[CROWD MURMURING] TRY AS THEY MIGHT TO RENDER EARLY HOLLYWOOD AN ESCAPE, EITHER BY WAY OF CLIMATE AND THE INEXORABLE LURE OF SUNSHINE OR THROUGH SIMPLE DISTANCE, WHICH MADE PATENT ENFORCEMENT OF MOVING-PICTURE TECHNOLOGY DIFFICULT, THE PIONEERS OF EARLY 20th CENTURY HOLLYWOOD COULD NOT OF COURSE COUNT ON FINDING OR CREATING A TABULA RASA UPON WHICH TO PRACTICE THEIR CRAFT. FOR ONE, HOLLYWOOD AND GREATER LOS ANGELES PREDATED THE FILM INDUSTRY, AND EARLY HOLLYWOOD HAD TO MANEUVER AROUND OR WITHIN THAT WHICH CAME BEFORE. MORE IMPORTANTLY, THE ENTERTAINMENT WORLD OF CINEMA, SPOKEN OR SILENT, HAD REAL, PROFOUND, AND PERHAPS SURPRISINGLY ENDURING TIES TO PRECURSOR FORMS OF STAGE ENTERTAINMENT, NONE MORE CRITICAL THAN VAUDEVILLE. TO HELP US UNDERSTAND THOSE TIES, TRANSCONTINENTAL TIES DRAWING THE GREAT WHITE WAY TOGETHER WITH THE BOULEVARDS AND BYWAYS OF L.A., WE'VE ASKED ARMOND FIELDS AND EVE GOLDEN TO DISCUSS THE CONNECTIONS IN PERSONNEL AND IN PERFORMANCE BETWEEN VAUDEVILLE AND OTHER FORMS OF ENTERTAINMENT IN EARLY HOLLYWOOD. THE TRAFFIC BETWEEN NEW YORK AND SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA IN THE EARLY PERIOD IS BOTH REMARKABLE AND HUGELY SIGNIFICANT IN PEOPLE, IDEAS, CRAFT PRACTICES, CAPITAL, AND OTHERWISE, AND EVE AND ARMOND HAVE BOTH WRITTEN IMPORTANT WORKS ON THE PERIOD AND ITS KEY FIGURES. FOR EXAMPLE, EVE GOLDEN'S TREATMENT OF THE FAMED DANCE DUO VERNON AND IRENE CASTLE EXPLORES THE TRANSITION FROM CABARET AND THEATER ENTERTAINMENT IN NEW YORK TO HOLLYWOOD FILMS IN THE ERA AROUND THE FIRST WORLD WAR. ARMOND FIELDS' WORK, PERHAPS ESPECIALLY THAT WHICH ADDRESSES THE BROADWAY CAREER OF HIS GREAT-UNCLE, LEW FIELDS, BRINGS TO LIFE AN ERA AND THE PERSONALITIES WHO MADE IT FAMOUS ON THE VERY EDGE OF LASTING AND EVEN REVOLUTIONARY CHANGE AS AUDIENCES' TASTES AND TECHNOLOGY AND THE MAGNETIC LURE OF THE FAR WEST CONSPIRED TO ALTER THE WORLD OF AMERICAN ENTERTAINMENT FOREVER. WE'LL BEGIN THIS SESSION WITH ARMOND FIELDS, TURN THEN TO EVE GOLDEN, BACK TO ARMOND FIELDS, AND BACK AGAIN TO EVE GOLDEN AND THEN TO ALL OF YOU FOR Q AND A. PLEASE JOIN ME IN WELCOMING ARMOND FIELDS AND EVE GOLDEN. [APPLAUSE] I HOPE YOU'LL BE ABLE TO HEAR ME. CAN YOU? [MURMURS] GOOD. GOOD. AT THE HEIGHT OF VAUDEVILLE'S PROSPERITY, JUST PRIOR TO WORLD WAR I, THERE WERE MORE THAN 4,000 THEATERS DEVOTED TO THIS FORM OF ENTERTAINMENT, WITH 25,000 ARTISTS WORKING PART- OR FULL-TIME. ADDED TO THIS TOTAL WERE ORCHESTRA MUSICIANS, STAGEHANDS, AND ALL THOSE OTHER PEOPLE WHOSE LIVELIHOOD DEPENDED ON VAUDEVILLE--BOOKING AGENTS, PUBLIC RELATIONS PEOPLE, STUDIO PHOTOGRAPHERS, PRINTERS, RAILROAD EMPLOYEES, COSTUMERS, TICKET SCALPERS AND LEGITIMATE BOX OFFICE, NEWSPAPER AND MAGAZINE REPORTERS, COLUMNISTS AND CRITICS, COMPOSERS AND MUSIC PUBLISHERS. TOGETHER THEY CONSTITUTED A WORKING FORCE SECOND TO NONE IN THE COUNTRY. IT WAS EXPENSIVE TO RUN A HIGH-CLASS VAUDEVILLE HOUSE, ON THE AVERAGE OF $5,000 A WEEK, INCLUDING ALL SALARIES AND OPERATIONS. STILL, A REPUTABLE VAUDEVILLE THEATER LIKE KEITH'S UNION SQUARE, HYDE & BEHMAN'S, OR HARRY MINER'S EIGHTH STREET THEATER, COULD GENERATE $350,000 A YEAR IN BOX OFFICE RECEIPTS. IN NEW YORK, THE HEART OF THE VAUDEVILLE WORLD, BOX OFFICE RECEIPTS WERE GENERALLY GOOD AND PROFITABILITY EVEN BETTER. EXPENSES WERE LESS ON A ROAD TOUR. PERFORMERS' SALARIES WERE GENERALLY LOWER, LITTLE SCENERY WAS NECESSARY, LOCAL MANAGERS TOOK A PRESCRIBED AMOUNT IN RECEIPTS, USUALLY LOW, AND RAIL TRAVEL COSTS WERE MINIMAL. AT THAT TIME, THEATERS WERE OPEN FROM SEPTEMBER TO EARLY JUNE OR LATE MAY. THEY CLOSED DURING THE SUMMER BECAUSE OF THE HEAT. THE ARTISTS, UH, INSTEAD OF BEING OUT OF WORK FOR THE SUMMER, WOULD FORM ROAD-TOUR COMPANIES, AND THEY WOULD TRAVEL AROUND TO VARIOUS CITIES AROUND THE--THE COUNTRY, PERFORMING AT DIFFERENT THEATERS SO THEY WERE ABLE TO MAINTAIN THEIR SALARIES AND PEOPLE IN THE COUNTRY WOULD BE ABLE TO SEE THEM PERFORM. TOP PERFORMERS MADE FROM $750 TO $3,500 A WEEK. NOW, FIGURE THAT OUT, UH, COMPARED TO TODAY'S MONEY, MULTIPLY THAT, UH, 3,500 BY 20 OR 25, AND YOU GET AN IDEA OF, UH, HOW MUCH THESE PEOPLE WERE EARNING. AHEM. MANAGERS DID NOT PREPA--PAY PERFORMERS FOR FOOD AND BOARD OR RAIL FARES. IT HAD TO COME OUT OF THEIR OWN POCKET. IT WAS ASSUMED THAT A TOP PERFORMER WOULD FILL THE THEATER AT EVERY PERFORMANCE, AND THE VAST MAJORITY OF THEM DID. VAUDEVILLE HAD BECOME A COMPLEX BUSINESS TO WHICH BANKS PLAYED AN IMPORTANT ROLE WITH THEATER OWNERS, PRODUCERS, AND MANAGERS. NEW SHOWS AND TRAVELING COMPANIES HAD TO BE ADEQUATELY FINANCED BEFORE THEY APPEARED BEFORE THE FOOTLIGHTS. NEARLY EVERY BROADWAY PRODUCER HAD AT LEAST ONE SKIRMISH WITH THE BANKRUPTCY COURT. IT WAS ALL PART OF DOING BUSINESS IN AN ENTERTAINMENT THAT WAS ABOUT TO BECOME INCREASINGLY VOLATILE. THE DECLINE OF VAUDEVILLE ACTUALLY BEGAN DURING WORLD WAR I. LIKE ALL BUSINESSPEOPLE, THEATER MANAGERS WERE FORCED TO CHANGE THEIR OPERATIONAL POLICIES TO CONFORM TO THE WAR EFFORT. NO SOONER HAD THE WAR BEGUN, THEN THE GOVERNMENT PASSED A 10% WAR TAX ON ALL GROSS THEATER RECEIPTS. THIS FEE DRAMATICALLY CUT INTO THE THEATER'S PROFIT MARGIN. WITHIN A FEW MONTHS, CUSTOMERS FELT THE EFFECT IN INCREASING ADMISSION PRICES. PERFORMERS' SALARIES WERE FROZEN AND, IN MANY CASES, REDUCED. BACKSTAGE PERSONNEL SALARIES WERE EITHER REDUCED OR EMPLOYEES DISMISSED. THEATERS NOW HAD TO OPERATE ON A BARE MINIMUM OF PERSONNEL, FROM MANAGEMENT TO THE STAGE. IT WAS NOT UNCOMMON FOR SOME MANAGERS TO TAKE BACKSTAGE POSITIONS, AND SOME ACTORS WERE SEEN PULLING THE CURTAIN. THE WAR HIT THE INDUSTRY HARD BY ENLISTING ITS PERFORMERS. MORE THAN 5,000 ACTORS WERE TAKEN INTO THE ARMED FORCES, THUS DEPLETING THE NUMBER OF PERFORMERS AVAILABLE FOR THE STAGE. MOST WERE CONSCRIPTED BY THE ARMY WITH THE LIKELIHOOD OF BEING SHIPPED OVERSEAS. MORE THAN 1,000 WERE KILLED IN THE WAR. THOSE FEW THAT HAD MARKETABLE SKILLS WERE GIVEN SPECIAL ASSIGNMENTS, LIKE IRVING BERLIN, WHO WROTE SONGS AND ENTERTAINED THE TROOPS IN CAMPS CLOSE TO NEW YORK, AND JAMES J. CORBETT, THE FORMER HEAVYWEIGHT BOXER, WHO HELPED DEVELOP EXERCISE REGIMENS FOR THE SOLDIERS. SEVERAL ACTORS WHO WERE SHIPPED OVERSEAS WERE ASSIGNED TO ENTERTAIN THE TROOPS, KEEPING THEM AWAY FROM ACTUAL WARFARE. ACTRESSES WERE ALSO INVOLVED. SOME, LIKE LILLIAN RUSSELL AND DELLA FOX, TRAVELED FROM CAMP TO CAMP TO PUT ON SHOWS. A SELECT FEW, LIKE ELSIE JANIS, BLOSSOM SEELEY, AND IRENE FRANKLIN TRAVELED TO FRANCE TO ENTERTAIN THE TROOPS NEAR THE FRONT LINES. ALL OF THIS MEANT THAT THEATER MANAGERS HAD FEWER PERFORMERS, INCLUDING HEADLINERS, TO OCCUPY THEIR STAGES. THEY HAD TO MAKE DUE WITH LESSER TALENT AND SMALLER TROUPES. IT DID NOT SEEM TO MATTER WITH AUDIENCES, HOWEVER. THEY LOVED VAUDEVILLE, AND WOULD FREQUENT THEATERS NO MATTER WHO WAS PERFORMING. THEIR INTEREST KEPT THE THEATERS OPEN. SPECIAL OPERATIONAL FACTORS NECESSITATED BY THE WAR CHANGED THE PATRONS' IN-THEATER BEHAVIOR. TO SAVE ELECTRICITY, MANAGERS WERE ASKED TO SHUT DOWN THEIR MARQUEES ON CERTAIN DAYS AND REDUCE THEIR USE AT OTHER