Vitaphone Varieties: Volume Two

Interest value: 5 stars; entertainment value: 3 stars
I want to recommend this unusual set of four discs, but I want to be careful about who I recommend it to. If you are looking for a collection of shorts that are hilarious or show first class performers, skip this set. You will be disappointed. Most of the comics here are unfunny and most of the performers are from the "B," "C," and even "D" lists (although some still entertain). But if you love early film and would enjoy a unique time capsule, order this now. These short films from 1926-1930 were made using early sound technology (which still sounds good, by the way) and then were quickly forgotten for 80 years. They feature a spectrum of popular and unusual acts from vaudeville circuits and night clubs. Zip ahead 80 years and what was once ephemeral junk has become a fascinating relic of bygone humanity. We have very little film with audio from the 1926-1930 era (1,000 Vitaphone shorts were made and many of these are lost). You will truly enter another world and culture with these...

Time capsule into forgotten entertainers.
Enjoyed this collection of shorts very much. Great to see entertainment as it was in the 1920's with many long forgotten Vaudeville singers, musicians, comedians and others doing their thing in talking film at its infancy. These shorts are a rare insight into 1920's popular entertainment. The quality of the subject matter is variable with such a huge selection on offer. Many are good, some bad and quite a few with the power to still shock. These films are restored to a degree and the sound is surprisingly good. This 4 disk set is well worth owning.

Listing of Program -
Synopsis:
Recovered and restored: fascinating early-sound shorts from a bygone entertainment era. Venerable vaudevillians. Musical marvels. Crazy comics. Formidable character actors. These and other great performers and ensembles from the Warner Bros. vault comprise a dazzling 9+-Hour, 4-Disc Collection of 60 Theatrical Shorts (1926-1930) that reach across the footlights - and decades - to delight new generations. Vitaphone Varieties is an endlessly entertaining blast from the past.

Vitaphone Varieties (1926-1930)

Disc One 17 shorts
THE REVELERS
THE MORRISEY AND MILLER NIGHT CLUB REVIEW
COLIN & GLASS IN "SHARPS AND FLATS"
EARL BURTNETT AND HIS BILTMORE HOTEL ORCHESTRA
VAL AND ERNIE STANTON IN "CUT YOURSELF A PIECE OF CAKE"
BROWN AND WHITAKER IN "A LAUGH OR TWO"
JIMMY CLEMONS IN "DREAM CAFE"
BERT SWOR IN "A COLORFUL SERMON"
GLADYS BROCKWELL IN "HOLLYWOOD BOUND"
JAY C. FLIPPEN IN "THE HAM WHAT AM"
HARRY...

Click to Editorial Reviews