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Song of the Flame (film)
Encyclopedia
Song of the Flame is a musical operetta film
photographed entirely in Technicolor
. It was the first color film to feature a widescreen
sequence using a process called Vitascope
, the trademark name for Warner Bros.
' widescreen process. The film, based on the 1925 Broadway
musical of the same name, was nominated for an Academy Award for Sound Recording (George Groves).
Alice Gentle has the sinister role of Natasha.
The story, such as it is, runs from St. Petersburg to a small town where there is a fête. It happens at a time when The Flame is exhorting the populace to rebellion. As in most such narratives, the man who falls in love with this heroine is the Prince and the individual who would snare her away with the valuables he has pocketed for himself is the rascal Konstantin. Konstantin, however, as has been told, meets an inglorious end and the Prince becomes one of the masses to win the love of Aniuta, The Flame.
cartoon entitled: The Booze Hangs High
(1930). Based on the success of this song, Warner Bros. subsequently cast Beery in a number of musical films, most notably in Golden Dawn
(1930). The public was so enthralled by his singing abilities that Brunswick Records
hired Beery to record songs from both of these films which were issued in their popular series.
. Only the soundtrack, which was recorded separately on Vitaphone
disks, survives. The extant sound discs from this film reveal a very high quality Vitaphone sound - round, warm, and clear with good sound effects and a quality reproduction of speaking and singing voices as well as orchestrations. It would seem it fully deserved its Academy Award nomination for Best Sound. The score is a marvelously operatic one. All nine songs are preserved in the sound disc performances. There were four choruses as well, three of traditional Russian
folk tunes and one drawn from Tchaikovsky's The Nutcracker
.
on December 30, 1925 and closed on July 10, 1926 after 219 performances. the music was by Herbert P. Stothart and George Gershwin, book by Otto Harbach and Oscar Hammerstein II, and lyrics by Otto Harbach and Oscar Hammerstein II. The musical was directed by Frank Reicher
, dances and Ensemble pictures were arranged by Jack Haskell, and scenic design was by Joseph Urban
. The cast included Phoebe Brune as Natasha, Greek Evans as Konstantin, Tessa Kosta as Aniuta ("The Flame"), and the 52-member Russian Art Choir. The musical takes place during the time of the Russian Revolution in 1917 and for several years thereafter.
Musical film
The musical film is a film genre in which songs sung by the characters are interwoven into the narrative, sometimes accompanied by dancing. The songs usually advance the plot or develop the film's characters, though in some cases they serve merely as breaks in the storyline, often as elaborate...
photographed entirely in Technicolor
Technicolor
Technicolor is a color motion picture process invented in 1916 and improved over several decades.It was the second major process, after Britain's Kinemacolor, and the most widely used color process in Hollywood from 1922 to 1952...
. It was the first color film to feature a widescreen
Widescreen
Widescreen images are a variety of aspect ratios used in film, television and computer screens. In film, a widescreen film is any film image with a width-to-height aspect ratio greater than the standard 1.37:1 Academy aspect ratio provided by 35mm film....
sequence using a process called Vitascope
Vitascope
Vitascope was an early film projector first demonstrated in 1895 by Charles Francis Jenkins and Thomas Armat. They had made modifications to Jenkins patented "Phantoscope", which cast images via film & electric light onto a wall or screen...
, the trademark name for Warner Bros.
Warner Bros.
Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc., also known as Warner Bros. Pictures or simply Warner Bros. , is an American producer of film and television entertainment.One of the major film studios, it is a subsidiary of Time Warner, with its headquarters in Burbank,...
' widescreen process. The film, based on the 1925 Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
musical of the same name, was nominated for an Academy Award for Sound Recording (George Groves).
Film
The story, such as it is, runs from St. Petersburg to a small town where there is a fête. It happens at a time when The Flame is exhorting the populace to rebellion. As in most such narratives, the man who falls in love with this heroine is the Prince and the individual who would snare her away with the valuables he has pocketed for himself is the rascal Konstantin. Konstantin, however, as has been told, meets an inglorious end and the Prince becomes one of the masses to win the love of Aniuta, The Flame.
