The Original Footage of 1930s Broadway Shows- Page 2

[best12bars]

Posted: 6/3/08 at 6:27pm

Miles and his "precious" collection...

[allofmylife]

Posted: 6/3/08 at 7:14pm

I may not have a great deal of stuff like MIles, but at least I have made a point of sharing what I can with the members on this site.

ON YOUR TOES:
https://forum.broadwayworld.com/readmessage.cfm?thread=963561#3533883

FRED ASTAIRE:
https://forum.broadwayworld.com/readmessage.cfm?thread=961414&boardname=bway&boardid=0

GREAT STUFF FROM OLD BROADWAY:
https://forum.broadwayworld.com/readmessage.cfm?boardid=1&boardname=bway&thread=955012#3441622

DOCTOR AND MRS SUNSHINE, BROADWAY'S GREATEST FANS:
https://forum.broadwayworld.com/readmessage.cfm?boardid=1&boardname=bway&thread=954269#3441127

MORE GREAT STUFF FROM BROADWAY:
https://forum.broadwayworld.com/readmessage.cfm?boardid=1&boardname=bway&thread=955158#3440957

NOW PLAYING AT DRURY LANE, 76 YEARS AGO:
https://forum.broadwayworld.com/readmessage.cfm?boardid=1&boardname=bway&thread=954327#3429305

MORE TREASURES FROM "On YOUR TOES":
https://forum.broadwayworld.com/readmessage.cfm?boardid=1&boardname=bway&thread=954344#3428996

[TulitaPepsi]

Posted: 6/3/08 at 7:18pm

That's fascinating, allofmylife!

That makes TWO bits of Astaires footage. The missing one (the one I heard about) was from the London FUNNY FACE!

Encouraging news...

[BroadwayEnthusiast2]

Posted: 6/3/08 at 7:45pm

And allofmylife, I, like so many others, are very grateful for your generosity.

[allofmylife]

Posted: 6/3/08 at 8:03pm

Thanks. I have so much more to share with this board, but it's in storage. Some of you know I took five years off to look after my parents as they suffered (and there is no other way to describe that horrific disease) from Alzheimer's. Now that my father has passed away and my mother is being cared for in a hospital, I have returned to Los Angeles to take up my career again.

And HEY, I sold a film!!! We're just finishing off the legals on a big feature based on my original story with one of Hollywood's biggest actor/producers (and you'll all recognize his name and love his work as much as I do). And while I work on pitching the studios out here, I have partnered with one of the big Broadway companies on two musicals which we are developing, one based on a beloved television series and the other based on one of the most famous modern works that has been performed in 35 countries - but not on Broadway. I'm just itching to reveal all.

Anyway, when I get all the stuff out of storage, I'll being uploading my mother lode.

It's not exactly Miles Kruger times, but it's a start!

I encourage everyone to consider posting "your precious" on this site.

Let's make it more graphical andlet some of the others share the wealth.

[jv92]

Posted: 6/3/08 at 8:05pm

allofmylife, Miles could learn a thing or two from you. Thanks!
And does he want this stuff to wither and die so only HE can see it or does he want it to be preserved? I don't get it. Wouldn't you WANT such precious stuff to be preserved? It's history!

[allofmylife]

Posted: 6/4/08 at 1:46am

self-serving bump with a reward

The tickets are for the opening night of "Leave It To Me" which starred William Gaxton and Victor Moore. Mary Martin made her debut singing "My Heart Belongs to Daddy" and one of the chorus boys was a kid named Gene Kelly.

Six dollars sixty cents back then was a month's rent.

Updated On: 6/4/08 at 01:46 AM

[wonderfulwizard11]

Posted: 6/4/08 at 1:51am

allofmylife, all the stuff you have posted here is so incredible, I echo BroadwayEnthusiast and jv in thanking you. I love all the On Your Toes memorabilia. And good luck with your future projects!

I'll also join the chorus of people who believe Miles should preserve his collection. This stuff is too valuable to wither to dust.