TIMES. BROADWAY BECAME A GRAY-LOOKING AREA THAT EXPOSED ALL OF ITS SHADOWS AND MAKESHIFT BUSINESSES. ITS SPARKLE WAS REDUCED TO VEHICLE AND STREET LIGHTS. THIS HAD ITS EFFECT ON THE MOOD OF THEATERGOERS. TO SAVE COAL, THE GOVERNMENT DEMANDED THAT SHOWS START EARLIER AND LAST A SHORTER PERIOD OF TIME. TEMPERATURES IN THE THEATERS WERE LOWERED, AND PATRONS WERE SEEN WEARING HEAVY CLOTHING DURING THE WINTER MONTHS. SHOWS BEGAN AN HOUR EARLIER, AT 6:30, AFFECTING RESTAURANTS AND VEHICLE TRAFFIC. IN THE PAST, UH, THE RESTAURANTS, LIKE DELMONICO'S AND REC--UH, RECTOR'S, UH, WOULD BE OPEN TO A THEATER CROWD. THE PEOPLE WHO WOULD HAVE DINNER, UH, THEY WOULD GO THE THEATER, AND THEN THEY'D GO BACK TO THE RESTAURANTS AGAIN. THAT WAS PRETTY MUCH ELIMINATED. SHOWS WERE REQUESTED TO B-BE CLOSED BY 10:30 P.M., MEANING THAT THE SHOW ITSELF HAD TO BE SHORTENED. THE EFFECT OF THIS BAN REDUCED THE NUMBER OF ACTS ON THE BILL OR ABRIDGED DRAMATIC PLAYS. ONE OF THE MOST SIGNIFICANT RESULTS, GENERALLY OVERLOOKED, WAS REDUCTION OR THE COMPLETE OMISSION OF ENCORES. ENCORES, OF COURSE, LENGTHENED THE TIME A THEATER REMAINED OPEN. A TOP HEADLINE--HEADLINER ASKED FOR ENCORES MIGHT SING 4 TO 6 ADDITIONAL SONGS, REENACT A PLAY, PLAY A COMEDY SKETCH, OR DANCE A FEW NUMBERS. FOR PERFORMERS, THE ENCORE WAS THE ULTIMATE TRIBUTE TO THEIR PERFORMANCE, AUDIENCE RECOGNITION THAT GRATIFIED THEIR EGO AND MADE ACTING WORTHWHILE. WHEN ENCORES WERE BANNED, A VITAL PERSONAL CONNECTION BETWEEN THE PERFORMER AND HIS AUDIENCE WAS ELIMINATED. THE-- THIS INHIBITED THE "LIVE" IN LIVE PERFORMANCE, THAT RAPPORT THAT MOTIVATED ACTORS TO EXCEL AND AUDIENCES TO APPRECIATE THE TALENT AND SKILL OF THE PERFORMER. THIS PARTICULAR REGULATION COULD NOT HAVE BEEN MORE DEVASTATING TO VAUDEVILLE ACTORS AND THEIR ADORING PATRONS. NOT SURPRISINGLY, THE REDUCTION OF SHOWS, PERFORMERS, AND THE AURA OF THEATER GLITTER LOWERED THEATER ATTENDANCE. IN ORDER TO RETAIN PATRONAGE, THEATER MANAGERS INCLUDED MOVING PICTURES AS A PART OF THE BILL. MOVING PICTURES HAD NOW PROGRESSED TO THE POINT WHERE THEY WERE LONGER, TOLD COMPLETE STORIES, AND FEATURED FAVORITE ACTORS. THEATER MANAGERS COULD PURCHASE THEM AT A MUCH LOWER PRICE THAN A PERFORMER AND CHANGE PRESENTATION ALMOST DAILY. THESE WERE IMPORTANT FACTORS FOR STAYING IN BUSINESS. BUT MOTION PICTURES ALSO CREATED A PROFOUND CHANGE IN AUDIENCE BEHAVIOR. MOVIE VIEWERS WERE PASSIVE RECEPTORS OF ENTERTAINMENT. WHEN THE MOVIE WAS SHOWING, THE THEATER WAS DARKENED, PREVENTING THE AUDIENCE FROM SEEING AND REACTING TO ONE ANOTHER. THE AUDIENCE WAS REQUIRED TO SIT STILL AND NOT CONVERSE, JUST THE OPPOSITE OF THE BEHAVIORS THEY NORMALLY EXPRESSED DURING LIVE THEATER. THIS WAS A MAJOR REEDUCATION FOR VAUDEVILLE AUDIENCES, WHO IN THE PROCESS OF EMBRACING MOVIES, LOST THEIR LIVE THEATER SPONTANEITY. MUCH STAGED MATERIAL WAS WAR-RELATED, WITH THE INCLUSION OF PATRIOTIC THEMES, SKITS, AND PLAYS. ETHNIC COMEDY, THE EPITOME OF THE COMEDIC REPERTOIRE FOR 2 DECADES, DISAPPEARED FROM THE VAUDEVILLE BILL. DUTCH AND IRISH ACTS, ITALIAN SKITS, AND NEGRO DIALECTS WERE DROPPED. WEBER AND FIELDS ELIMINATED THEIR DUTCH ACT BECAUSE IT RESEMBLED GERMAN. EDDIE FOY REFUSED TO USE AN ITALIAN DIALECT IN A NEW PLAY. SOPHIE TUCKER STOPPED SINGING JEWISH SONGS IN VAUDEVILLE HOUSES AND MOVED TO CABARETS, WHERE THE MORE SOPHISTICATED AUDIENCES WERE LESS PREJUDICED. GEORGE M. COHAN'S OVER THERE, MADE FAMOUS BY NORA BAYES, BECAME THE NATION'S THEME SONG. ITS POPULARITY PRODUCED DOZENS OF NEW WAR-RELATED SONGS FROM TIN PAN ALLEY THAT HELPED TO MAKE THE SALE OF SHEET MUSIC A MULTIMILLION-DOLLAR BUSINESS. WHEN THE WAR ENDED, PERFORMERS RETURNED, AND NORMAL THEATER OPERATIONS RESUMED. THE EUPHORIA OF VICTORY BROUGHT FULL VAUDEVILLE HOUSES ONCE MORE. THEATER PROSPERITY, HOWEVER, LASTED ONLY UNTIL 1921, WHEN THE COUNTRY WENT INTO A MAJOR RECESSION. AUDIENCE ATTENDANCE DECLINED SUBSTANTIALLY. SOME THEATERS CLOSED, TRAVELING COMPANIES DISBANDED, AND MANY PERFORMERS WENT TO HOLLYWOOD, HOPEFULLY TO CONTINUE THEIR CAREERS. THE COST OF SHOWS ESCALATED. IN TURN, PRODUCERS OPTED FOR MORE INTIMATE PRODUCTIONS. THIS WAS ANOTHER SETBACK FOR VAUDEVILLE. THE LARGE VAUDEVILLE CIRCUITS LIKE KEITH-ALBEE, PANTAGES, AND LOEWS, FEATURING HIGH-CLASS VAUDEVILLE, WERE FORCED TO REDUCE THEIR BILLS, REPLACING ACTS WITH MOVIES. THEY GAVE UP THEATERS THAT WERE CONSIDERED OLD. THEY DROPPED PERFORMERS WHO DEMANDED LARGE SALARIES. AT THE SAME TIME, THE SHUBERT BROTHERS, THINKING THE TIME WAS RIPE FOR THEM TO ENTER THE VAUDEVILLE BUSINESS, SET UP A CIRCUIT AND SIGNED WEBER AND FIELDS TO HEADLINE THE TOURING COMPANY. THEY QUICKLY DISCOVERED IT WAS THE WRONG TIME TO START A CIRCUIT. THEY CUT THEIR VAUDEVILLE PRESENCE AND CLOSED THE OPERATION. THE SHUBERTS VERY NEARLY WENT INTO BANKRUPTCY. THE EARLY 1920s ATTRACTED A NEW GENERATION OF AUDIENCES TO POPULAR THEATER. THEY SOUGHT DIFFERENT KINDS OF COMEDY, MORE SOPHISTICATED PLOTS AND STORIES, MORE SOCIALLY RELEVANT MATERIAL, SONGS ONE COULD SING, AND DANCES TO WHICH ONE COULD DANCE. THIS WAS A COMING OF AGE FOR THEATER. THE PERIOD WAS ALSO THE MATURATION OF STUDIO-PRODUCED MOVIES HEADLINED BY ATTRACTIVE NEW STARS IN FULL-LENGTH PRODUCTIONS. ELEGANT MOVIE PALACES WERE BUILT IN WHICH TO ENJOY THE ENTIRE EXPERIENCE. THE FIRST SIGNS OF THE COMING OF AGE OF MUSICAL THEATER WERE SEEN, LED BY A NEW SET OF COMPOSERS AND LYRICISTS WHOSE MUSIC WAS CONTEMPORARY, EXCITING, AND MEMORABLE. THE GOLDEN AGE OF MUSICAL THEATER WAS LAUNCHED IN DECEMBER, 1927, WITH SHOW BOAT, A COMBINATION OF JEROME KERN, OSCAR HAMMERSTEIN II, FLO ZIEGFELD, AND EVEN WILLIAM RANDOLPH HEARST, WHO CONTRIBUTED FUNDS FOR THE PRODUCTION, PRODUCED A MUSICAL THAT BROKE THE BOUNDS OF STAGE ORTHODOXY. RADIO, THE NEW MEDIUM, CAUGHT ON SO FAST THAT MANUFACTURERS WERE UNABLE TO KEEP UP WITH THE DEMANDS. MUSICAL ENTERTAINMENT BECAME ONE OF THE MAJOR OFFERINGS FOR RADIO, AND SEVERAL VAUDEVILLE PERFORMERS FOUND AN OUTLET TO EXTEND THEIR CAREERS AND ENTERTAIN THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE AT ONE TIME. DANCING BECAME A POPULAR SOCIAL PASTIME, AND BIG BANDS, GROUPS OF TALENTED AND INNOVATIVE PLAYERS, BROUGHT DANCEABLE MUSIC TO THE COUNTRY. JAZZ WAS RAPIDLY BECOMING MAINSTREAM, WITH BOTH BLACK AND WHITE BANDS FEATURING ITS MUSIC. NIGHTCLUBS AND CABARETS WERE THE FEEDING GROUND ATTENDED BY WHITE AUDIENCES SEEKING EXCITING NEW ENTERTAINMENT. AND TO ATTRACT THE MARKET OF THE WORKING-CLASS MALES, BURLESQUE, THE GIRLIE SHOWS FEATURING BLUE MATERIAL AND STRIPTEASE, WERE AVAILABLE IN LARGE URBAN AREAS AT CHEAP PRICES, A DECIDED ALTERNATIVE TO VAUDEVILLE. BY 1927, VAUDEVILLE WAS STILL ALIVE AND POPULAR, BUT THE NUMBER OF VAUDEVILLE VENUES HAD DECLINED, AND MANY OF ITS HEADLINERS HAD ESCAPED TO HOLLYWOOD, WOOED BY LARGE SALARIES AND LESS ARDUOUS WORK. THE VAUDEVILLE CIRCUITS HAD BROKEN DOWN, AND THEATER INVESTORS MOVED THEIR MONEY TO THE NEW SITES AUDIENCES HAD SELECTED. LIVE ENTERTAINMENT NOW REPRESENTED ONLY HALF THE BILL AT VAUDEVILLE HOUSES. WHAT CAUSED MOST CONCERN FOR