4335Z 1930 WARNER BROS. STUDIO  FILM “DINNER IN CELEBRATION OF WARNER BROS.’ SILVER JUBILEE”

This film from 1930 depicts the 25th Anniversary of the Warner Brothers Studio and features most of the major players and song writers under contract to WB at that time. (A notable exception is Al Jolson, who does not appear, and the “25 years” that were celebrated are themselves a bit dubious, in that the Warner Bros. actually entered the business in 1906 as theatre exhibitors in New Castle, Pa.) The film was directed by John G. Adolfi and features a “Mr. and Mrs. Warner Brother’s Pictures” hosting a dinne. Mrs. Warner Bros. is played by Beryl Mercer (:15) with Ottis Skinner as her husband. Their daughter, Little Miss Vitaphone is played by Betty Jane Graham. The film opens with a shot of a three-tiered cake with ‘25th Anniversary Jubilee’ written on it (:25). Guests of the dinner are seated around two long tables and standing while they sing (:33). Mr. and Mrs. Warner Bros. (1:05) address the audience thanking them for their support. They introduce Little Miss Vitaphone (1:35) to point out the various stars and music artists in the crowd. She begins by pointing to Loretta Young (2:06) whom was to feature in the film ‘Too Young to Marry” based on the 1929 play ‘Broken Dishes’. Walter Pidgeon (2:12), whom appeared in ‘Saratoga’ in 1937 is pointed to next. Sidney Blackmer is seen as well as Claudia Dell (2:17) whom was to star in ‘Sweet Kitty Bellairs’. Evalyn Knapp (2:26) appeared in ‘Sinners’ Holiday’, ‘Mother’s Cry’ and ‘River’s End’ in 1930. James Rennie (2:31) starred in ‘The Lash’, ‘The Bad Man’ and ‘The Girl of the Golden West’ also in 1930. Louise Fazeda (2:38) co-starred with Loretta Young in the film ‘Loose Ankles’. Fred Kohler (2:42) a popular villainous character whom was featured in films such as ‘Under a Texas Moon’ is pointed to. The young actor and radio personality, Leon Janney (2:56), Canadian actor and singer, Walter Huston (2:05), and Ona Munson are seen in succession. Jack Whiting, whom appeared in ‘Top Speed’ in 1930, is shown prior to Barbara Weeks (3:15) of ‘Illicit’ in 1931 (3:15), and David Manners whom had played John Harker in ‘Dracula’ in 1931. Laura Lee and Frank McHugh featured in the film ‘Top Speed’ together in 1930 (3:21). Robert Elliot of the popular 1939 film, ‘Gone with the Wind’ and Grant Withers, star of ‘Sinner’s Holiday’ from 1930 follow (3:31). Irene Delroy (3:41), Charles Judels (3:42) and Lotti Loder (3:44) smile as the camera is directed towards them. The popular comedy actors, Joe Brown and Winnie Lightner were to feature in a film called ‘Hold Everything’ in 1930 (3:49). Edward G. Robinson, know for his gangster roles (4:04), Joan Blondell and Marian Nixon follow (4:11). Western Union telegrams from stars who were not able to make it in attendance are presented by Little Miss Vitaphone. The first arrives from John Barrymore as he was filming for ‘Moby Dick’ at the time (4:44). His photo follows briefly after (4:52). Another is shown the be from George Arliss (4:55) arriving from London. His photo is also presented afterwards (4:57). Popular music composers are shown to be Jerome Kern and Otto Harbach (5:29). Richard Rogers and Lorenz Hart (5:49) follow. Oscar Hammerstein II and Sigmund Romberg (6:07) precede Archie Gotter and George Meyer (6:39). Al Dubin and Joseph A. Burke (7:01) are also shown. Paul Gregory is seen just before Marilyn Miller (7:22). Little Miss Vitaphone thanks the audience and the viewers stating none of this would be possible without them (7:49). The cast begins to sing as the film concludes (8:07). Notably, more than 20 of the stars shown in the film were fired by Warners in the span of 2-3 years, and/or had their careers go nowhere. Others including Walter Huston and Walter Pidgeon went to other studios and had long careers.

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