Music
Noah Beery was widely praised for his deep bass voice, which he first exhibited in this film in the song "One Little Drink." This song was satirized in the BoskoBosko
Bosko is an animated cartoon character created by animators Hugh Harman and Rudolf Ising. Bosko is the first recurring character in Leon Schlesinger's cartoon series, and is the star of over three dozen Looney Tunes shorts released by Warner Bros...
cartoon entitled: The Booze Hangs High
The Booze Hangs High
The Booze Hangs High released in 1930, is the fourth title in the Looney Tunes series and features Bosko, Warner Bros.' first cartoon character.-Plot:...
(1930). Based on the success of this song, Warner Bros. subsequently cast Beery in a number of musical films, most notably in Golden Dawn
Golden Dawn (film)
Golden Dawn is a musical operetta released by Warner Brothers and photographed entirely in Technicolor. The film is based on the semi-hit stage musical of the same name by Oscar Hammerstein II and Otto Harbach.-Songs:...
(1930). The public was so enthralled by his singing abilities that Brunswick Records
Brunswick Records
Brunswick Records is a United States based record label. The label is currently distributed by E1 Entertainment.-From 1916:Records under the "Brunswick" label were first produced by the Brunswick-Balke-Collender Company...
hired Beery to record songs from both of these films which were issued in their popular series.
Preservation
The film is believed to be lostLost film
A lost film is a feature film or short film that is no longer known to exist in studio archives, private collections or public archives such as the Library of Congress, where at least one copy of all American films are deposited and catalogued for copyright reasons...
. Only the soundtrack, which was recorded separately on Vitaphone
Vitaphone
Vitaphone was a sound film process used on feature films and nearly 1,000 short subjects produced by Warner Bros. and its sister studio First National from 1926 to 1930. Vitaphone was the last, but most successful, of the sound-on-disc processes...
disks, survives. The extant sound discs from this film reveal a very high quality Vitaphone sound - round, warm, and clear with good sound effects and a quality reproduction of speaking and singing voices as well as orchestrations. It would seem it fully deserved its Academy Award nomination for Best Sound. The score is a marvelously operatic one. All nine songs are preserved in the sound disc performances. There were four choruses as well, three of traditional Russian
Russians
The Russian people are an East Slavic ethnic group native to Russia, speaking the Russian language and primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries....
folk tunes and one drawn from Tchaikovsky's The Nutcracker
The Nutcracker
The Nutcracker is a two-act ballet, originally choreographed by Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov with a score by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky. The libretto is adapted from E.T.A. Hoffmann's story "The Nutcracker and the Mouse King". It was given its première at the Mariinsky Theatre in St...
.
Stage musical
The stage musical opened on Broadway at the 44th Street Theatre44th Street Theatre
The 44th Street Theatre was a New York City Broadway theatre from 1912 to 1945 in the United States of America. It was located on Broadway, at West 44th Street. Architect was William A. Swansea. Built by the Shuberts, and first named Weber and Fields' Music Hall, its name was changed when the...
on December 30, 1925 and closed on July 10, 1926 after 219 performances. the music was by Herbert P. Stothart and George Gershwin, book by Otto Harbach and Oscar Hammerstein II, and lyrics by Otto Harbach and Oscar Hammerstein II. The musical was directed by Frank Reicher
Frank Reicher
Frank Reicher , was a German-born American stage and film actor, director and producer.-Early life:Frank Reicher was born in Munich, Germany, the son of actor Emanuel Reicher and Hedwig Kindermann, a popular German prima donna who was a daughter of the famous baritone August Kindermann...
, dances and Ensemble pictures were arranged by Jack Haskell, and scenic design was by Joseph Urban
Joseph Urban
Joseph Urban Born in Vienna, Austria, died in New York City, trained as an architect, known also for his theatrical design and his early illustrations of children's books....
. The cast included Phoebe Brune as Natasha, Greek Evans as Konstantin, Tessa Kosta as Aniuta ("The Flame"), and the 52-member Russian Art Choir. The musical takes place during the time of the Russian Revolution in 1917 and for several years thereafter.
External links
- Magnified Grandeur - The Big Screen, 1926-31, David Coles, 2001