VAUDEVILLE MANAGERS AND ARTISTS WAS THE FACT THAT NO NEW TALENT WAS, UM, ENTERING THEIR RANKS. THE VETERANS SAW NO NEW PEOPLE TO REPLACE THEM, TO GIVE THE VAUDEVILLE STAGE THE EXCITEMENT IT NEEDED TO STAY INTERESTING AND ATTRACTIVE. VAUDEVILLE'S PLACE IN THE PANTHEON OF POPULAR ENTERTAINMENT FOR 40 YEARS CLEARLY REFLECTED ITS COMING MORTALITY. OVER THE NEXT FEW YEARS, 2 FACTORS RELEGATED VAUDEVILLE TO MINOR STATUS. FIRST, FROM THE MOMENT TALKING PICTURES REACHED THE GENERAL PUBLIC, AUDIENCE AT VAUDEVILLE HOUSES FELL PRECIPITOUSLY. THE GLAMOUR OF ROCOCO MUSIC THEATERS, POPULAR SCREEN STARS, AND SWEEPING FULL-LENGTH FILM STORIES BROUGHT AUDIENCES A NEW AND EXCITING THEATER EXPERIENCE. SECOND, IT SIGNALED THAT LIVE THEATER WOULD BE LIMITATED-- LIMITED TO THE MORE RITUALIZED MUSIC THEATER AND DRAMATIC PRODUCTIONS. IT TOOK MORE THAN 2 YEARS TO CONVERT ALL THE THEATERS TO SOUND, BUT THAT DID NOT NEGATE THE INCREASING INTEREST IN THE MEDIUM. AT THE SAME TIME, HOLLYWOOD STUDIOS PERSUADED ACTORS, COMPOSERS, AND WRITERS WITH LARGE SALARIES TO CONTRIBUTE TO THE EXCITING OPPORTUNITIES OF HAVING THEIR WORDS AND MUSIC AVAILABLE TO MILLIONS OF PEOPLE. THE HOLLYWOOD THIRTIES, WHICH I'LL BE TALKING ABOUT LATER, FEATURED MUSICAL COMEDIES FILLED WITH SINGABLE AND DANCEABLE MUSIC PUT OUT BY THE BEST OF COMPOSERS AND LYRICISTS. THE PHONOGRAPH RECORD BUSINESS FLOURISHED BECAUSE OF THE TALENTS OF RODGERS AND HART, COLE PORTER, THE GERSHWIN BROTHERS, MILLS AND FIELDS, VINCENT YOUMANS, HAROLD ARLEN. THE MOVIES INTRODUCED THE SONG, THE RECORDS GENERATED THEIR PURCHASES, AND THE RADIO REMINDED PEOPLE OF THEIR CONTINUED POPULARITY. THE DEPRESSION FORCED MOST OF THE VAUDEVILLE HOUSES TO CLOSE, AND THE REMAINING PERFORMERS MOVE TO OTHER MEDIA. THE PUBLIC SOUGHT OUT CHEAPER FORMS OF POPULAR ENTERTAINMENT, LIKE MOVIES. VAUDEVILLE PRODUCERS AND MANAGERS LIKEWISE MOVED TO OTHER MEDIA, SUCH AS MUSICAL COMEDY, REVUES, AND BURLESQUE. WHAT HAPPENED TO THOSE GREAT VAUDEVILLE HEADLINERS? MOST OF THEM QUIETLY RETIRED, KNOWING THEIR CAREERS HAD COME TO AN END. A FEW LIVED COMFORTABLE LIVES AFTER RETIREMENT. THEY MARRIED A RICH MAN. MORE OF THEM, UNFORTUNATELY, LIVED AND DIED IN POVERTY. SOME ATTEMPTED OTHER MEDIA WITH VARYING DEGREES OF SUCCESS. THE SINGERS AND COMEDIANS HAD THE BEST CHANCE, BECAUSE THEY COULD CHANGE THEIR ACTS TO SATISFY CONTEMPORARY AUDIENCES. VETERANS LIKE MARIE DRESSLER, SOPHIE TUCKER, FANNY BRICE, ETHEL WATERS, AND CHARLOTTE GREENWOOD MADE THE TRANSITION AND CONTINUED SUCCESSFUL CAREERS. COMEDIANS LIKE EDDIE CANTOR, AL JOLSON, GEORGE JESSEL, MILTON BERLE, AND THE MARX BROTHERS ENTERTAINED AUDIENCES WITH NEW BRANDS OF COMEDY. OTHER OLD-TIMERS WENT ON TO STAR IN MOVIES. THEY MIGHT NOT HAVE BEEN ABLE TO COMPLETE WITH THE PUBLICITY-DRIVEN STARS OF THE DAY, BUT THEY MADE A LIVING. SOME REFUSED TO ACKNOWLEDGE THE DEMISE OF THE ONLY FORM OF PERFORMANCE THEY KNEW AND STRUGGLED TO SURVIVE. SOME OBTAINED DIFFERENT JOBS ALTOGETHER. BOOKING AGENTS SPENT A GOOD DEAL OF THEIR TIME CONVINCING FORMER ACTORS THAT THEIR MEAL TICKET HAD EXPIRED. VAUDEVILLE HAD BEEN AN ALL-INCLUSIVE ENTERTAINMENT FOR MORE THAN 40 YEARS. ALTHOUGH NO O--NO ONE KNEW IT AT THE TIME, IT ACTED AS A TRAINING GROUND FOR THOSE STARS WHO WOULD LATER EMERGE IN FORMS OF AMUSEMENT YET TO COME. MANY OF ITS PERFORMERS WERE GREAT ARTISTS ABLE TO SATISFY THE MOST DISCERNING AUDIENCES FOR YEARS. THIS WAS A SAD ENDING FOR AN ENTERTAINMENT THAT HAD BEEN THE PUBLIC'S PRIMARY ESCAPE FROM THE TRIALS AND TRIBULATIONS OF DAILY LIFE, WHERE LAUGHTER WAS UNFETTERED AND THE ARTISTIC SKILLS OF PERFORMERS ENTHUSED AND SATISFIED AUDIENCES. [APPLAUSE] EVE. UH, SOMETHING THAT, UH, ARMOND SAID ACTUALLY MADE ME THINK OF WHAT HAPPENED TO VAUDEVILLE. AM I HEARABLE? OH, GOOD. UH, IT KIND OF TRANSMOGRIFIED. I-IT, UH, CHANGED FORM, REALLY. A LOT OF US REMEMBER THE ED SULLIVAN SHOW FROM THE FIFTIES AND SIXTIES, WHERE YOU WOULD SEE NOT ONLY BIG STARS LIKE ETHEL MERMAN AND JUDY GARLAND, PEOPLE LIKE THAT, BUT YOU'D SEE THE NEWCOMERS, LIKE ELVIS AND THE BEATLES, AND YOU'D SEE THE PLATE SPINNERS AND SENOR WENCES AND OOMPAH BANDS AND JUST, UH, THE BIGGEST AND THE SMALLEST, UH, WHICH IS WHAT YOU HAD IN VAUDEVILLE. YOU HAD ACTS THAT, UH, NOBODY HAS EVER HEARD OF. UH, FROM THE 1880s THROUGH THE 1930s, YOU CAN LOOK AT, UH, OLD PROGRAMS AND REVUES, AND OF COURSE YOU'LL SEE ACTS THAT EVERYBODY REMEMBERS, LIKE ETHEL BARRYMORE AND SARAH BERNHARDT AND SOPHIE TUCKER, AND THEN YOU'LL SEE ACTS THAT ONLY OBSESSIVES LIKE ARMOND AND I REMEMBER, LIKE BLOSSOM SEELEY AND, UH, THE DUNCAN SISTERS, PEOPLE LIKE THAT, BUT YOU'LL ALSO SEE THESE ACTS THAT REALLY HAD DECENT CAREERS. THEY COULD STAY IN--WITH THEIR ONE ACT TOURING THE COUNTRY FOR DECADES AND MAKE A COMFORTABLE, DECENT LIVING DOING ONE ACT OR VARIATIONS ON ONE ACT, BUT REALLY THEY WERE COMPLETELY FORGOTTEN BY THE TIME THEY RETIRED. THEY WERE NEVER BIG STARS, AND, UH, SOMETIMES YOU CAN SEE THEY DID A LITTLE FILM CLIP OR SOMETHING. AND SPEAKING OF THOSE FILM CLIPS, YOUTUBE IS THE NEW VAUDEVILLE IN SOME WAYS. UH, YOU CAN'T--IT'S NOT THE SAME EXPERIENCE FOR THE AUDIENCE, OF COURSE, BUT YOU CAN HAVE HUGE STARS. UH, YOU CAN ACTUALLY SEE CLIPS OF FANNY BRICE AND HELEN MORGAN AND EDDIE CANTOR ON YOUTUBE THAT PEOPLE HAVE PUT UP. YOU CAN SEE THE LATEST ACTS. YOU CAN SEE PEOPLE WHO AREN'T YET FAMOUS AND MIGHT BE SOMEDAY. AND I HIGHLY RECOMMEND YOU GO INTO YOUTUBE AND LOOK FOR GUS VISSER AND HIS SINGING DUCK, BY THE WAY. [LAUGHTER] YOU WILL NEVER BE THE SAME AGAIN AFTER SEEING THIS ACT. OH, MA, HE'S MAKING EYES AT ME [QUACKS] HE'S AWFUL NICE TO ME, OH [QUACKS] HE'S ALMOST BREAKING MY HEART, I AM BESIDE HIM, MERCY, LET HIS CONSCIENCE GUIDE HIM [QUACKS] HE WANTS TO MARRY ME AND BE MY HONEYBEE I THINK IT WAS FILMED IN, WHAT, 1922 OR '23? IT WAS ONE OF THE VERY EARLY EXPERIMENTAL TALKING FILMS, AND IT'S STILL AVAILABLE ON YOUTUBE. UH-- YEAH, IN, UH, 1923, UH, LEE De FOREST, UH, PUT HIS SOUND FILM TOGETHER, AND INCLUDED IN THE SOUND FILM WAS WEBER AND FIELDS DOING THEIR POOL ROOM SCENE SKIT, AND, UH-- DOES THAT STILL EXIST, DO YOU KNOW? UH, TH-THEY'RE NOT ON DISK. AH. UH, THEY'RE ON VIDEOTAPE, UM, EASILY OBTAINED FROM THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. NOW, I MUST MENTION THAT SOME OF THE THINGS YOU SEE ON YOUTUBE SHOULD NOT BE ON YOUTUBE LEGALLY, AND THEY WILL DISAPPEAR SHORTLY, BUT I HOPE GUS VISSER AND HIS SINGING DUCK WILL SURVIVE ON THERE. UH, I WANTED TO TALK ALSO ABOUT THE DAILY DAY-TO-DAY LIFE IN VAUDEVILLE, BECAUSE THE, UH--MY LATEST BOOK IS ON VERNON AND IRENE CASTLE, WHO WERE A--THE MOST POPULAR AND FAMOUS DANCE TEAM OF THE WORLD WAR I ERA. UH, YOU MIGHT BE MORE FAMILIAR--FRED ASTAIRE AND GINGER ROGERS MADE A MOVIE ABOUT THEM IN 1939, WHICH--SORT OF FACTUAL. IT WAS--IT WAS SURPRISINGLY FACTUAL FOR A BIOGRAPHICAL PICTURE. BUT IN, UH, 1914, THEY WERE BROADWAY STARS. THEY HAD OWNED SEVERAL NIGHTCLUBS IN NEW YORK. THEY GAVE DANCE LESSONS--OR VERNON GAVE DANCE LESSONS. IRENE HATED THAT SORT OF THING. AND, UH, THEY WERE ALL OVER THE