SECTION MEETING REPORT

The Hollywood Section’s April 27 meeting was the fourth in an annual series centered on showing historical theatrical short subjects.  The section again took advantage of the generosity of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, using their Linwood Dunn Theater in Hollywood .

The theme of the evening was twofold: Short subjects were often used as technical experiments, using sound and color before these were committed to full feature production.  The second point was that many shorts were photographed by major Directors of Photography, during periods when they weren’t assigned to a feature.

The screening was preceded by a get-together in the theater lobby, with refreshments provided by Dick Millais of International Video Conversions (IVC).

The program opened with the 1938 Warner Bros. cartoon PORKY IN WACKYLAND, after which Daniel Rosen, the section’s secretary/treasurer gave the opening introductions.  He was followed by past chair Richard May, who described the theme of the evening’s selections.

Next was the showing of QUARTETTE FROM RIGOLETTO (1927), demonstrating use of sound originally recorded to Vitaphone discs,  BABY ROSE MARIE: THE CHILD WONDER (1929), a more refined use of Vitaphone sound, and THE DEVIL’S CABARET (1930), and MGM short using two-color Technicolor.

Guest speaker Roy Wagner, ASC told about the career of W. Howard Greene, who photographed the next short, a 1936 Warner Bros. subject CHANGING OF THE GUARD.  This was shot in 3-color Technicolor by Mr. Greene, who was renowned for his work with early color film s, and received seven Academy Award nominations, winning two.

The next short was the Robert Benchley MGM comedy A NIGHT AT THE MOVIES (1935).

Mr. Wagner then told about the career of Edwin DuPar, who film ed a tremendous number of shorts at Warner Bros., as well as many features.  Two of his shorts were then shown: PIE, PIE BLACKBIRD (1932) and Ps AND CUES (1938).

After this, he told about Ernest Haller, who directed the photography of many major features of the 1930s and 1940s, including being the primary D.P.s on GONE WITH THE WIND.

The program concluded with the showing of the 1941 Technicolor short GAY PARISIAN, a film ed production of the ballet “Gaite Parisienne”, with the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo.

75 people attended, with guests from the American Society of Cinematographers and the Academy.

SUBMITTED BY:
Name:  Richard P. May                                                   Section Officer Title:   Past Chair
Company Affiliation & Contact Tel. No.: Warner Bros.  818 977-2323

FORM #4