PARAMOUNT ON PARADE at Vitaphone Varieties
by Andre Soares
Jeff Cohen at Vitaphone Varieties:
"Trumpeter, what is the call you play?
Trumpeter, is it the Reveille?
Call them east, call them west,
Call them loud and clear!"
…
"So begins the remarkable pre-title opening sequence of the 1930 musical revue Paramount on Parade, one of the most elusive [of] all the surviving early all-star screen revues — that despite the fact it has been largely restored (carefully cobbled together from extant picture and sound elements) but with the frustrating status of a "screening by appointment only" archive gem. To be sure, Paramount on Parade can be viewed in any number of smeary bootleg Beta-to[-]VHS-to[-]DVD dubs which can be readily found on internet auction sites (and in eye-straining pixilated clips on YouTube) but even these stem from miserable, highly mangled, murk and blur source prints that once played regularly on Public Television and early cable venues. Here then, an original highly detailed dialogue script serves dual roles as a curiosity and reference tool, allowing us a glimpse of the content of Paramount on Parade as it originally appeared to audiences in early 1930."
Directed by about a dozen men (and one woman, Dorothy Arzner), Paramount on Parade features musical numbers and comedy sketches performed by just about every one of the studio’s top players, among them Jack Oakie, Maurice Chevalier, Evelyn Brent, Gary Cooper, Clara Bow, Fredric March, Ruth Chatterton, Nancy Carroll, George Bancroft, William Powell, etc.
In that same post, Jeff also talks about other early musicals, including Hit the Deck and Coney Island. As a plus, there’s a medley from Warner Bros.’ 1929 all-singing, all-talking, all-revuing Show of Shows.
And here’s hoping that in the very near future Turner Classic Movies will lease Paramount’s extensive 1920s-1930s library from current (and uninterested) owner Universal.
THE JAZZ SINGER Academy Screening
THE JAZZ SINGER: 80th Anniversary
Vina Delmar at Vitaphone Varieties
Norma Talmadge and Marion Davies at Vitaphone Varieties
SCARLET SEAS and Richard Barthelmess at Vitaphone Varieties
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I hope that comes out on DVD.