ANNA CASE IN “LA FIESTA”, SOPRANO SOLO, ASSISTED BY THE CANSINOS, SPANISH DANCERS, AND THE METROPOLITAN OPERA CHORUS
THE ORIGINAL VITAPHONE PROGRAM, PRESENTED AT THE WARNERS’ THEATRE, NEW YORK, AUGUST 6, 1926. 35mm.
Film Notes
“The Vitaphone (…) is an unusual thing, miles ahead of the famous early Edison talking pictures (…) Such an authority as Michael Pupin, Professor of Electro-Mechanics at Columbia and President of the American Institute of Electrical Engineers, says: “No closer approach to resurrection has ever been made by science”. Actually, the Vitaphone is not a new invention. It is a combination of old and new ideas, an application of telephone, phonograph and radio principles. (…) The executives of Warner Bros., the Bell Telephone Company and the Western Electric Company believe that the Vitaphone will revolutionize the presentation of motion pictures. It will bring famous singers and orchestras to the smallest theatre. Exhibitors will be able to get an accompaniment to their feature pictures played by the most famous orchestras. […] Perhaps, back in their minds, these experts will believe that the Vitaphone eventually will make possible a genuine talking picture. However, no definite plans have been made along this line”. (Photoplay, Oct. 1926)