Broadway Brevities are two-reel (17–21 minutes long) musical and dramatic

film short A film also called a movie, motion picture, moving picture, picture, photoplay or (slang) flick is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, feelings, beauty, or atmosphere ...

s produced by

Warner Bros. Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California, and a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Di ...

between 1931 and 1943. The series continued as Warner Specials in later years.

Overview

Other titles used for these black and white two-reel films included “Vitaphone Musicals”, “Broadway Headliners”, “Presentation Revue” (for a couple 1938 releases) and “Blue Ribbon Comedy” for a trio featuring

Elsa Maxwell Elsa Maxwell (May 24, 1883 – November 1, 1963) was an American gossip columnist and author, songwriter, screenwriter, radio personality and professional hostess renowned for her parties for royalty and high society figures of her day. Maxw ...

. Usually the trade periodicals grouped them as “Broadway Brevities” for easier marketing purposes. Many of these glossy productions, a few winning

Academy Awards The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...

, featured dance spectaculars and mini-dramas with top

Broadway theatre Broadway theatre,Although ''theater'' is generally the spelling for this common noun in the United States (see American and British English spelling differences), 130 of the 144 extant and extinct Broadway venues use (used) the spelling ''Th ...

or Warner studio stars; famous names included Russ Columbo,

Ruth Etting Ruth Etting (November 23, 1896 – September 24, 1978) was an American singer and actress of the 1920s and 1930s, who had over 60 hit recordings and worked in stage, radio, and film. Known as "America's sweetheart of song", her signature tunes ...

, Hal Le Roy,

Bob Hope Leslie Townes "Bob" Hope (May 29, 1903 – July 27, 2003) was a British-American comedian, vaudevillian, actor, singer and dancer. With a career that spanned nearly 80 years, Hope appeared in more than 70 short and feature films, with 5 ...

and

Red Skelton Richard Red Skelton (July 18, 1913September 17, 1997) was an American entertainer best known for his national radio and television shows between 1937 and 1971, especially as host of the television program ''The Red Skelton Show''. He has stars ...

. They were filmed at the

Vitaphone Vitaphone was a sound film system used for feature films and nearly 1,000 short subjects made by Warner Bros. and its sister studio First National from 1926 to 1931. Vitaphone was the last major analog sound-on-disc system and the only one th ...

studio in Brooklyn, New York until 1939, with Samuel Sax as a key producer. Production then moved to Burbank, California. By the forties, an increasing number were of the documentary genre and the title “Broadway Brevity” was officially dropped in mid-1943 in favor of “Warner Special”. In 1948-1956, many were re-released to theaters under the heading “Classics of the Screen”.

List of titles

A full list is provided below by year of release (but not necessarily the same year filmed). Title is listed first, followed by the major credits and a release date. Sometimes a date reviewed by

Film Daily ''The Film Daily'' was a daily publication that existed from 1918 to 1970 in the United States. It was the first daily newspaper published solely for the film industry. It covered the latest trade news, film reviews, financial updates, informatio ...

or a copyright date Motion Pictures 1912-1939 Catalog of Copyright Entries 1951 Library of Congress is listed instead.

1931

1932

1933

1934

1935

1936

1937

1938

1939

1940

1941

1942

1943

Warner Specials (1943-1951)

References

* * * ''Motion Pictures 1912-1939 Catalog of Copyright Entries'' 1951 Library of Congres

* ''Motion Pictures 1940-1949 Catalog of Copyright Entries'' 1953 Library of Congres

* ''Motion Pictures 1950-1959 Catalog of Copyright Entries'' 1960 Library of Congres
BoxOffice back issue scans available
(release date information in multiple issue “Shorts Charts”)

Notes

{{reflist

External links

Film Daily links
Vitaphone short films