like it could be this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T3TrGh3W8Bg Al Shaw & Sam Lee in "THE BEAU BRUMMELS" (1929) - Vitaphone short. It matches at least some of your descriptions.

*SansFin said...* *The Night of June 13th* (1932) It is a Paramount movie which Universal has no intention of allowing out of their vault. ************************************************************ Actually, they have allowed it out of their vault. They provided a beautiful new 35mm print for screening at the annual Capitolfest film festival in Rome, NY. It was shown last August 11 (2012). While I'm as frustrated as everyone else that titles like this are not turning up on TCM or DVD, I think Universal deserves a lot of credit for striking up brand new 35mm screening prints of some pretty obscure titles. Among the festival's films, every year at Capitolfest we are treated to a few rare Universals that in some cases had never been available anywhere before - no theatrical reissue, no TV broadcast, no home video or DVD release, but they provide prints, which requires them to go back to the original material and go to the effort and expense to strike up new prints. Sometimes they've actually "taken requests" if the festival curators ask for certain titles that are not already available (in fact there's one such request from me scheduled at this year's Capitolfest - a title that again, had never been out of the vaults for TV, video or anything else since it was released in 1935. Its first public screening since 1935 will be at this year's Capitolfest - because it was requested.) So, while this may still be frustrating info for those who are unable to attend Film Festivals such as Capitolfest, Cinefest, Cinecon, Cinevent, etc. it is still fitting to give Universal some credit for making some of their rarest titles available for theatrical screenings. There are folks there who care. Speaking of Capitolfest, here's info on this year's show: http://www.romecapitol.com/capitolfest.html

ginnyfan, Thanks for posting the nice photo from FRECKLES. The Doll Dance was a fun scene. Virginia performs it in front of her classroom at school. The music used is the 1925 Nacio Herb Brown song "Doll Dance". I'd love to see FRECKLES (again). But also LADDIE, not just for Virginia W. but the movie also features another of my relatively unknown favorites, Gloria Shea.

Beat me to it! Internet's very slow today. But I'll add that even though his name is not on the first still, I can still tell you what film it's from - it's a portrait of Warren from the 1939 Universal feature I CAN'T GIVE YOU ANYTHING BUT LOVE.

TCM has the Charley Chase short THE CHASES OF PIMPLE STEEET (1934) scheduled for 6:00 A.M. (eastern time) on Monday morning, June 10, 2013.

Universal used the song often in other movies after RIDE 'EM COWBOY. They even named a movie after the song, in 1945, starring Gloria Jean.

The Ritz Brothers.

Here's something fun: It's a scene from the 1965 movie JANWAR. More on the movie: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0317751/combined Performers (actors) in the clip: Shammi Kapoor and Rajshree Shantaram (billed as Rajshree). Actual singers on the soundtrack (billed as Playback Singers): Mohammad Rafi and Asha Bhosle. Band: Ted Lyons and His Cubs (they were a real band. Ted's the drummer). They're pretty good! I like their guitar work. Everyone will know the song. But what makes this all the more unique is that the movie's producers used the song without crediting the famous composers at all! They gave it a new title, wrote new lyrics, took writing credit, and evidently considered it their own! (But strangely, the film's main titles do include a credit for Beatle Wigs!) I guess I can understand hardcore fans of the original group whose song is being ripped off finding this number offensive or an inferior rip-off of the original...but I find it absolutely delightful! What do others think? (By the way, the complete movie can also be found on YouTube).

That's Sid Silvers. The still with Una Merkel is from the 1936 MGM movie BORN TO DANCE.

Ralph Edwards trivia: One of the memorable "This Is Your Life" shows was when Laurel & Hardy were guests. What was Ralph Edwards' one other connection to Laurel & Hardy's film career?

Could they be: THE NOTORIOUS SOPHIE LANG (1934) THE RETURN OF SOPHIE LANG (1936) SOPHIE LANG GOES WEST (1937) All Paramount Pictures starring Gertrude Michael as Sophie Lang. (It sure would be great to see these on TCM some day!)

You're right, that actor is pretty obscure - but I know who he is! Archie Twitchell.

That is Claude Gillingwater. Yeah, he sure is grumpy! So, it's always a rare treat when we may occasionally see him playing a nice guy.

That big guy is Guinn Williams, often billed as "Big Boy" Williams. In addition to all his sidekick roles he actually did get to be the star of some B-westerns in the 1930's.

Well, I'm not leaving Pamelyn up here unidentified for very long, am I?. Hey, if she's looking in here, she'll see that she still has fans who will instantly recognize her! She is: Pamelyn Ferdin.

HomesoulM said... I remember that title from somewhere. Is it a silent movie? *********************************** It was a silent movie made in 1927 by Fox Films, starring George O'Brien and Edmund Lowe. It was based on the 1926 play of the same title written by James Gleason and Richard Taber, which starred Gleason and Robert Armstrong.

bentshaft said... I am looking for anything to do with the film Is Zat So---does anyone even have a copy? where would I look? posters cards etc---thanks. ****************************************** You can try an eBay search under the movie's title: h[ttp://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_sacat=0&_from=R40&_nkw=iszatso&rt=nc|http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_sacat=0&_from=R40&_nkw=iszatso&rt=nc] There are often stills and lobby cards listed. Just recently there were three different lobby cards listed. If you click on "completed listings" you may still be able to see them.

markbackuaf said... The Silent Sunday feature is one I've not seen before, THE COWARD (1915) with Frank Keenan! ******************************************************** I love silent movies, but must admit sometimes have a little trouble getting into the very early ones (pre-1920's) much as I appreciate their historical importance. But when I saw THE COWARD on TCM a couple of years ago I found it very interesting and easy to follow and enjoy. I hope you will, too. By the way, star Frank Keenan (acccording to IMDb) is the grandfather of Keenan Wynn, and the father-in-law of Ed Wynn.