#phonofilm

[grindhousecellar]

[felixkeepswalking]

Max and Dave Fleischer began making cartoons set to songs in 1924, 4 years before the release of Steamboat Willie.  While some of the films were actually silent but designed to be shown with accompanying music in the theater, they made 19 films using the Phonofilm sound-on-film process that had been invented by Lee de Forest in 1919 and then improved by his partner Theodore Case in the early 1920s.  Case and de Forest had a falling out that led to their company going bankrupt in 1926.  One of their former technicians leaked their secrets to competitor Pat Powers, and Powers then convinced Walt Disney to use to use his “Powers Cinephone” for Steamboat Willie.

[trudihannah]

Phonofilm, Rivoli Theatre, New York

[gillianschwab]

Brooke Johns and Phonofilm...

In 1926 Brooke Johns and Goodee Montgomery were recorded performing a rendition of the song I'm In Love Again on DeForest Phonofilm, a sound on film system that featured synchronised audio. To promote the new recording system to film studios, DeForest recorded a number short films featuring vaudeville and music hall acts.

In 1976 five Phonofilms were found in a trunk in Australia and restored by the National Film and Sound Archive. I'm In Love Again was one of the five.

DeForest never managed to interest any Hollywood film studios in using Phonofilm, but the films are amazing pieces of performance history.

 Seriously, how cool are these guys?!