MAGAZINES. UH, THEY STARTED TO MAKE FILMS, SO THEY WERE HUGE, HUGE STARS. UH, THE SUMMER OF 1914, THEY HAD TO RETURN FROM EUROPE WHEN WORLD WAR I BROKE OUT AND SHORTLY BEFORE VERNON JOINED UP. HE WAS A BRITISH CITIZEN, AND HE JOINED THE ROYAL CANADIAN FLYING CORPS AND ACTUALLY DIED IN 1918 IN THE WAR. UH, BUT WHEN THEY CAME BACK, UH, THEY NEEDED MONEY. UH, ALL THEIR OVERSEAS THEATRICAL TOURS HAD BEEN CANCELED BECAUSE OF THE WAR, SO THEY THOUGHT, "WE'LL MAKE SOME EASY MONEY IN VAUDEVILLE AND DO A TOUR." WELL, UH, THERE WAS NO SUCH THING AS EASY MONEY IN VAUDEVILLE, WHICH THEY FOUND OUT. UH, THIS WOULD HAVE BEEN THE SUMMER AND FALL OF 1914, AND THEY SIGNED UP WITH THE, UH, KEITH-ALBEE CIRCUIT. THERE WERE 2 MAJOR VAUDEVILLE CIRCUITS. THE, UH, ORPHEUM CIRCUIT COVERED THE WEST COAST, SO WHEN YOU HEAR ABOUT--IN GYPSY, MAMA ROSE SINGING ABOUT THE ORPHEUM CIRCUIT, "AND THERE I WAS IN MR. ORPHEUM'S OFFICE," YOU CAN TELL SHE'S TALKING ABOUT A CALIFORNIA AREA TOUR. UH, VERNON AND IRENE SIGNED UP WITH THE KEITH-ALBEE CIRCUIT, WHICH WAS ALSO KNOWN AS THE SUNDAY SCHOOL CIRCUIT, BECAUSE VERY CLEAN. THERE WAS ACTUALLY A POST--UH, BACKSTAGE THERE WAS A NOTICE THAT SAID, "IF YOU ARE GUILTY OF UTTERING ANYTHING SACRILEGIOUS OR EVEN SUGGESTIVE, YOU WILL BE IMMEDIATELY CLOSED AND WILL NEVER AGAIN BE ALLOWED IN A THEATER WHERE MR. KEITH IS IN AUTHORITY." AND THEY HAD A LIST OF CUSS WORDS YOU WERE NOT ALLOWED TO USE, INCLUDING "SLOB, HULLY GEE, AND SON OF A GUN." IF YOU SAID ANY OF THOSE THINGS, YOU WERE OUT. UH, THE CASTLES WERE FINE, BECAUSE THEY WERE A DANCE ACT, AND THEY WERE KNOWN FOR BEING VERY CLEAN, VERY SOPHISTICATED. UH, ONE OF THE THINGS THAT THEY TRIED TO DO WAS MAKE DANCING AND GOING OUT DANCING IN NIGHTCLUBS RESPECTABLE FOR THE MIDDLE CLASSES, AND THAT'S WHY THEY BECAME SO POPULAR. THEY WERE A CLEAN-CUT MARRIED COUPLE. THEY DID NOT DO THE--THE WILD SHIMMIES AND THE KICKS AND THE TURKEY TROT, THINGS LIKE THAT. THEY REALLY SMOOTHED OUT DANCING. THEY WERE VERY GRACEFUL. AND IT'S UNFORTUNATE IT'S ALMOST IMPOSSIBLE TO SEE THEM DANCING NOWADAYS. ACTUALLY, I THINK BILL HAS A VIDEOTAPE THAT I BROUGHT WITH ME. WHAT THEY DID, THEIR ACT WAS ABOUT 15 OR 20 MINUTES WHERE THEY WOULD GET UP, AND VERNON WAS A VERY WELL-KNOWN COMIC ACTOR BEFORE HE STARTED DANCING. HE WOULD GET UP AND DO SOME COMEDY ABOUT WAYS NOT TO DANCE, AND THEY'D HAVE A COMEDY COUPLE COME OUT AND DO REALLY BAD OR AS LEWD A DANCE AS YOU COULD DO ON THE KEITH-ORPHEUM CIRCUIT. AND THEY WOULD--THEN HE WOULD DANCE SEVERAL TIMES WITH IRENE, GIVING HER LOTS OF TIME TO GO BACKSTAGE AND CHANGE HER COSTUMES, BECAUSE SHE WAS REALLY KNOWN AS A FASHION PLATE. SHE WAS NOT THE FIRST. YOU CAN NEVER SAY ANYONE WAS THE FIRST AT ANYTHING, BUT SHE WAS ONE OF THE FIRST POPULAR ACTRESSES TO BOB HER HAIR, AND THIS WOULD HAVE BEEN IN THE EARLY TEENS, WHICH WAS 10 YEARS BEFORE THE FLAPPER LOOK. UH, SHE ALSO HAD THE BEGINNINGS OF THE AMERICAN GIRL LOOK, YOU KNOW, THAT WAS MADE FAMOUS BY JACKIE KENNEDY AND GRACE KELLY LATER ON. THE VERY CLEAN, PARED-DOWN, UH, VERY SLEEK AND SIMPLE SLIM LOOK, UH, WAS ALSO SOMETHING THAT IRENE CASTLE, IF NOT INVENTED, SHE WAS ONE OF THE FIRST PEOPLE TO POPULARIZE. SO 1914, VAUDEVILLE, THEY GOT INTO IT. THEY SAID, "WE'LL MAKE SOME EASY MONEY. THEN IN THE FALL, WHEN OUR BROADWAY SHOW OPENS UP, WE'LL BE SET." THEY HATED IT, ABSOLUTELY HATED IT. UH, VERNON GREW UP IN HOTELS. HIS FAMILY RAN A HOTEL IN ENGLAND FOR ABOUT 2 GENERATIONS, SO HE WAS USED TO IT. IRENE WAS A VERY SPOILED, LITTLE RICH GIRL FROM NEW ROCHELLE. UH, SHE WAS NOT READY FOR VAUDEVILLE. THEY HAD TO CA-- TRAVEL IN A TRAIN. OBVIOUSLY THEY COULDN'T HAVE THEIR OWN TRAIN, BECAUSE THEY'RE IN THIS TO MAKE MONEY, SO THEY TRAVELED WITH EVERYONE ELSE. UH, EVEN THE BIGGEST STARS, UH, THE ETHEL BARRYMORES AND--AND THE SARAH BERNHARDTS AND PEOPLE LIKE THAT, EVEN IF THEY DID HAVE THEIR OWN TRAIN, THEY HAD TO PUT UP WITH THE THEATERS, AND YOU HAD BIG THEATERS, AND YOU HAD TINY, LITTLE THEATERS, UH, ALONG THE TOUR. UH, ONE CONTEMPORARY, UH, BENNET MUSSON, WROTE IN 1910-- HE WAS A VAUDEVILLE ACTOR--"IN A WEEK OF ONE-NIGHT STANDS, YOU WILL GET AT LEAST ONE BAD, OLD THEATER. DRESSING ROOM NUMBER 4 PROVES TO BE DIRTY, SMALL, ILL-VENTILATED, AND ILL-LIGHTED. IT'S NEXT TO THE BOILER ROOM, AND THE HEAT IS INTOLERABLE, OR IT'S NEAR A DOOR THAT OPENS ON AN ALLEY, AND THE COLD IS UNBEARABLE. IT CONTAINS A SMALL TIN PITCHER AND BOWL, AND THERE'S NO PLACE TO THROW THE WATER. THERE ARE A FEW HOOKS AND NAILS ON WHICH THE ACTORS PRECEDING YOU HAVE HUNG PIECES OF PAPER TO PROTECT THEIR CLOTHING FROM THE DIRTY WALLS." UH, AND THIS IS--REMIND YOU IRENE CASTLE IS DANCING IN THESE BEAUTIFUL LUCILE GOWNS OF--OF WHITE AND CHIFFON, AND SHE HAD TO SOMEHOW GET FROM THE DRESSING ROOM TO THE STAGE WITHOUT SPOILING THESE THINGS. UH, THEY ABSOLUTELY-- THOSE WERE--THOSE WERE CALLED 10-CENT VAUDEVILLE HOUSES. AND EVEN ON THE MAJOR TOURS AND THE MAJOR STARS, THEY HAD TO PLAY IN THESE PLACES. UH, NOW THE BIG THING WITH THE CASTLES, THEY WERE BOTH, UH, DEVELOPED INTO ANIMAL-RIGHTS ACTIVISTS THROUGH THE YEARS. UH, IRENE ACTUALLY OPENED AN ANIMAL SHELTER IN THE MIDWEST WHICH IS STILL OPERATING, CALLED ORPHANS OF THE STORM. UH, VERNON AND IRENE BOTH LOVED ANIMALS. THEY BOTH SPENT WAY TOO MUCH MONEY ON ANIMALS. UH, WHEN VERNON DIED, UH, HE BASICALLY LEFT NO MONEY, BECAUSE THEY HAD A STABLE OF HORSES, THEY HAD DOGS, THEY HAD CATS, THEY HAD MONKEYS, AND THEY COLLECTED ANIMALS ALONG THEIR TOURS, AND ALMOST--I'M NOT GONNA SAY EVERY, UH, VAUDEVILLE SET, BUT JUST ABOUT EVERYONE HAD ONE AND PROBABLY 2 ANIMAL ACTS IN THEM. AT LEAST. YEAH. AT LEAST. AND THE ANIMAL ACTS WERE USUALLY THE FIRST ACT, UH... THE DUMB ACT, MM-HMM. ON THE BILL, BECAUSE IT WAS A NONSPEAKING, UH, ACT. YEAH, THEY'D OPEN WITH A-- THE--THE, UH--YEAH. AN ANIMAL ACT OR AN ACROBATIC ACT SO THAT-- THE FIRST--THE FIRST, UH, ACT ON A BILL WAS ALWAYS A NONSPEAKING ACT, WHETHER IT WAS AN ACROBAT, A JUGGLER, ANIMALS, UH, TRAPEZE ARTIST, WH-WHAT HAVE YOU, BUT THEY WERE ALWAYS NONSPEAKING. BECAUSE THE AUDIENCE WOULD BE COMING IN, TALKING VERY LOUDLY AND GETTING IN PEOPLE'S WAY AND--AND THE POOR FIR-- YOU DID NOT WANNA OPEN UP A VAUDEVILLE BILL. THAT WAS... [LAUGHTER] UH, THERE'S A SCENE IN, UH, ALL ABOUT EVE WHERE, UM, THELMA RITTER IS--IS BRAGGING TO BETTE DAVIS ABOUT HOW SHE CLOSED THE FIRST ACT IN VAUDEVILLE FOR 30 YEARS, AND THAT WAS A VERY GOOD--THAT WAS--THAT WAS ONE OF THE BEST SPOTS IN THE BILL TO HAVE. UH, SO THERE WAS AT LEAST 2 ANIMAL ACTS ON--WITH-- THAT VERNON AND IRENE TRAVELED WITH, AND THEY WERE ABSOLUTELY HORRIFIED. UH, THERE WAS ACTS THAT--AGAIN, YOU CAN SEE SOME OF THEM ON YOUTUBE. UH, THERE'S ONE CALLED, UM--IT'S STILL-- PROFESSOR WELTON'S BOXING CATS, FILMED IN 1894--YOU CAN STILL SEE ON--ON, UH, THE INTERNET. UH, SO THEY HAD, UH--IRENE WAS, UH, ABSOLUTELY HORRIFIED. SHE SAID, "IT IS NOT NATURAL FOR A BEAR TO ROLLER-SKATE, A HORSE OR DOG TO LEAP ANY GREAT DISTANCE INTO WATER, OR A MONKEY TO RIDE A BICYCLE." UH, SHE WOULD BE FURIOUS WITH PE--" AUDIENCES WOULD