Bernardo De Pace is NOT a household name today and I'd never heard of him until I got a hold of "The Jazz Singer" three-disk set. Disk 3 has many very early sound film shorts that were made for experimental purposes--mostly to perfect Warner Brothers' Vitaphone process. This early sound process synchronized a record perfectly with a movie camera. It produced great sound (as you'll notice here) but was cumbersome and the disks only worked for about 20 showings until they needed replacing! Plus, if the film skipped, the sound would become unsynchronized! So, only a limited number of Vitaphone style recordings were made before Warner Brothers switched to the sound on film system that's still used today.
This particular short film has no sound other than De Pace masterfully playing his mandolin. He's dressed as 'Pierrot' the tragic character from the French version of the Commedia dell'Arte. Pierrot, as the story goes, was in love with Columbine--only to have Harlequin come and take her away with him. Oddly, however, this story seems to have nothing to do with De Pace's performance and why he's dressed this way, I have no idea.
The bottom line is like other early sound films, this one is not so much a 'Talkie' but consists of musical numbers. As such, it's nicely done and of interest mostly to cinema buffs and historians.
This particular short film has no sound other than De Pace masterfully playing his mandolin. He's dressed as 'Pierrot' the tragic character from the French version of the Commedia dell'Arte. Pierrot, as the story goes, was in love with Columbine--only to have Harlequin come and take her away with him. Oddly, however, this story seems to have nothing to do with De Pace's performance and why he's dressed this way, I have no idea.
The bottom line is like other early sound films, this one is not so much a 'Talkie' but consists of musical numbers. As such, it's nicely done and of interest mostly to cinema buffs and historians.
