Jack's Earliest Movie

[Yhtapmys]

We all know about the "Hollywood Revue of 1929" for MGM but I stumbled across these. This is in the ad for the Oshkosh Theatre of Sat., April 20, 1929:

ON THE SCREEN
Revenge Was Her Creed—But She Was A Woman, So—
"THE ETERNAL WOMAN"
Olive Borden
Ralph Graves
John Miljan
----------------
Vitaphone Act
Jack Benny
IN
"Bright Moments"
----------------

Then, for the Orpheum Theatre in Atchison, Kansas for Apr. 25, 1929, is this listing:

NOW! And Rest of Week
All Talking - Singing - Dancing
Hear Buddy and Nancy Talk, Sing, Play and Dance
"CLOSE HARMONY"
WITH
CHARLES (BUDDY) ROGERS
NANCY CARROLL
JACK OAKIE
RICHARD (SKEETS) GALLAGHER
HARRY GREEN
A PARAMOUNT ALL TALKING PICTURE
-ADDED-
VITAPHONE ACTS
JACK BENNY
STAR OF "GAY PAREE"
------
BURNS AND KISSEN
MERRY COMEDIANS
------
HEAR CLARA BOW TALK ABOUT THE WILD PARTY
Her First All Talkie

So, did Jack do a bunch of talking shorts for Warners before "Hollywood Revue"? I've only got Joan's book and I don't see any reference to them.

Yhtapmys

[Yhtapmys]

Here's one more, from Syracuse, New York, Saturday, Oct. 7, 1928

STRAND
The Home of Talkies—VITAPHONE ACTS—
BROOKS and ROSS
TWO BOYS AND A PIANO
JACK BENNY
MUSICAL COMEDY STAR

The Strand was a first-run movie house; unfortunately, the newspaper only reviewed the feature ("The Whip" with the long-forgotten Dorothy Mackaill).

Another theatre is advertising Al Jolson in 'The Singing Fool' for 35 cents. It even has the Vitaphone pennant in its ad; I didn't realise it was used anywhere outside Warners cartoons of the '30s.

Yhtapmys

[Maxwell]

WB used the Vitaphone pennant in all its features in the late '20s/early '30s, too. IIRC it was used for all movies released by both WB and First National.

[LLeff]

Vitaphone Act
Jack Benny
IN
"Bright Moments"

VITAPHONE ACTS
JACK BENNY
STAR OF "GAY PAREE"

So, did Jack do a bunch of talking shorts for Warners before "Hollywood Revue"? I've only got Joan's book and I don't see any reference to them.

Bright Moments was Jack's first movie, and we have the audio from the first disc in our audio library (that's all that's known to exist...hoping for more from the vaults some day). But "Gay Paree" doesn't ring a bell...will have to check into that.

[Yhtapmys]

Bright Moments was Jack's first movie, and we have the audio from the first disc in our audio library (that's all that's known to exist...hoping for more from the vaults some day). But "Gay Paree" doesn't ring a bell...will have to check into that.

My uneducated guess is it was the name of a show he did on Broadway and was put in the ad for recognition purposes. But I'm still curious about the Vitaphone shorts, i.e. if he was in a bunch of these prior to his "first" movie.

Yhtapmys
"Drive Your Blues Awaaaay!"