GURGLE WITH GLEE WHEN THEY SEE A DOG DRESSED IN SOME HIDEOUS CIRCUS SUIT, BALANCING A LAMP ON HIS NOSE, OR CLIMBING LABORIOUSLY UP A GREAT, HIGH LADDER UNTIL HE'S NEARLY OUT OF SIGHT AND THEN LEAPS 30 FEET INTO A POOL BELOW. LITTLE DO THEY REALIZE IT WAS AN ELECTRIC SHOCK THROUGH THE MOUNT ON THE METAL PLATFORM, UH, THAT MADE HIM SO WILLING TO JUMP. UH, ANIMALS WERE SHOCKED WITH ELECTRICITY, STUCK WITH NEEDLES, STARVED EXCEPT FOR THE TI-- FEW TIDBITS OF REWARD WHICH MADE THEM DO THE THINGS THEY WERE AFRAID TO DO." UH, AND HAVE ANY OF YOU HAVE EVER SEEN THE DOGVILLE SHORTS THEY SHOW ON T.C.M. SOMETIMES? COME ON, YOU BIRDS. KEEP WORKIN'. BUT I'M INNOCENT. I TELL YOU, I'M INNOCENT. CAN'T YOU UNDERSTAND THAT, YOU OLD BUZZARD?! TAKE HIM AWAY AND LOCK HIM UP. COME ON, THERE. GET GOIN'. COME ON. PICK 'EM UP. NO, NO. COME ON. THEY'RE SO AWFUL, THEY'RE FUNNY. I MEAN, YOU'RE WINCING AT THE SAME TIME YOU'RE LOOKING AT THEM WITH YOUR MOUTH HANGING OPEN. THEY WERE FILMED FROM 1930--'29 TO '31, UH, BY MGM, AND THEY WERE 1- OR 2-REEL SHORTS WHERE THEY WOULD PARODY, UH, MAJOR FILMS. HAD DOGWAY MELODY AND THE BIG DOG HOUSE AND THINGS LIKE THAT. AND IT'S FUNNY, BUT AT THE SAME TIME, YOU'RE THINKING OF WHAT THESE DOGS WENT THROUGH. UH, ONE THAT IRENE PARTICULARLY--THEY WOULD BUY THE ANIMALS, UH, VERNON AND IRENE. THEY BOUGHT A BEAR ONCE THAT WAS ON A VAUDEVILLE ACT, PUT IT IN A TAXI, AND DROVE IT TO A LOCAL ZOO. [LAUGHTER] AND, UH, VERNON SAID IT'S REALLY AMAZING HOW QUICKLY THE TAXI DRIVER WILL GO WHEN YOU'VE GOT A BEAR IN THE BACK SEAT. UH, ONE OF THE THINGS THAT EVEN UPSET ME READING ABOUT IT WAS, UH, ONE OF THE, UH, ACTS THEY WERE ON IN THEIR 1914 VAUDEVILLE TOUR WAS A DOG AND MONKEY VILLAGE, WHERE, UH, THEY HAD, UH, DRESSED UP AND--YOU KNOW, DRESSED UP A WHOLE LITTLE, TINY VILLAGE OF-- OF LITTLE AUTOMOBILES AND LITTLE POLICE CARS AND LITTLE STORES ENTIRELY POPULATED BY DRESSED-UP DOGS AND MONKEYS, WHICH SOUNDS HILARIOUS AND ALL THAT. IRENE SAID THAT, UH, "ONE LITTLE DOG WAS SUPPOSED TO, UH--WAS SUPPOSED TO GET INTO A PATROL WAGON DRIVEN BY A MONKEY. UH, HE WAS SO TERRIFIED WHEN THE CURTAIN FELL, UH, AND HE FOUND HIMSELF IN THE MIDDLE OF THE STAGE. HE DIDN'T KNOW WHICH WAY TO TURN. BEFORE HE COULD ESCAPE, HIS OWNER GRABBED HIM AND WHIPPED HIM THOROUGHLY FOR HIS ERROR. THE NEXT NIGHT, THROUGH NERVOUS FEAR, HE MISSED THE WAGON AGAIN. HE WHIMPERED AND CRIED IN ANTICIPATION OF WHAT WAS COMING TO HIM, AND AGAIN HE WAS PUNISHED. WHEN HE MISSED THE CUE THE THIRD TIME, HE RUSHED PANIC-STRICKEN INTO MY DRESSING ROOM, AND WE SHUT THE DOOR AFTER HIM, YOU MAY BE SURE." SO, UH, THEY HATED IT. THEY ABSOLUTELY HATED VAUDEVILLE. THEY WERE MAKING MONEY, IT'S TRUE, BUT THEY WERE ABSOLUTELY MISERABLE. THEY DIDN'T GET THE--THEY LOVED GIVING DA--WELL, VERNON LOVED GIVING DANCING LESSONS. THEY LOVED APPEARING AT PRIVATE PARTIES, BUT VAUDEVILLE WAS-- IT WAS TOO HARD WORK, IT WAS ASSOCIATING WITH PEOPLE WHO IRENE, AT LEAST, THOUGH WERE A BIT BENEATH HER, AND MOSTLY IT WAS THE ANIMAL ACTS, SO--THERE'S NO WAY TO PROVE THEY DID THIS ON PURPOSE, BECAUSE VERNON WAS A VERY, VERY BAD BUSINESSMAN, AND HE WOULD SIGN WHATEVER CONTRACT YOU PUT IN FRONT OF HIM. BUT HE INSISTED, UH, TOWARD THE END OF THEIR ACT, THAT THEY GET $3,000 MORE A WEEK THAN THEY WERE CURRENTLY GETTING, OR THEY WOULD NOT GO ON ANYMORE. YOU DID NOT DO THIS. UH, ALL OVER VARIETY, THEY WERE CALLING THEM NAMES. THEY GOT, UH, VERY BAD PRESS BECAUSE OF THIS, AND INDEED, THEY GOT THE EXTRA MONEY, BUT THEY NEVER WORKED IN VAUDEVILLE AGAIN AFTER THAT. AND I THINK THEY DID IT ON PURPOSE, BECAUSE THEY HATED VAUDEVILLE SO MUCH, ESPECIALLY THESE ANIMAL ACTS AND THE VERY TOUGH LIFE THEY HAD TO LIVE. WHEN THEY WERE IN NEW YORK WORKING, THEY HAD THEIR BEAUTIFUL TOWNHOUSE THAT HAD BEEN IN IRENE'S FAMILY FOR 3 GENERATIONS. THEY COULD LITERALLY WALK TO THEIR THEATER. THEY COULD WALK TO THEIR LESSONS. THEY HAD A GREAT LIFE IN NEW YORK. UH, VAUDEVILLE-- IT'S EASY TO ROMANTICIZE IT, BECAUSE ESPECIALLY THERE WAS A LOT OF FILMS MADE ABOUT VAUDEVILLE IN THE THIRTIES, FORTIES, AND FIFTIES, AND OF COURSE, AS IN MOST FILMS, THEY ROMANTICIZED IT, AND, "OH, GOSH, WASN'T IT FUN? WE'LL GO OUT ON TOUR, AND WE'LL BECOME STARS." THE, UH--THE AVERAGE, UH, VAUDEVILLE HEADLINER WOULD WORK, UH, 50 WEEKS A YEAR, UH, 8 TO 12, UH, SHOWS IN ONE WEEK. UH, PARTICULARLY IF YOU HAD MATINEES, THEY WOULD PLAY IN THE AFTERNOON AND THEN PLAY IN THE EVENING. UM-- AND REMEMBER, NO BENEFITS, UH, NO KIND OF INSURANCE. YEAH, N-NO BENEFITS-- NO MEDICAL, NOTHING LIKE THAT. UM, THE FOOD AND--AND TRAVEL OUT OF THEIR OWN POCKETS. UM, TRAIN TRAVEL, UH, EVERY WEEK-- AND YOU COULD BE CANCELED ANYTIME DURING THE TOUR. SUNDAY--SUNDAY WOULD--WOULD, UH, BE THE FREE DAY THAT THEY HAD, AND THAT WAS THE TRAVEL DAY. AND DURING THE TRAVEL DAY IS WHEN THEY WOULD, UH, DO THEIR WASHING, UH, YOU KNOW, PICK UP FOOD, TAKE CARE OF OTHER INCIDENTAL BUSINESS, BECAUSE MONDAY THEY WOULD BE IN ANOTHER CITY, UH, GOING THROUGH THEIR ROUTINES AGAIN. AND THEY DID THAT CONTINUALLY FOR A YEAR, AND THEN OF COURSE, THESE PEOPLE WHO PLAYED, UH, FOR EXTENDED PERIODS OF TIME, UH, LIKE WEBER AND FIELDS OR EDDIE FOY, UH, WOULD HAVE BEEN DOING THIS FOR 30 OR 40 YEARS. YOU COULD ALSO BE CANCELED IN THE MIDDLE OF A TOUR. UH, EVA TANGUAY, FOR INSTANCE WAS-- IF SHE THOUGHT SOMEBODY WAS STEALING THE SHOW FROM HER, SINGING BETTER OR DOING BETTER SONGS, SHE WOULD EITHER HAVE YOU CANCELED OR--EVA TANGUAY WOULD BEAT THE CRAP OUT OF YOU, ACTUALLY. SHE-- [LAUGHTER] SHE--SHE BEAT THE HELL OUT OF A CHORUS GIRL ON ONE TOUR AND THREW HER DOWN A FLIGHT OF STAIRS AND WAS PROUD OF IT, TOO. UH, SO YOU COULD BE LEFT IN SOME LITTLE HICK TOWN IN THE MIDDLE OF NOWHERE WITH NO WAY TO GET BACK. UH, SOME PEOPLE ACTUALLY LEFT VAUDEVILLE SIMPLY BY OPENING UP A BOARDINGHOUSE OR GETTING A JOB IN WHATEVER TOWN THEY HAPPENED TO BE ABANDONED IN AS A SHOPGIRL OR SOMETHING LIKE THAT, UH, OR MARRYING A LOCAL. UH, IT WAS A VERY, VERY HARD LIFE. WELL, THAT WAS--THAT WAS ALWAYS THE BIGGEST RISK FOR A TRAVELING COMPANY. UH, THEY USUALLY BOOKED AHEAD OF TIME, BUT IF A THEATER BURNT DOWN, UH, IN THE CITY THAT THEY WERE SUPPOSED TO GO TO OR, UH, MANAGEMENT CLOSED OR SOMEBODY RAN OUT OF MONEY, UH, THEY WERE STRANDED. MM-HMM. NO WAY TO GET HOME. AND, UH, THEY HAD NO WAY OF GETTING BACK TO NEW YORK. WELL, I'M GOING TO, UH, GIVE ARMOND OVER FOR THE LAST OF THE VAUDEVILLE, AND THEN AFTERWARDS, I'M GONNA TALK--I'M GONNA CONTINUE WITH THE CASTLES. WILLIAM RANDOLPH HEARST, WHO OF COURSE IS THE PERSON WE'RE KIND OF CONCENTRATING ON TODAY, FINANCED AND PRODUCED IRENE CASTLE'S FIRST MAJOR FILM, AND THERE ARE SOME VERY WEIRD STORIES ABOUT THAT MOVIE WHICH I'D LIKE TO GO INTO. AND, ARMOND, I THINK YOU HAVE MORE TO SAY. ARMOND, IF I MAY, IF WE CAN-- LET'S TRY TO, UM--LET'S TRY TO CLOSE OFF THAT FORMAL PART OF YOUR PRESENTATION IN THE NEXT 15 MINUTES IF WE CAN TO TRY TO LEAVE A LITTLE TIME FOR OUR AUDIENCE. WELL, ACTUALLY, I'LL JUST TALK VERY BRIEFLY ABOUT THAT ONE FILM, THEN. THAT'S FINE. IF WE WANNA-- WE CAN TURN