‘Dawn of Sound’ Series a Gold Mine for Movie Buffs

Few laser-disc projects match MGM/UA Home Video’s ambitious “Dawn of Sound” enterprise, carefully supervised by the division’s chief, George Feltenstein. If lasers accomplished nothing else, the achievement of this ambitious project, tracing the development of sound in motion pictures, attests to the medium’s worth.

For anyone interested in the history of film--no matter how silly, quaint, melodramatic, wooden, overblown or even shamefully racist the movies--this series is a gold mine. It was no easy undertaking, but represents Feltenstein’s commitment to preserve early milestones in the history of cinema. Many of the films or, in many cases, the only excerpts available, were ferreted out from private collections. Many are available for viewing here for the first time in six decades--some are not even included yet in comprehensive video movie guides.

The latest in the boxed-set series, “The Dawn of Sound III” ($100), was a year in the making. Offered in the four-disc, eight-sided CLV (extended play) set are the 1928 “The Last of Mrs. Cheyney,” “Madame X” (1929), “They Learned About Women” (1930) and “Golden Dawn” (1930), plus a group of vintage Metro Movietone short subjects, with some wonderful songs by stars long consigned to footnotes in movie and musical-comedy history books.

Part of the value of these sets lies in the liner notes accompanying them, including not only information on the films, but also candid discussions of their place in movie lore. Unfortunately, the most recent set includes the least-detailed program notes, just a two-page--though handsomely presented--insert including stills from the four films, but no captions identifying the players pictured.

Among the most fascinating of the series is “Golden Dawn,” based on a plot-dated operetta by Otto Harbach and Oscar Hammerstein II. Early elements of “South Pacific” seem evident, but it’s nevertheless uncomfortable watching a black-faced Noah Beery singing “Whip Song.” Broadway star Vivienne Segal sings the bathetic “My Bwana,” and there are a couple of swell patter songs (“I’ll Make a Good Wife” and “We Two”) and a silly song-and-dance, “In a Jungle Bungalow.” The most powerful musical moments are reminiscent of “Bali Hai” (“Africa Smiles No More” and “Mooda’s Song”). While the film was made in two-color Technicolor, it only survives in black and white.

“Madame X” features Ruth Chatterton directed by Lionel Barrymore; the film has been seen on late-night TV under the title “Absinthe” to avoid confusion with the 1937 MGM remake. It’s the kind of bravura performance that comedians like Carol Burnett have lampooned for years.

The most enjoyable film is “They Learned About Women,” featuring the singing duo of Gus Van and Joe Schenck as vaudevillian-baseball players and Bessie Love as the love interest. The early baseball footage is worth the wait through one poor song after another. The laser producers speculate that this film inspired the MGM musical “Take Me Out to the Ball Game.” MGM had big plans for Van and Schenck, but Schenck died soon after this film was completed.

“Mrs. Cheyney” was Norma Shearer’s first talky vehicle carefully supervised by her husband, MGM producing legend Irving Thalberg. It’s a classy debut but Shearer doesn’t wear as well as her made-for-talkies co-star, Basil Rathbone. None other than Hedda Hopper also turns up just before she gave up acting to turn her talents to dissecting Hollywood. Watching this film it’s easy to see that it was a good decision on Hopper’s part.

Shorts include sparkling excerpts from “So Long Netty” with musical-comedy star Charlotte Greenwood re-creating her Broadway role, and some charming Rodgers and Hart songs, including the well-known evergreen “With a Song in My Heart.” Unfortunately, the liner notes don’t reveal many details about the stars or the shows spotlighted.

All these quibbles aside, this set is worth watching, especially when viewed in context with the first two volumes. “Dawn of Sound II” ($80) is an equally imposing achievement with King Vidor’s all-black “Hallelujah!,” which he financed personally when the studio balked, and “Sally,” featuring Marilyn Miller, Alexander Gray and Joe E. Brown in the Jerome Kern-Guy Bolton musical comedy. Liner notes accompanying “Dawn II” are particularly informative, though again, there are no captions accompanying the vintage photos.

Other excerpts from films, many long thought lost, on this volume include the only Laurel and Hardy two-strip Technicolor feature, “The Rogue Song,” a Vitaphone short with Red Nichols and His Five Pennies and the 1929 “On With the Show,” featuring Ethel Waters. Metro Movietone shorts focus on vaudeville stars of the late ‘20s, including the omnipresent Van and Schenck singing the curious “Chinese Firecracker.” One wonders what early audiences saw in that duo.

The first “Dawn of Sound” volume ($80), a four-disc set released in 1992, hints at the movies to come, with glimpses of awkward stars, sometimes gathered ‘round mikes hidden and visible, in “The Hollywood Revue of 1929,” “The Broadway Melody” (1929), billed as the first all-talking, all-singing, all-dancing movie, and the first musical to nab an Oscar for best picture, and Warner’s 1929 “Show of Shows,” featuring Beatrice Lillie, Ethel Waters, John Barrymore and Richard Barthelmess.

In all three volumes, you can see bits and pieces of a bygone era of legend and history. It’s mostly buried in a series of mediocrity, but finding the glow of a Bessie Love or the high spirits of a Charlotte Greenwood in her prime or the powerful presence of a young Ethel Waters makes the wait worthwhile, and well-designed chapter stops let you fast forward to key moments. As movies were learning to talk, they reflected all of the prejudices, silliness, cliches, mores and morals of the society at the time. By watching “Dawn of Sound” we not only witness the pain of a child growing up, but we also can see American culture’s roots reflected in the movie’s crazy mirrors. It’s a fascinating experience.

New Movies Just Out:

“A Few Good Men” with Tom Cruise, Demi Moore, Jack Nicholson (Columbia TriStar, letterboxed, $40); “Bad Lieutenant” (LIVE, $35) and “Rich in Love” (MGM/UA, $35).

Coming Soon:

Due next week: “Groundhog Day” with Bill Murray and Andie MacDowell (Columbia TriStar, $35); “Boiling Point,” with Wesley Snipes (Warner, $35); “Mad Dog and Glory” with Robert De Niro and Bill Murray (MCA/Universal, letterboxed, $35); “The Temp” with Timothy Hutton and Lara Flynn Boyle (Paramount, letterboxed, $35).

Due Sept. 8: “Field of Dreams” with Kevin Costner (MCA/Universal, wide-screen,$35); “El Mariachi,” Robert Rodriguez’s sleeper hit with director’s commentary audio track, in Spanish with English subtitles, and English-dubbed audio track (Columbia TriStar, $50).

Old Movies Just Out:

“Juliet of the Spirits” (Image, 1965, $70), Federico Fellini’s surrealistic Italian drama, with Guilietta Masina; “The Bride Wore Black” (MGM/UA, 1968, $35); Francois Truffaut’s tale of vengeance with Jeanne Moreau as a vengeful bride.