I saw an interesting chapter in audio history last night. It is in the DVD collection Unseen Cinema (Early American Avant-Garde Film 1894-1941). Disc six is "The amateur as auter," films of amateur American filmmakers from 1924 to 1939.

The first section is by Theodore Case and E. I. Sponable and consists of sound tests from the development of early cinema sound. Case had assisted Lee DeForest (the inventor of the triode) in developing the Phonofilm sound-on-film system. They fell out and Case and Sponable built a lab behind Case's family home in Auburn, New York.

Their optical sound system was sold to William Fox and became known as the fabulous "Movietone." These eight little films are recording tests of musicians, a Chinese man playing ukulele and singing a very strange version of "Yessir That's My Baby," Gus Visser and His Singing Duck (!), but most interestingly Case himself speaking, reciting, etc. In one he informs that microphone number five is being tested with its new quartz slip - screen I think - only a mil thick including the glue that holds it on. He then proceeds to blow in five directions, asking the viewer if he can feel the air move when watching the film. Watching this, I kept thinking of Ash and Steve Schell. By the way, the sound was quite good. It has an edge to it.

This is an expensive collection, but perhaps it can be rented. It is a seven DVD set, so beware of a very low price for it. That would generally be a single disc.

I must digress and add that I am grateful to whoever put this together, it is an experience I can not compare anything to. On just this one disc are 175 minutes of unique films. "Windy Ledge Farm" is so evocative and innocent a documentary I was shaken by it. I was actually disappointed to be back in our own time when it was over and I "came to" after my very willing suspension of disbelief. "Haiti" was accompanied by solo piano music by Eric Satie and somehow reminded me of Edward Hopper's painting, Alfred Stieglitz's photography and Oscar Levant playing Gershwin all at the same time. I mentioned four geniuses there for those who don't recognize them. "Bicycle Polo At San Mateo" is just what it says and I had no idea, and it is great filmmaking. "1126 Dewey Ave, Apt 207" is an experimental film, pure and simple. And a quietly spooky one. These are home movies by talents greater than most mortals.

On another disc is a film of New York by Robert Flaherty himself, "24 Dollar Island," 1926. Stunning. Busby Berkeley's "Lullaby of Broadway" sequence from Gold Diggers of 1935 is there too, his darkest, heaviest moment as a director. This is one hell of a collection and even film buffs like myself will not have ever seen most of it before.

A nice review: http://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/18547/unseen-cinema/

Clark