''Cinesound Varieties'' is a 1934 Australian variety short film from director

Ken G. Hall Kenneth George Hall, AO, OBE (22 February 1901 – 8 February 1994), better known as Ken G. Hall, was an Australian film producer and director, considered one of the most important figures in the history of the Australian film industry. ...

made to go out on a double-bill with the full-length feature, '' The Silence of Dean Maitland'' (1934). Only 18 minutes of the film survive today.

Synopsis

There were two main components of the film: 1) 'Evolution of a Waltz' - a musical presentation with Hamilton Webber and the State Orchestra illustrating the evolution of the waltz from the age of

Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 17565 December 1791), baptised as Joannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart, was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period (music), Classical period. Despite his short life, his ra ...

to Irving Berlin 2) 'Nautical Nonsense' - a musical comedy revue, featuring several Australian variety stars including *

Fred Bluett Frederick George "Fred" Bluett (January 20, 1876, Middlesex, London – December 3, 1942, Double Bay, New South Wales) was a London-born vaudevillian and radio actor. Biography He was the son of comedian and stage actor Frederick William Blu ...

and his Boy Scouts story as pirates in Sydney *the Tom Katz saxophone band *soprano Angela Parselles *tap dancing by the Lowell brothers *musical numbers by the Cinesound Octette *the Cinesound Beauty Ballet of twenty Australian girls. There were also appearances by Emanel Aarons at the grand organ and an adagio dance by the Orlandos.

Cast

* Hamilton Webber

Production

The movie was made in two weeks in a local showground because Charles Chauvel was using Cinesound's studio for a film. There were also a number of scenes shot on

Sydney harbour Port Jackson, consisting of the waters of Sydney Harbour, Middle Harbour, North Harbour and the Lane Cove and Parramatta Rivers, is the ria or natural harbour of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The harbour is an inlet of the Tasman Sea (p ...

. "It was written in a hurry and it was a bad effort," said Hall later. "I'm not proud of it."

Reception

Critical

Contemporary reviews were poor. The ''Sydney Morning Herald'' wrote that:

Pace is the essence of a variety show, and pace is what ''Cinesound Varieties'' definitely lacks... The text which holds everything together is painfully weak, and the humour deplorable. These are two points in which every Australian film so far, except ''On Our Selection'' has come desperately to grief; and, even in ''On Our Selection,'' the actors and the photographs had to triumph over unfavourable material. Talk of winning success in oversea markets will remain so much beating of empty air as long as producers continue to give text and narrative value last place in their attention, instead of putting these matters first. Sooner or later, the literary side of things must come into its own.

"It is difficult to believe that ''Cinesound Varieties'' comes from the same studio as ''The Silence of Dean Maitland'' - if it did," said the reviewer from ''The Argus''. "In it all those things that should not be done are done and all that should be done are left undone." "A sadly overdressed musical revue which has inherited all the evils the talkies were ever heir to, except the American slang," said ''The Advertiser''.'THIS WEEK'S SHOWS', ''The Advertiser (Adelaide)'' Wednesday 27 June 1934 p 11

Box office

According to a contemporary trade report it is likely the film lost an estimated £1,200.

References

External links

Varieties''
in the

Internet Movie Database IMDb (an abbreviation of Internet Movie Database) is an online database of information related to films, television series, home videos, video games, and streaming content online – including cast, production crew and personal biographies, ...

''Cinesound Varieties''
at

National Film and Sound Archive The National Film and Sound Archive of Australia (NFSA), known as ScreenSound Australia from 1999 to 2004, is Australia's audiovisual archive, responsible for developing, preserving, maintaining, promoting and providing access to a national co ...

''Cinesound Varieties''
at

Australian Screen Online The National Film and Sound Archive of Australia (NFSA), known as ScreenSound Australia from 1999 to 2004, is Australia's audiovisual archive, responsible for developing, preserving, maintaining, promoting and providing access to a national co ...

''Cinesound Varieties''
at ''Australian Variety Theatre Archive''. Retrieved 27 January 2018. {{Ken G. Hall 1934 films Films directed by Ken G. Hall Australian black-and-white films Australian musical films 1934 musical films Lost Australian films 1934 lost films Lost musical films 1930s Australian films 1930s English-language films Cinesound Productions films