Planned as a casual overnight training mission, the 3. This, despite the fact that by the eighth day, many newspapers carried stories that allowed little room for hope of any sort, headlined . The trio's savior was a lone Indian trapper who had spotted human footprints amidst animal tracks and lost no time in investigating their source. Nearly starved from hunger, and without protective gear or clothing of any sort, news of the trio's discovery was relayed via foot messenger to the nearest telegraph office and then flashed outward to a disbelieving world. In a day when one would expect to be plucked upwards and away from a remotely similar ordeal within moments and guesting on television news shows the following day, the half dead trio would have to travel - -- by foot and then dog- sled, - -- guided by their rescuer, through twenty miles of frozen woodlands before they'd reach the trading post of Moose Factory, Ontario and then, amazingly, they'd have to trod on for another fourteen days in sub- zero weather before reaching Mattice, Ontario! Met by throngs of reporters in Mattice, Ontario upon their arrival, and still not entirely in control of their faculties, the weeks of resentment that had been building between the two elder Naval men - -- with each blaming one another for the disaster - -- exploded when details of a letter sent by Hinton to his wife upon his arrival in Moose Factory were made public, in which he claimed that Farrell had crumpled in the days before their rescue, and begged his companions to slit his throat and utilize his body as food. Farrell denied to reporters that any such occurrence had taken place, and when Hinton tried to pull him from the wide- eyed reporters, he pulled back and delivered a blow to Hinton's chin, knocking him to the ground. At the moment Farrell delivered the punch, the news stories shifted focus from the trio's miraculous survival, and instead reveled in tales of insanity, proposed cannibalism, and all manner of sensational but vastly unimportant details. In other words, they behaved precisely as journalists have always done, and continue to, to this day. Vitaphone Varieties 1926 1930. Vitaphone Varieties was a series title (represented by a pennant logo on screen) for all of Warner Brothers' earliest short film. Recognizing the growing audience for Vitaphone shorts and the difficulty of seeing these unique artifacts on the big screen, the Archive presents a reprise program of. Unseen Vitaphone Varieties: Part I showtimes and movie theaters. Buy Unseen Vitaphone Varieties: Part I movie tickets on Fandango. But what of ? Overshadowed by the drama enacted by his two elders (who were both quickly signed by newspapers for . It'll be well worth the wait. Before comfortably settling ourselves into position from our usual vantage point that looks out upon the entertainment mediums of the late 1. New York City of 1. It's a Spring or Autumn Sunday of 1. Fifth Avenue at midday, almost free of carriage traffic while throngs of residents walk to or from unknown destinations. How crisp and new everything seems in this image! The grand buildings haven't developed the patina of age that the coming decades would bring before most would vanish, and everything is awash in the near blinding, brilliant sunshine that has always struck me as peculiar to New York City at certain times of the year. To me, most striking of all is how quiet this street must have been, despite the number of pedestrians. The street traffic is entirely limited to horse- drawn vehicles save for one lone motorcar (can you spot it?) and surely the only sounds that could be heard were limited to the low mummer of voices dotted with occasional laughs and coughs, the clip- clop of hooves and mellow rolling of carriage wheels upon the pavement, the sharp snap of banners and flags caught in the wind and ruffled, the sound of the wind itself whistling through the ornamentation of the buildings, the swish of the movement of fabrics that clothe the pedestrians and, surely the tolling of church bells and clocks - -- both close and distant - -- marking the hour. Vitaphone Varieties: Volume TwoIt's not impossible to imagine any number of these people carrying a melody within their head as they walk - -- perhaps some humming or even gently whistling to themselves. If so, chances are that one or more of the melodies in the following audio offering is what they carried with them, for this was the music of their day - -- and it's via music that we can join them, if only for a moment and from a great and insurmountable distance. Turn of the Century New York City Medley. Heard within this meticulous, spot- on period re- creation: . In addition to a great orchestration, the recording is unique in that the vocal is provided by the same dark haired lady that performs it in the film, June Purcell. If you've ever wondered who she was, and why she was called upon to present the tune in a film otherwise chocked full of recognizable stars, well.. I've wondered too, and I'll share my findings with you. Our earliest view of June Purcell (born 1. Indianapolis, Indiana) is in December of 1. WKNX and WFWB, out of Hollywood, California, either as a soloist with piano accompaniment, or on the . Buy the Vitaphone Varieties (1926-30) DVD from the Warner Bros. Available for the first time on DVD from WBshop.com. Vitaphone Varieties 1926 1930Vitaphone Varieties: Volume Two: http:// The greatest variety acts of the past -- humorists, bands, vaudevillians, dramatists, dancers and. By 1. 