I recent watched a bunch of Vitaphone's experimental films that were included in the 3-disk set for "The Jazz Singer" and found I really liked these old musical shorts. So, I checked online and found a few of them posted and gave them a look. Unlike the ones on the DVDs, the ones floating around the web have pretty horrid sound and picture--like they badly needed restoration. The fact, though, that any exist out there is pretty amazing as the sound was stored separately on a record that tended to degrade fast (only about 20 playings) and the nitrate film was highly combustible and degrades over time. So the condition of John Charles Thomas' recording is certainly understandable.
As for the content, Mr. Thomas had a lovely baritone voice but his choice of songs was a bit odd. The subject of the first song was a hanging--making it seem very surreal with his operatic style and such a low-brow type of song! Worth seeing if you are a film history buff--otherwise, probably NOT the sort of stuff the average person would enjoy today.
As for the content, Mr. Thomas had a lovely baritone voice but his choice of songs was a bit odd. The subject of the first song was a hanging--making it seem very surreal with his operatic style and such a low-brow type of song! Worth seeing if you are a film history buff--otherwise, probably NOT the sort of stuff the average person would enjoy today.
