First National Trade Ad For Thelma Todd

Thelma Todd started out at Paramount, but afterwards worked for First National. First National later became Warner Brothers.

THE WRECKING BOSS was a working title for THE CRASH ( 1928).




A

Thelma Todd With Joe E. Brown

This is a publicity picture for SON OF A SAILOR, in which Thelma Todd played a foreign spy and wore a brunette wig.

"Vitaphone" referred originally to a sound on disc process, but the name continued to be used by Warner Brothers after the system was replaced by sound on film. The name First National likewise continued to be used after that studio had merged with Warner Brothers. The old First National logo with the ring around the country may be seen at the bottom of this picture.


First National:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_National



A

THE HAUNTED HOUSE

THE HAUNTED HOUSE was also known as THE HOUSE OF HORROR. Today, it is considered a lost film, and only the Vitaphone sound discs for it remain.

The Haunted House (1928 film)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

        

The Haunted House
Directed by	Benjamin Christensen
Produced by	Richard A. Rowland Wid Gunning
Written by	Richard Bee Lajos Bíró Cornell Woolrich (intertitles)
Based on	The Haunted House by Owen Davis
Starring	Larry Kent Thelma Todd
Music by	Max Bergunker Gerard Carbonara Karl Hajos
Cinematography	Sol Polito
Edited by	Frank Ware
Distributed by	First National Pictures
Release dates	November 4, 1928 (1928-11-04)
Running time	70 minutes
Country	United States
Language	Silent English intertitles

The Haunted House is a 1928 American silent comedy-drama film directed by Benjamin Christensen. Christensen also wrote the script under the name Richard Bee. The film stars Larry Kent and Thelma Todd and is based on Owen Davis's 1924 Broadway play of the same name. The Haunted House is now presumed lost,^[1] but the entire Vitaphone soundtrack featuring music and sound effects survives and can be heard at archive.org as part of the Vitaphone Varieties lineup.

Cast

• Larry Kent as Billy
• Thelma Todd as The Nurse
• Edmund Breese as Uncle Herbert
• Sidney Bracey as Tully
• Barbara Bedford as Nancy
• Flora Finch as Mrs.Rackham
• Chester Conklin as Mr. Rackham
• William V. Mong as Caretaker
• Montagu Love as Mad Doctor
• Eve Southern as Sleepwalking Girl
• John Gough as Chauffeur

References

1. Jump up ^ Soister, John T. (2012). American Silent Horror, Science Fiction and Fantasy Feature Films, 1913-1929. McFarland. p. 252. ISBN 0-786-48790-9. 

External links

• The Haunted House at the Internet Movie Database
• The Haunted House at AllMovie
• Vitaphone Varieties Collection at the archive.org

                                       
                                      *                                 *                                  *


This movie was part of the horror cycle of the late silent era and was made around the same time as SEVEN FOOTPRINTS TO SATAN and THE HOUSE OF HORROR, all of which were produced by First National and directed by Benjamin Christensen, and all of which could be seen as similar to THE CAT AND THE CANARY - a smash hit at the time.

Chester Conklin was popular in the silent era and would appear in later recreations such as HOLLYWOOD CAVALCADE and THE PERILS OF PAULINE ( 1947 ). He worked with Thelma Todd in FASCINATING YOUTH ( 1926 ), RUBBER HEELS ( 1927 ), THE HAUNTED HOUSE ( 1928 ), and THE HOUSE OF HORROR ( 1929 ).

 Thelma Todd with Larry Kent.

What you go to the show for.

Chester Conklin thinks so, too.

4th Of July Publicity Photo.

THE CRASH was another Thelma Todd movie.

Notice the face that the windows make on the center of the house in the background.