92. 7, she was apparently popular enough to enter into vaudeville, where she toured the West Coast and the Midwest - -- prominently billed as . No matter to Purcell (billed in a small role as a stage vocalist,) for radio was still very much her realm. News wires carried an item on March 3rd of 1. Miss Purcell will be heard regularly on WEAF- NBC after April 3rd, presenting five programs a week at 8: 4. PM. Milton Sills was the emcee and a young girl with her ukulele, June Purcell, an unknown at the time, scored a tremendous hit with her songs and skyrocketed to radio fame overnight. Then she went out like a light. I've always wondered why. Lindsay is not alone in wondering, but save discovery of additional information, we may never know why June Purcell went . Hopefully, at least these two questions have been answered. A somewhat noisy disc that defied much improvement, but still fairly decent - -- save for the thundering vibration of footsteps by goodness- knows- who, I assure you - -- not I, whenever this particular transfer was made! Stay tuned! One disc of two tunes from . You can read more of . As much an area of fascination as it is for a history buff such as myself, I've avoided the topic in these pages as I didn't think it could be handled as delicately as it ought to be, but in light of the brave and impossibly cheery smiles in this photo, and the kindness of a reader, perhaps you'll enjoy this brief excursion into those dark yet optimistic days. From the United Kingdom comes this odd recording - -- the origins of which I've been unable to determine, save for the fact that it certainly appears to be of the early electrical period, and that the performers are, indeed, . The selections include . Coldstream Guards (circa 1. Invariably, when a film of the early sound period strives to evoke the period of the Great War with music, one melody turns up time and again - -- and it's not a war- themed song at all. A decade which seemed so intent and unrelenting in it's desire to distance itself from tragedy and sorrow. This strain of melancholy can be heard and almost felt in numerous popular melodies of the period between which the War ended and the 1. Nowhere is it more evident than in the late 1. Or perhaps, even more so today. Recently restored, re- scored and scheduled for DVD release this year, the film appears to have served as inspiration for a fascinating recording from 1. While Kaufman could (and does) sound incredibly crude sometimes on the cheapest of dime- store record labels that frequently released his work, his voice still shimmered with vibrancy and power when he was fortunate enough to be well recorded, and backed with a corker of a band. We have just such a combination of vocalist and orchestra in perfect harmony in this recording - - of which I have conflicting information - -- so we'll put it up with just what I know. A dizzy, swirling mixture of jazz, violin and that unmistakable voice! Enjoy, all fans of Mr. Whatever the name, his work is alway exceptionally fine - -- and the alternate lyrics heard in this version are an unexpected treat. To bookend that previous post, here's a somewhat later recording (1. English, and beautifully at that. Invariably, surviving pre- 1. Once aboard train, the couple encounters a theatrical charictature of a British woman whom the couple cautiously engages in conversation. The moronic American husband (. It's interesting that today, some seventy- five years later, a good many of the misconceptions Americans have of the British - -- and vice versa, are still very much in place today, despite rumors of a . Upon his return however, the heroic aura that surrounded Kloor initially began to fall away - -- and when Miss Flowerton, accustomed to the finer things in life, realized that Kloor's misadventure wouldn't prompt any swift rise in either his rank or salary, opted to cut him loose and fix a bright eye on better prospects. On July 1. 2th of 1. Alexandria Flowerton's mother (Alexandria had fled to the Thousand Islands to . In this case, the truth was that Alexandria had a beautiful sister, Consuelo - -- who had reached fame as the model for a number of Howard Chandler Christy red- cross posters during the Great War (including the one at left) and was reported to be a Ziegfeld starlet by 1. By all indication an opportunist and a master of self- publicity, Consuelo snatched Kloor from her sister and then, when the expected media buzz didn't seem to amount to much, didn't know what to do with him. Surprisingly, the diminutive Lieutenant Kloor had been exploring his own options as the Flowerton sister romantic entanglement was being played out - -- and before Consuelo could dismiss him, a new player arrived on the scene. Enter Irma Harrison, a young and pretty actress who entered films in 1. D. W. Holding a small mirror, she catches an overhead light with it and beams it onto Toomey's face - -- now frozen in a besotted, half- inebriated grin as he watches The Girl perform. Standing stock still - -- her only movement relegated to her hips, The Girl is joined by two lines of chorines behind and then alongside her - -- also equipped with mirrors, round and sewn into their costumes as the bottom portion of a stylized musical note.
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