Vitaphone Project

    **** Moderator's comments:  The following also appeared on 78-L,
    Archives, and MLA-L:

This is reprinted (without permission) from Vitaphone News 1/1 (Fall
1991):

    "A group of veteran record collectors met recently to discuss the
    status of early sound films, particularly short films.  We were
    aware that many of them featured recording artists of that period,
    as well as noted performers who had not made commercial recordings.
    However, despite the availability of thousands of feature films for
    television, they noted that most short films from this period were
    seldom shown nor available to collectors.  One reason was the fact
    that many of them were lost or destroyed.  Another was the
    separation of sound disc from film component.  During this
    transitory period, the major studios were uncertain about the future
    of talkies and often saved a silent print or none at all.

    We also knew of record collections who had sound discs in their
    collections, but were unable to do anything with them, except to
    play them (if they had equipment for playing sixteen inch discs).
    After some preliminary discussion, the group decided to help locate
    what discs were still extant, and to eventually rematch these
    recordings with existing film components.  Since the Vitaphone
    studios produced the greatest variety of shorts, it was decided to
    call this effort the Vitaphone Project.  The participants thus far
    include Sherwin Dunner, David goldenberg, Ron Hutchinson and John
    Newton.  To contact the Vitaphone project, write:

    Ron Hutchinson
    5 Meade Court
    Piscataway, NJ 08854
    (908) 463-8521.

Bob Kosovsky
Graduate Center
Ph.D. Program in Music(student)
City University of New York
New York Public Library -- Music Division

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                   Conservation DistList Instance 6:8
                   Distributed: Sunday, July 12, 1992
                        Message Id: cdl-6-8-003
                                  ***