The Roof Garden Revue

Most of the Vitaphone shorts on The Jazz Singer DVD had just one act that sang and/or told jokes. But this one had several with many dances and songs. Among them is Lyda Roberti, the duo of Baily & Barnum (not their real last names, I'm sure), and a last dancing act of a bevy of women doing some kind of caterpillar interlocking movement. Okay, since this review is supposed to have ten lines in order for it to be submitted, I'll just say that I've enjoyed most of these shorts including this one. They've really opened my eyes in telling me how many entertainers were being filmed during this early talkie era. Really, all I'll say now is The Roof Garden Revue is recommended.

A later Vitaphone film, this Warner Brothers short apparently was one created using a very complicated system through which an accompanying record was synchronized with a movie camera. There were several serious setbacks for such a system (such as if a film skipped--it became out of sync for the rest of the film plus the records quickly wore out--and 20 showings was the normal life-span of the rehttp://www.imdb.com/title/tt1144515/usercomments-entercords) and even though it produced excellent sound, it was eventually replaced. The last of the Vitaphone films were made in 1930, then the studio switched to the standard sound-on-film system.

Considering that this Vitaphone short was made later than many, I was surprised at how thin the sound was for this musical review. Perhaps it was because unlike most Vitaphone shorts, it was bigger in scope. Instead of the usual small band or duo, this featured a song and dance number that looked more like what you'd see in the Gold Diggers movies of the late 29s and early to mid 1930s. Now exactly "Busby Berkeley" in scope, nonetheless this sort of short was important for helping Warner Brothers work out how to film a traditional musical--which they'd do a lot of over the next five years.

Following this big dance number, the short changed gears and featured a more typical act--a duo with a banjo player and singer. They were okay at best to watch--but their style song did seem more suited to the sound system they were using.

Next, instead of a song and dance number, a chorus line of dancers did a Rockettes-like dance. It's interesting how fashions changed over the years, as these women were much larger legged and hipped than you would have seen just a few years later. This isn't a criticism--just an observation about how what is perceived as sexy or beautiful has changed. It's also interesting to see this and compare it to films just a few years later--when the sets became so much more complex and the choreography became even more complicated--though some of their dancing is pretty impressive.

An interesting historical curio, but not one that I would consider a must-see.