TO ARMOND, AND THEN, EVE, YOU CAN CLOSE IT OUT, AND THEN WE CAN TURN TO THE AUDIENCE JUST BEFORE OUR LUNCH. WELL, I'LL JUST, UH--SINCE IT'S NOT VERY LONG, UH, PATRIA, 1916 THROUGH '17, WAS A SERIAL THAT IRENE CASTLE ENTERED FILMS IN, BECAUSE VERNON HAD GONE TO WAR, AND SHE NEEDED TO FIND A NEW CAREER, SO SHE KIND OF BECAME A SECOND-STRING PEARL WHITE IN AN ADVENTURE SERIAL. UH, WILLIAM RANDOLPH HEARST HAD BEEN A FRIEND OF HERS, BECAUSE, UH, PEOPLE FORGET HOW CHARMING HE WAS, BUT HE WAS A GREAT DANCE PARTNER FOR IRENE. SHE SAID HE WAS THE ONLY WEALTHY MAN WHO REALLY KNEW HOW TO DANCE AND COULD REMEMBER THE STEPS AND HAD A REAL SPRING IN HIS KNEES, WHICH IS ESSENTIAL TO DANCING. UH, SO HE STARRED HER IN A 1916, '17 PREPAREDNESS SERIAL FOR WORLD WAR I CALLED PATRIA, IN WHICH SHE PLAYS AN HEIRESS WHO INHERITS $100 MILLION TO HELP THE UNITED STATES PREPARE FOR WAR. HE WAS VERY HANDS-ON. THIS IS THE FIRST TIME HE REALLY GOT INTO THE, UH, DAY-TO-DAY DIRECTING, NAGGING THE DIRECTORS, NAGGING THE WRITERS, ORDERING RETAKES. AND EVERYBODY ELSE IS MAKING SERIALS AND MOVIES ABOUT HOW-- YOU KNOW, THE EVIL HUN AND-- AND FIGHTING GERMANY. HEARST, FOR SOME REASON, DECIDED THAT THE UNITED STATES WAS GOING TO BE INVADED BY MEXICO AND JAPAN. [LAUGHTER] NOBODY--I WAS TALKING TO TAYLOR, WHO'S QUITE AN EXPERT ON HEARST, AND EVEN HE CAN'T FIGURE OUT WHAT THE HELL WAS GOING THROUGH HEARST'S MIND WITH MEXICO AND JAPAN. SO, UH, WARNER OLAND, WHO, UH, LATER PLAYED CHARLIE CHAN AND SEVERAL, UH, ASIAN CHARACTERS, PLAYED A JAPANESE VILLAIN WHO, UH, HAS A BUNCH OF MEXICAN HENCHMEN WHO ARE TRYING TO DESTROY THE UNITED STATES, AND IRENE CASTLE IS GOING TO SAVE THE UNITED STATES. UH, HE REALLY, UM--AGAIN, VERY HANDS-ON. HALF OF IT WAS FILMED IN FORT LEE, NEW JERSEY, AND ITHACA, NEW YORK, AND THEN THEY MOVED OUT HERE TO, UH, THE WEST COAST AND FILMED THE REST OF IT. BUT, UM, IT WAS--SOME OF THE WORST ADVERTISING EVER, BECAUSE OF COURSE HE WOULD SERIALIZE IT IN HIS NEWSPAPERS, AND HE WOULD SERIALIZE IT IN HIS MAGAZINES, AND THEY CALLED IT, UM--ONE OF MY FAVORITE--OH. THE LOS ANGELES TIMES CALLED IT "A SUPER MOTION PICTURE OF UNRIVALED ARTISTIC BEAUTY AND EPOCH-MAKING MAGNIFICENCE." [LAUGHTER] SOME OF IT STILL EXISTS, SO YOU CAN SEE IT. UH, THERE'S--IN SOME LIBRARIES. BUT THE BEST-- AND THIS RAN IN A HEARST, UH, PAPER TRYING TO CONVINCE, UH, DISTRIBUTORS TO CARRY IT. "AN ATTRACTION THAT WILL BRING MONEY INTO THE BOX OFFICE IN A GOLDEN STREAM." [LAUGHTER] IT'S PROBABLY THE WORST ADVERTISING LINE EVER. UH, THE REVIEWS WERE NOT TOO BAD. THEY WERE KIND OF--IT'S NOT A BAD FILM, REALLY. IT'S A CUTE LITTLE SERIAL. UH, THE DETROIT NEWS TRIBUNE, WHICH--CAN SOMEBODY TELL ME, WAS THE DETROIT NEWS TRIBUNE A HEARST PAPER? NO, IT WASN'T. WELL, THAT PROBABLY EXPLAINS THIS, THEN. UH, IT SAYS, "IRENE WAS HARASSED BY ENEMIES OF THE UNITED STATES, JAPS, IT SEEMS, OR GERMANS OR PARTHENIANS OR IGUMINIANS OR SOMETHING OF THAT SORT." [LAUGHTER] "THEY SHOOT AT HER, KILL PEOPLE, BURN HER HOME, THROW HER IN THE DRINK TO DROWN, DANCE WITH HER AND PROBABLY KICK HER SHINS, AND EVEN STEAL HER $100 MILLION DEFENSE FUND. IN THE END, SHE BAFFLES, DEFEATS, AND OVERTHROWS THEM AND SAVES THE UNITED STATES, WHICH IS AWFULLY KIND OF HER." [LAUGHTER] NOW, HEARST--WE WERE TALKING EARLIER ABOUT THE, UH--HOW MUCH HANDS-ON INTEREST THESE PEOPLE HAD, LIKE KENNEDY AND--AND, UM, HEARST HAD IN THEIR MOVIEMAKING. HEARST REALLY GOT INTO THIS. HE INSISTED ON RETAKES WHEN HE DIDN'T LIKE--HE THOUGHT THAT, "YOU COULDN'T TELL WHETHER THE VILLAINS WERE SUPPOSED TO BE BLACK OR JAPANESE OR MEXICAN, SO WILL YOU PLEASE REDO THEIR MAKEUP AND RESHOOT THEIR SCENES." HE NOTICED-- THE DIRECTOR DIDN'T NOTICE THAT A DEAD BODY CHANGED POSITIONS DURING ONE OF THE SCENES. "PLEASE GO BACK AND RESHOOT THAT." UH, HE THOUGHT THAT WE NEEDED, UH--WHICH IS INTERESTING. THERE WERE TOO MANY ACTION SCENES. HE THOUGHT HE NEEDED SOMETHING FOR THE FEMALE AUDIENCE AND, "PLEASE THEN SHOOT A SCENE WHERE IRENE CASTLE GOES UPSTAIRS AND CHANGES CLOTHING." AND THE POOR WRITER SAID, "WE'RE IN ONE ACTION SCENE WHERE A HOUSE IS BURNING DOWN, IN ANOTHER ACTION SCENE WHERE SHE'S BEING CHASED THROUGH THE WOODS, AND I HAVE TO THINK OF SOME WAY TO JUST GET HER UPSTAIRS TO CHANGE CLOTHING." [LAUGHTER] SO HE THREW, LIKE, A TEA PARTY AND--WHERE YOU NEVER ACTUALLY SEE THE TEA PARTY, BUT IRENE SAYS, "OH, I HAVE TO CHANGE FOR THIS TEA PARTY," AND THEN YOU GET A NICE--SO HEARST THOUGHT OF THINGS LIKE THAT. HE THOUGHT, "WELL, WE'VE GOT TOO MUCH ACTION GOING ON. WE NEED SOMETHING FOR THE FEMALE AUDIENCES." AND I THINK IT'S INTERESTING. THIS IS WAY BEFORE THE MARION DAVIES YEARS. HE ALREADY MET MARION BY THEN, BUT HE HAD NOT STARTED REALLY WORKING ON FILMS WITH HER, AND HE WAS ALREADY THINKING IN TERMS OF WHAT MAKES A GOOD MOVIE, WHAT'S GOING TO BRING THE AUDIENCES IN, WHAT REALLY KEEPS THE ACTION FLOWING. AND, UH, PATRIA, I THINK, WAS THE FIRST TIME THAT HE REALLY GOT INTO THE HANDS-ON, DAY-TO-DAY MAKING OF A FILM. AND I THINK THAT'S ABOUT IT FOR ME, ALTHOUGH I MIGHT HOP IN ONCE IN A WHILE IF I HAVE ANYTHING TO ADD ON WHAT YOU'RE SAYING ABOUT VAUDEVILLE. YEAH. YOU KNOW, THAT, UH, VERNON GOT HIS START, UH-- WITH YOUR UNCLE. IN A--IN A LEW FIELDS PRODUCTION. YES. UH, LEW FIELDS WAS PRACTICALLY A GRANDFATHER TO VERNON. JUST ABOUT, YEAH. YEAH, HE WAS--UH, VERNON CAME TO THE UNITED STATES WHEN HE WAS ABOUT 19 WITH HIS SISTER, WHO WAS AN ACTRESS, AND HUNG AROUND BACKSTAGE, AND LEW FIELDS PRACTICALLY ADOPTED HIM AND DEVELOPED VERNON INTO, REALLY, A VERY BRIGHT, PROMISING TALENTED COMIC ACTOR. AND THEN HE MET IRENE AND DISCOVERED--HE'D NEVER BEEN TRAINED AS A DANCER. THIS WAS ALL SELF-TAUGHT, AND HE DISCOVERED HE WAS AN ABSOLUTE GENIUS, NOT ONLY A-AS A DANCER, BUT AS A CH--TEACHER AND CHOREOGRAPHER. BUT, REALLY, YOUR--YOUR FAMILY GOT HIM STARTED. AFTER, UH, VERNON APPEARED IN 3 LEW FIELDS SHOWS, UH, THEY WERE PREPARING FOR A FOURTH ONE, AND VERNON BROUGHT IRENE... WHO WANTED TO BE AN ACTRESS. TO THE REHEARSAL AND PERSUADED LEW TO INCLUDE HER, UH, IN THE CHORUS OF THAT PARTICULAR, UH, SHOW. AND THEY LATER BECAME FRIENDS, BUT LEW FIELDS REALLY RESENTED HER FOR A WHILE... YES, HE DID. HE DID. FOR STEALING VERNON AWAY AND MAKING A DANCER OUT OF HIM. AND IN THE, UM--THE MOVIE THE STORY OF VERNON AND IRENE CASTLE, LEW FIELDS PLAYED HIMSELF, BUT HE PLAYED HIMSELF AS A 30-YEAR-OLD EVEN THOUGH HE WAS OVER 50, AND--AND IF YOU SEE THE MOVIE, UH, YOU CAN TELL THE DIFFERENCE. [LAUGHTER] WELL, I THINK I'VE ABOUT RUN OUT OF AIR AND MATERIAL, SO I WILL CERTAINLY TAKE QUESTIONS LATER ON, BUT I THINK I WILL TURN IT OVER TO ARMOND FOR MORE ON VAUDEVILLE. I'M GONNA TALK NOW ABOUT THE 1930s. WE PRETTY WELL COVERED THE--THE TWENTIES. UM, AND I CALL THIS THE DECADE OF THE MOVIE MUSICAL. THE STUDIOS HAD REALIZED THAT THE PUBLIC WOULD NOT ATTEND MOVIES UNLESS THEY SERVED AS AN ESCAPE FROM THE TRIALS OF DAILY LIFE. REMEMBER, THIS IS 1930. THIS IS THE HEART OF THE DEPRESSION. AHEM. SO WHAT THE STUDIOS DID WAS THEY REACHED OUT TO COMPOSERS AND LYRICISTS IN