FILM, not photos of Me and My Girl in 1939

[allofmylife]

Posted: 7/6/13 at 6:54am

Sweet mother of pearl, I have been looking for this for years and, with the exception of the footage shot by Fred Stone of Fred Astaire live on stage in "Gay Divorce" in 1933, this is the mother-lode (well, three minutes of it) of live performance footage from the 1930s.

In 1939, the BBC televised highlights of "Me And My Girl" from the Victoria Palace stage during a live performance (not to be mistaken with the 78 rpm recording which someone posted on youtube with photos from this footage.

But I found the footage buried in a documentary from 1946 called "Television Returns" which heralded the resumption of regular broadcasting in Britain after the war (and the entire docu also has 12 year old Petula Clarke and a dramatic performance by Claire Luce, the femme star of Gay Divorce.)

I wish the BBC would scan their old vaults for all the footage and maybe even the fabled footage that Vera Zorina claims was taken of "On Your Toes."

Anyway, enjoy. (And BTW, Teddy St Denis, the female star looks like a real sweetie, almost as fun as Emma Thompson was in the '84 revival.)

http://youtu.be/yUAzF6CoXo8

Updated On: 7/7/13 at 06:54 AM

[best12bars]

Posted: 7/6/13 at 7:06am

Great vintage footage! Thanks very much for sharing it. It's in remarkably good condition, too.

Isn't Lupino Lane a cousin or uncle of Ida Lupino's? I think they're related somehow. That whole family was involved in theatre.

[allofmylife]

Posted: 7/6/13 at 7:39am

Yes. the Lanes and Lupinos are storied British theatrical families. Ida is the daughter of Stanley Lupino. His brother, Wallace Lupino was in the first scene of the footage, playing Parchester, the lawyer. Lupino Lane is the product of the Lupino and Lane families joining together.

That footage is only a small part of the selections which were filmed.

[allofmylife]

Posted: 7/8/13 at 3:27am

Updated On: 7/8/13 at 03:27 AM

[allofmylife]

Posted: 7/13/13 at 9:55pm