An early 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 records) 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.
Gus Arnheim and his Ambassadors were pretty typical of the talent Vitaphone used for its shorts. This band had achieved some fame and were asked to perform for Warner Brothers in this short. It's an all musical short--with no dialog. The quality and style of the music is about average for the day and the singing, while a bit thin, was pretty much what I've seen in many other similar films of the day. Overall, it's pleasant and inoffensive as well as an important historical document of a bygone era.
1 out of 1 found this helpful