NEW YORK, SEDUCING THEM WITH HIGH SALARIES, BIG OFFICES, AND THE HOLLYWOOD MYSTIQUE, AND HAD THEM WRITE, UM, MUSICAL AFTER MUSICAL AFTER MUSICAL TO PRESENT TO THE PUBLIC. AS A MATTER OF FACT, OVER 100 MUSICALS WERE WRITTEN IN 1930 ALONE. UH, MOST OF THEM WERE FLOPS, UM, BECAUSE THE PEOPLE FROM NEW YORK COULD NOT ADJUST TO THE STUDIO DEMANDS OF ASKING YOU TO WRITE A SONG AND HAVE IT READY IN 2 HOURS, UM, OR, UM, "HERE'S A, UH, NEW MOVIE, AND WE'RE GONNA BE SHOOTING IT STARTING NEXT WEEK, AND WE WOULD LIKE 10 SONGS TO, UH, BE INCLUDED IN IT. YOU KNOW, SIT DOWN AND WRITE THEM FOR US." AND OF COURSE THE, UH, COMPOSERS AND LYRICISTS FROM NEW YORK NEVER, UH, HAD THAT KIND OF AN EXPERIENCE. THERE WERE A COUPLE OF ATTEMPTS IN 1931 TO KIND OF CHANGE THE MANNER IN WHICH THE MOVIE MUSICAL WOULD BE DONE IN ORDER TO ATTRACT, UH, CUSTOMERS, UH, BETTER THAN, UH, THEY HAD BEEN. UM, BUT, UH, COLE PORTER, UH, IRVING BERLIN, AND A GERMAN IMPORT CAUGHT THE PUBLIC'S EYE. PORTER WROTE, UH, A MUSICAL CALLED FIFTY MILLION FRENCHMEN-- FRESH, WITTY, TUNE-FILLED. BERLIN WROTE REACHING FOR THE MOON, LIKEWISE VERY, VERY TUNE-FILLED. BUT IT WAS A GERMAN IMPORT, MARLENE DIETRICH, THAT CATERED TO THE NEW PUBLIC APPEALS, SINGING FALLING IN LOVE AGAIN IN HER HIT, THE BLUE ANGEL. NOW, MARLENE SANG VERY, VERY FEW SONGS IN ANY OF HER SHOWS, BUT THEY WERE ALL HITS, AND IT CREATED SUCH AN INTEREST IN PEOPLE SINGING IN THE MOVIES THAT, UH, SHE KIND OF SET THE STAGE. UM... AT PARAMOUNT, RODGERS AND HART PRODUCED A MUSICAL COMEDY THAT PARALLELED THEIR UNIQUE STAGE WORK, CALLED THE HOT HEIRESS. IT WAS FOLLOWED BY ONE OF THEIR BEST PICTURES, LOVE ME TONIGHT. THIS WAS IN 1931. IT FEATURED A SONG SUNG BY A CURRENT CROWD PLEASER AT THAT TIME, MAURICE CHEVALIER, AND THE SONG WAS ISN'T IT ROMANTIC? I BET YOU SOME OF YOU COULD STILL HUM IT. THE SONG SOLD A MILLION RECORDS AND ALERTED THE PUBLIC TO MORE OF THE SAME IN THE FUTURE. IN '33, RODGERS AND HART PRODUCED HALLELUJAH I'M A BUM, STARRING AL JOLSON. BUT THE STUDIO DIDN'T APPRECIATE THE TEAM, AND THEY RETURNED TO NEW YORK. THEIR BEST SONG, BLUE MOON, HAD BEEN CUT FROM AN INTENDED PICTURE. OTHER COMPOSERS AND LYRICISTS FOUND IT HARD TO WORK WITH THE STUDIOS BECAUSE OF THEIR RIGIDITY AND WORK DEMANDS, BUT STAYED ON BECAUSE OF THE MONEY. ALONG CAME BUSBY BERKELEY, A DANCE DIRECTOR AT WARNER, WHO STAGED DANCE SEQUENCES INTO MOVING ART IMAGES. 42nd STREET IN 1932 WAS A HIT BECAUSE OF BERKELEY'S INNOVATIVE ROUTINES. THE SHOW PRODUCED A PLOT CLICHE THAT REMAINS TODAY, THE HARD-NOSED BROADWAY DIRECTOR LITERALLY DYING FOR A NEW HIT, THE EGOTISTICAL STAR WHO BREAKS AN ANKLE, MAKING WAY FOR THE CHORUS GIRL WHO TAKES OVER THE STAR'S ROLE ON OPENING NIGHT AND TRIUMPHS. BERKELEY USUALLY FEATURED RUBY KEELER AND DICK POWELL. THE SONGS CAME FROM HARRY WARREN, AL DUBIN, AND JOHNNY MERCER, LIKE SHUFFLE OFF TO BUFFALO, WE'RE IN THE MONEY, AND THE LULLABY OF BROADWAY. 2 EQUALLY SIGNIFICANT FACTORS EMERGED ABOUT THIS TIME THAT STRONGLY INFLUENCED THE FUTURE OF MUSICAL COMEDIES. FIRST, THE MAJOR STUDIOS HIRED WILL HAYS TO RESTORE THE INDUSTRY'S REPUTATION. HE PASSED EDICTS LIKE SCREEN KISSES, UH, WERE ALWAYS CLOSED-MOUTHED AND LIMITED TO 6 SECONDS. NO DOUBLE BEDS, UH, IN THE MOVIES. SUCH WORDS AS "BROAD, HOLD YOUR HAT, AND PREGNANT," WERE PROHIBITED. WHEN THE CATHOLIC CHURCH FORMED THE LEAGUE OF DECENCY IN 1934, THE HAYS OFFICE BECAME EVEN STRONGER, AND THE STUDIOS WERE FORCED INTO COMPLIANCE. THE PRODUCTION CODE ADMINISTRATION TOOK PART IN THE WRITING, FILMING, AND POST-EDITING OF EVERY PROJECT FROM 1934 THROUGH THE MID-SIXTIES. STUDIOS NOW HAD TO FIND A WAY TO BRING SEX AND ROMANCE WITHIN THE CODE-FRIENDLY TERMS. SECOND, LOUELLA PARSONS BECAME A HOLLYWOOD REPORTER FOR THE HEARST NEWSPAPERS. HER ARTICLES, FILLED WITH INNUENDO, TALL TALES, AND GOSSIP, AFFECTED THE LIVES OF PERFORMERS AND THE OPERATION OF STUDIOS FOR MANY YEARS. A YOUNG DANCER WENT OUT ON HIS OWN WHEN HIS SISTER PARTNER QUIT THE TEAM AND GOT MARRIED. AS SUPPORTING PLAYERS IN THE MOVIE FLYING DOWN TO RIO, FRED ASTAIRE AND GINGER ROGERS DANCED THE CARIOCA. IT BECAME THE HIGHLIGHT OF THE FILM AND CATAPULTED THEM INTO A SERIES OF STAR VEHICLES THAT SOLD MILLIONS. THE GAY DIVORCEE, 1934, THAT HAD THEM FALL IN LOVE WITH COLE PORTER'S NIGHT AND DAY. TOP HAT HAD SONGS BY IRVING BERLIN, INCLUDING THE CLASSIC CHEEK TO CHEEK. THEY MADE 5 MORE FILMS, ALL HIGHLY SUCCESSFUL. SONGS LIKE LET'S FACE THE MUSIC AND DANCE, THE WAY YOU LOOK TONIGHT, LET'S CALL THE WHOLE THING OFF, YOU CAN'T TAKE THAT AWAY FROM ME BECAME NATIONAL FAVORITES FOR SINGING AND DANCING. A RECORDING AND RADIO SINGER WAS PICKED UP BY PARAMOUNT AND FEATURED IN THE BIG BROADCAST, 1932. HE WAS BING CROSBY. HE WENT ON TO APPEAR IN 3 MORE OF THE FILMS AND INTRODUCING FILMS LIKE TEMPTATION, PENNIES FROM HEAVEN, AND BLUE HAWAII. GOLDWYN, NOT TO BE OUTDONE, PRODUCED 6 MUSICALS STARRING BROADWAY COMEDIAN EDDIE CANTOR. CANTOR INTRODUCED SUCH SONGS AS MAKING WHOOPEE AND MY BABY JUST CARES FOR ME. FROM FOX CAME SHIRLEY TEMPLE, ALICE FAYE, AND SONJA HENIE. IN 1935, FOX MERGED WITH 20th CENTURY STUDIOS, AND UNDER DARRYL ZANUCK, THESE WOMEN BECAME MUSICAL STARS. EVEN DISNEY TRIED HIS HAND IN THE MUSICAL FIELD WITH SNOW WHITE AND THE SEVEN DWARFS, WITH SONGS LIKE HEIGH-HO AND SOME DAY MY PRINCE WILL COME. AT THE TIME, MGM WAS THE MOST WELL-FUNDED STUDIO IN THE BUSINESS. LED BY IRVING THALBERG, THEY PRODUCED THE MERRY WIDOW WITH CHEVALIER AND JEANETTE MacDONALD AND ELEANOR POWELL IN 5 DANCING MOVIES. HER BEGIN THE BEGUINE WITH FRED ASTAIRE PROVED TO BE THE MOST ELECTRIFYING TAP DUET HOLLYWOOD EVER FILMED. MacDONALD BECAME FAMOUS WHEN TEAMED WITH NELSON EDDY, 5 FILMS THROUGH 1940. THEIR DUET OF INDIAN LOVE CALL REMAINS A CLASSIC TODAY. BY THE END OF THE 1930s, MOVIE MUSICALS LOST SOME OF THEIR FOLLOWING. THE OMINOUS SIGNS OF WAR WERE CHANGING PEOPLE'S TASTES. OVER THE PAST DECADE, THE MARKET HAD BEEN GLUTTED WITH MUSICALS UNTIL THEY REACHED CONSUMER SATIATION. PEOPLE WERE GETTING TIRED OF MUSICALS, AND BESIDES, THE COUNTRY WAS ENJOYING RENEWED PROSPERITY. BUT MOVIE MUSICALS HAD BEEN A BONANZA TO STUDIOS, TO PERFORMERS, TO RECORD COMPANIES, TO RADIO STATIONS, TO DANCE BANDS, AND TO THE PSYCHE OF A NATION AT A TIME WHEN IT WAS NEEDED. [APPLAUSE] WITH THANKS VERY MUCH TO OUR PANEL, WE HAVE TIME FOR A COUPLE OF QUESTIONS. IF, UH, THE AUDIENCE WOULD LIKE TO POSE SOME QUESTIONS, PLEASE FEEL FREE TO COME RIGHT UP HERE TO THESE LITTLE WHITE SQUARES AND ASK YOUR QUESTIONS. I'M GONNA TAKE THE PREROGATIVE OF THE MODERATOR TO ASK ONE QUICK QUESTION ABOUT THE HAYS CODE. EUPHEMISM FOR "HOLD ON TO YOUR HAT," WHAT IS THAT REFERRING TO? ANYONE KNOW? I CAN'T SAY, UH-- I'D LIKE TO-- ANYONE IN THE AUDIENCE KNOW? WELL, A LITTLE RESEARCH PROJECT, THEN. OK, GO RIGHT AHEAD. I HAVE A QUESTION, AND IT HAS TO DO WITH THE, UH, VERY HEATED CONTROVERSY THAT TOOK PLACE IN THE 40-YEAR PERIOD AFTER EIGHTEEN EI--1880, AND THAT HAD TO DO WITH--UH, THE CONTROVERSY HAD TO DO WITH THE, UH, MORAL CONTENT OF ENTERTAINMENT DURING THAT