Barbara Bedford:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barbara_Bedford_(actress)

Chester Conklin:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chester_Conklin

http://www.goldensilents.com/comedy/chesterconklin.html

Benjamin Christensen:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benjamin_Christensen

THE HAUNTED HOUSE:
http://vitaphone.blogspot.com/2006/11/screams-and-laughter-but-what-came.html

http://www.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9903EEDD1031E33ABC4B51DFB4678383639EDE

http://books.google.com/books?id=ajXwxJuYd5gC&pg=PA254&lpg=PA254&dq=THE+HAUNTED+HOUSE+benjamin+christensen&source=bl&ots=yBeyzQMguY&sig=RvGvgs45Gl1Zb3JUiTHOnCP7Z0Q&hl=en&sa=X&ei=9qpSVIb8DoOnyQSZuYHIDg&ved=0CEoQ6AEwBw#v=onepage&q=THE%20HAUNTED%20HOUSE%20benjamin%20christensen&f=false

A

SEASON'S GREETINGS

SEASON'S GREETINGS was a Christmas themed short subject produced by Vitaphone that featured their "female Laurel and Hardy" team, Thelma White and Fanny Watson.

Reblogged from "The Vitaphone Project" on facebook.

Ron Hutchinson:

In November 1931, the Brooklyn Vitaphone studios produced a one reel holiday short, #1307, SEASONS GREETINGS. It starred the top personalities working in Vitaphone shorts at the time: Joe Penner, Thelma White & Fanny Watson, Ted Husing , Mr. & Mrs. Jack Norworth ("The Naggers"), Robert "Believe It Or Not" Ripley, and Janet Reade. I did not know of this short's existence until I saw a brief entry in Roy Liebman's VITAPHONE FILMS book. Some digging turned up a complete print with sound at The Library of Congress. We'll try to get this included in the next batch of preservation/restoration work so it can again be seen. Looks like fun. Here are some frames from the short.

 

 

 

Opening with family and Billy "Penrod" Hayes.

 

 

Jack / The Box Joe Penner

 

 

Joe Penner. Yuk yuk yuk!

 

 

Singer Janet Reade

 

 

Mr. & Mrs. Jack Norworth, "The Naggers"

 

 

Fanny Watson & Thelma White, Vitaphone's female answer to Laurel & Hardy.

 

 

Sports announcer Ted Husing.

 

 

A

Coleen Moore Promotional Booklet From First National

Old Warner Brothers promotional booklet, from when they were still known as "First National" and were making the transition to sound via the "Vitaphone" process, which involved having the sound on a record synchronized with the film. They would continue to use the name Vitaphone long after they dropped the process in favor of having a soundtrack on the film itself.


Coleen Moore was a popular star at the time and we see that the studio was using this booklet to promote her latest movie, although mention is also made of a number of other stars, including Thelma Todd.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thelma Todd appears at lower right.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A

I LIKE MOUNTAIN MUSIC

I LIKE MOUNTAIN MUSIC is a 1933 Warner Brothers cartoon involving magazine covers. A number of characters that are supposed to be from the magazine covers appear in the story, including charicatures of a number of movie stars.  I thought one of these characters was supposed to be Thelma Todd.

Harmon and Ising worked on some of the early Warner Brothers cartoons. Leon Schlesinger was in charge of the operation for years.

"Mountain music" was a term that was used at the time for what would today be called country western.

George Arliss at left in front of MOTION PICTURE.

I thought this one looked like Thelma Todd. The magazine title is a reference to COLLEGE HUMOR. The character jumps off the cover and sings "I like mountain music!"

Mystery stories were popular at the time and many well known writers came from the pulps, including Dashiel Hammet and Earle Stanley Gardner.

Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson characters emerge from the pulp to trail the villian.

 

 

 

Here is an issue of COLLEGE HUMOR from 1933. I did not find one that actually had a cover like the one in the cartoon, but the magazine did have pretty girls on the cover.

 

 

Here are three pictures of Thelma Todd from the 1932 movie SPEAK EASILY for comparison to the girl in the cartoon.

Thelma Todd with Buster Keaton and Jimmy Durante. We know today that Keaton's career was already going downhill, but Keaton's MGM talkies were popular at the time and nobody in the audience knew what was in store for him. Keaton himself spoke well of this movie and thought it was one of the better ones he did for MGM.

Watch the complete cartoon:





I LIKE MOUNTAIN MUSIC:
http://bosko.toonzone.net/1933/i_like_mountain_music/

Pulp Mags group on yahoo:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/PulpMags/