PERIOD. WE KNOW HOW IT HIT HOLLYWOOD. DID IT ALSO AFFECT VAUDEVILLE? AND THE PROBLEM, AS IT DEVELOPED, DID THAT COME FROM VAUDEVILLE, OR DID IT HAVE NOTHING TO DO WITH THE PROBLEM? WELL, TONY PASTOR, WHO YOU CERTAINLY KNOW A LOT ABOUT, UH, REALLY CHAMPIONED CLEAN VARIETY. HE DIDN'T EVEN LIKE THE TERM VAUDEVILLE. UH, VAUDEVILLE WAS ACTUALLY KNOWN FOR ITS FAMILY-FRIENDLY ATMOSPHERE. UH, BURLESQUE--WHAT WE THINK OF AS BURLESQUE, THE REALLY NAUGHTY BURLESQUE, ACTUALLY STARTED OUT AS THE CLASSICAL MEANING OF IT, WHICH MEANS A PARODY, BUT THEY KIND OF, I THINK, VEERED OFF. BURLESQUE WAS THE-- THE NAUGHTIER--VAUDEVILLE WAS VERY CLEAN, UH, AS YOU CAN SEE BY THE--WHAT THE KEITH-ORPHEUM PEOPLE DID. WELL, THERE ARE--FIRST OF ALL, THERE ARE 2 KINDS OF BURLESQUE. THERE'S THE BURLESQUE THAT WAS SHOWN IN THE 1870s AND THE 1880s, WHICH IS NOTHING MORE THAN SATIRE AND TRAVESTY AND HAD NO GIRLIE SHOW OF ANY KIND IN IT AT WHAT--AT ALL. THE BURLESQUE WHICH STARTED AFTER WORLD WAR I WAS THE GIRLIE SHOWS. MIND YOU, PEOPLE WERE ALWAYS SUSPICIOUS OF THE OFF-SCREEN--I MEAN, THE OFFSTAGE CHARACTER OF ACTORS, CHORUS GIRLS, AND PEOPLE LIKE THAT, BUT VAUDEVILLE ITSELF WAS REALLY WHISTLE-CLEAN, VERY FAMILY-FRIENDLY. YEAH. BEFORE VAUDEVILLE, THERE WAS VARIETY. UH, VARIETY WA--REALLY CAME OF AGE, UH, DURING THE CIVIL WAR. AND, UH, MOST OF THE VARIETY HOUSES, UH, WERE NEXT TO THE CONCERT SALOONS, UH, ON BOWERY--UH, AND IN FACT, UH, THEY STRETCHED FOR SEVERAL MILES. AND THE WAITER GIRLS, WHO ALSO SERVED AS PROSTITUTES, UH, WORKED THESE CONCERT HALLS AND THESE VARIETY HOUSES. UH, AFTER THE CIVIL WAR, A COUPLE OF VARIETY HOUSES FOUND THAT IF THEY INVITED WOMEN TO THE THEATER, THAT THEY WOULD LITERALLY DOUBLE THEIR AUDIENCE. AND THEY STARTED GOING CLEAN, AND BY THAT, I MEAN THEY STOPPED SMOKING, THEY STOPPED DRINKING, AND THEY STOPPED THE PERFORMERS FROM ANY BLUE, UH, TYPE OF, UH, ROUTINES. UH, THEN ALONG CAME TONY PASTOR, AND, UH, TONY WAS THE ONE WHO REALLY TURNED VARIETY INTO VAUDEVILLE AND MADE IT A C--A TOTALLY, COMPL-- COMPLETELY CLEAN ACT. SO THE DECLINE OF VAUDEVILLE HAD NOTHING TO DO WITH THE MORAL CONTROVERSY THAT STRUCK DURING THAT PERIOD OF TIME? NOT THAT I CAN SEE, NO. NO. HOW 'BOUT RIGHT HERE? YES, I HAVE A QUESTION. AS FAR AS HOW THESE, UH--COUPLE THINGS IS COULD YOU DESCRIBE THE VAUDEVILLE THEATER? I MEAN, WAS IT A--IN, LIKE, A ROOM LIKE THIS. WAS IT HIGH CEILING? WAS THE CEILING LOW? UM, WERE THERE SEATS AFFIXED? WERE THERE CHAIRS THAT--WERE THERE DIFFERENT SECTIONS? IT COMPLETELY VARIED. SECTIONS TO THE THEATER THAT COST MORE OR COST LESS? EVERY--EVERY THEATER-- HOW MUCH? EVERY THEATER WAS A LITTLE BIT DIFFERENT THAN ONE ANOTHER, BUT THE TYPICAL VAUDEVILLE THEATER HAD A--A, UH, FAIRLY LARGE STAGE WITH A--A SOMETIMES VERY FANCY PROSCENIUM, UH, AND THE STAGE WAS KIND OF DEEP, BECAUSE IF THEY HAD ACTS, UH, OF 10, 12, 15 PEOPLE, UH, YOU NEEDED ALL THAT ROOM ON THE STAGE. UH, RIGHT BELOW THE FRONT OF THE STAGE WAS THE PIT, AND THAT'S WHERE THE ORCHESTRA SAT, AND, UH, THEN RIGHT BEHIND THE ORCHESTRA WERE THE BOX SEATS. THOSE WERE THE MOST EXPENSIVE. HOW MUCH WERE THOSE? BECAUSE THE PEOPLE WERE CLOSEST TO THE STAGE. UH, THEY RAN A DOLLAR TO $1.50. UH, ON THE SIDES, UH, WHERE YOU STILL HAVE THEM IN TODAY'S THEATERS, THOSE WERE THE, UH--THEY CALLED THEM THE BOXES, BUT THEY HAD PLUSH CHAIRS, AND, UM, OF COURSE THEY WERE ABLE TO LOOK DOWN ON THE--THE STAGE ITSELF. THEN BEHIND THE BOX SEATS, YOU HAD WHAT WAS CALLED THE PARQUET, AND THOSE WERE THE 50-CENT SEATS THAT WENT TO THE BACK OF THE THEATER. THEN YOU HAD THE BALCONY, AND THE BALCONY WERE THE CHEAP SEATS. THEY WERE 25 CENTS, UM, FOR THE BETTER THEATERS, 10 CENTS FOR THE LESSER, UH, VAUDEVILLE HOUSES. AND THE PEOPLE WHO WERE UP IN THE BALCONY WERE USUALLY OBVIOUSLY THE PEOPLE WHO COULD LEAST AFFORD GOING INTO A-- A VAUDEVILLE HOUSE, AND WHICH MEANT THAT YOU HAD, UM, A LOT OF THE, UM, IMMIGRANTS OF THE DAY, UH, BEING IN, UH, THE BALCONY. UM, BACK THEN-- OF COURSE, THAT'S IF YOU'RE PLAYING THE LARGE CIRCUITS. WOULD THEY BE SELLING ALCOHOL, OR--OR WOULD THEY BE SELLING THE DRINK OR FOOD OR PEANUTS OR ANYTHING? WOULD THEY--WOULD THEY SELL THESE? ARE PEOPLE EATING THIS WHILE THE SHOWS ARE GOING? ANYTHING LIKE THAT? NOT ALCOHOL. THEY WOULD-- THEY WOULD HAVE, UH, FOOD THAT YOU COULD BRING IN, PEANUTS AND THINGS LIKE THAT, BUT THEY DEFINITELY WOULD NOT SELL ALCOHOL IN A VAUDEVILLE THEATER. NO. NO. AND I WANNA ADD THAT ON THE SMALLER CIRCUITS-- THERE MIGHT BE AN ADJACENT SALOON, YOU--NEXT DOOR TO THE THEATER, BUT NO ALCOHOL IN THE THEATER ITSELF. EVE. ON THE SMALLER CIRCUITS, YOU WOULD HAVE, UH, ROOMS LIKE THIS. YOU WOULD HAVE SCHOOLROOMS. YOU WOULD HAVE TENTS, FOR INSTANCE. THERE WAS A, UH, ENTIRE BLACK VAUDEVILLE CIRCUIT THAT HAD SOME BIG THEATERS, BUT THEY ALSO HAD, UH, CHURCHES, SCHOOLROOMS, AUDITORIUMS, SO IT REALLY VARIED WIDELY, UH, AND YOU HAD TO BE PREPARED TO WORK IN ANY BIG OR TINY, LITTLE THEATER THEY PUT YOU IN. THANK YOU VERY MUCH. IN THE, UH--IN THE--AROUND THE FIRST WORLD WAR, UH, WAS THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE CABARET, AND THE CABARET DID SERVE ALCOHOL. UH, IT ALSO GAVE SHOWS. UH, BUT, UH, IT WAS A PLACE THAT DID SERVE, UH, ALCOHOL. LET'S HAVE ONE FINAL QUESTION BEFORE WE BREAK FOR OUR LUNCH. WHAT ARE THE BEST, MOST REPRESENTATIONAL VAUDEVILLE PERFORMANCES ON SILENT FILM THAT REALLY SHOW THE TRANSITION OF WHAT VAUDEVILLE WOULD HAVE BEEN LIKE ON THE FILM? AND ALSO ARE THERE ANY PERFORMERS TODAY THAT YOU FEEL LIKE REALLY REPRESENT, UH, A VAUDEVILLE STYLE? WELL, NOT SO MUCH ON SILENT FILM, BUT IN THE EARLY YEARS, UH, IN THE 1920s, A LOT OF PERFORMERS DID MAKE THESE SHORTS. AND AS A MATTER OF FACT, A LOT OF THEM HAVE BEEN RELEASED ON DVD, SO YOU CAN SEE EARLY PERFORMERS LIKE--SHAW AND LEE, WHO ARE HILARIOUS. T.C.M. SHOWED A BUNCH OF THESE RECENTLY. UH, EDDIE CANTOR AND, UH, WEBER AND FIELDS AND SOPHIE TUCKER, HELEN MORGAN, AND A LOT OF THE SMALLER ACTS, LIKE, UM--WELL, BLOSSOM SEELEY AND BENNY FIELDS, WHO, YOU KNOW, A LOT OF PEOPLE HAVE NOT HEARD OF TODAY, WHO WERE A HUGE ACT IN THEIR DAY. SO, UH, GIVE A LOOK. UM, THERE HAVE BEEN DVDs, RECENTLY RELEASING BY-- I THINK IT'S BY FOX, UH, WHO RELEASED A 2-DVD SET OF VAUDEVILLE PERFORMERS IN SHORTS. UH, BURNS AND ALLEN IN THEIR VERY EARLY INCARNATION. UH, AL JOLSON DID A, UM, VAUDEVILLE ACT BEFORE THE JAZZ SINGER EVEN. IN, I THINK, 1926, HE FILMED ONE OF HIS VAUDEVILLE ROUTINES. EDDIE CANTOR WAS FILMING HIS VAUDEVILLE ROUTINES AS EARLY AS THE MID-TWENTIES. YOU REALLY CAN'T SEE THEM IN SILENTS. UH, THEY DID APPEAR--THE CASTLES APPEARED IN SILENTS, BUT IT REALLY DOESN'T SHOW OFF ANY OF THEIR VOCAL TECHNIQUE. SO I WOULD SEARCH FOR THE-- THE VERY EARLIEST SOUND SHORTS. FORTUNATELY NOT ALL OF THEM HAVE SURVIVED, BUT ENOUGH HAS, AND ENOUGH HAVE BEEN RELEASED ON DVD, SO YOU CAN STILL SEE THEM TODAY. AND AGAIN, GO ON YOUTUBE. DO SOME SEARCHING FOR THEM ON THERE, 'CAUSE THEY WILL SHOW UP THERE. THANK YOU, EVE. PLEASE JOIN ME IN THANKING OUR DISTINGUISHED PANEL FOR THAT GREAT OVERVIEW. [APPLAUSE]