[allofmylife]

Posted: 6/4/08 at 2:10am

The big problem is valuing what this stuff is worth, plus, it's thin, fragile paper.

I had an opening night program for "Pygmalion" from 1913 in London, with ink signatures of both George Bernard Shaw and Mrs. Patrick Campbell.

It's somewhere in storage, but I can't remember where. I know it's sealed in rigid plastic but someone may have stuffed it in a book.

Damn.

Funny true story, Mrs. Patrick Campbell was a stage hog and uber diva. Apparently, during the rehearsals, she casually nudged all the furniture - never more than an inch at a time - out of her way so that by the second week, nothing came between her and her audience. Shaw finally called the cast onstage, called in the stage manager and said "Mr Forestal, I want you to screw all the furniture securely to the floor, but I leave the grand piano to Mrs. Patrick Campbell to do with it as she wishes."

[allofmylife]

Posted: 6/4/08 at 2:11am

Mrs. Patrick Campbell, the first Eliza Dolittle.

[bk]

Posted: 6/4/08 at 2:22am

"Except that the longer it sits there, the less color there is. It's fading away as we speak. "

Not quite true, as most of this stuff was shot on Kodachrome stock, which, like IB Technicolor, does not fade. Warping and rotting are different issues and it depends on the climate in which they're being stored. I've known Miles for thirty-something years - he's a very sweet man, but (and even he would be the first to admit this) a complete eccentric. I saw him just a few weeks ago.

[allofmylife]

Posted: 6/4/08 at 2:23am

Okay, one more fun piece. For those of you who don't know, Claire Luce starred in "Gay Divorce" both on Broadway and in London, and was Curley's wife in the original "Of Mice and Men" (not bad of an ex-Ziegfeld Girl!). Charles Cochran was the David Merrick of London in the 20s and 30s. He often had half-a-dozen shows running at once. Every playbill had an ad screaming: "See a Cochran Show!"

Here's his list from Musicals 101

Cochran, Charles B.
Producer
b. Sept. 25, 1872 (Sussex, UK) - d. Jan. 31, 1951 (London, UK)
Often referred to as "The British Ziegfeld," Cochran could claim a far longer and more successful career. He championed many of Britain's finest musical comedians – including Gertrude Lawrence, Jack Buchanan, Hermoine Baddeley, Elisabeth Welch and Bea Lillie. Cochran also played a vital role in the career of Noel Coward, featuring his songs in several revues and producing many of his finest book musicals - including Bitter Sweet (1929) and Conversation Piece (1934). Cochran also produced Private Lives, Coward's most popular comedy. Along with the landmark revues On With the Dance (1925), This Year of Grace (192 and Words and Music (1932), Cochran produced the West End stagings of Rodgers & Hart's Ever Green (1930), as well as Cole Porter's Nymph Errant (1933) and Anything Goes (1935). Cochran remained active through the late 1940s, and published two autobiographies recalling his years in the theatre.

I seem to remember he was accidentally scaled to death in a hot bath in old age. Ouch.

[allofmylife]

Posted: 6/4/08 at 2:26am

bk, I thought I'd run into him at the Book Fair in Pasadena this weekend (where I scores some great Souvenir Programs for The Los Angeles Civic for three bucks each), but I didn't see him.

He usually comes or sends someone.

[allofmylife]

Posted: 6/4/08 at 2:36am

And just to complete the story, the beautiful Claire Luce. You gotta love those Mabeline eye brows....

[bk]

Posted: 6/4/08 at 3:52am

I was at the Book Fair, too. Too bad you didn't see me! I got one really great deal on a VERY rare book. Many of the dealers there are friends. I don't know that I've ever seen Miles at the Pasadena fair. He's always at the Ray Courts Hollywood Memorabilia show, where I sometimes do signings.

[elmore3003]

Posted: 6/4/08 at 9:55am

As a friend of Miles Kreuger, I'd like to thank you, bk, for the positive comments. As to the postings of best12bars, there's clearly more than meets the eye in his bile spewing toward my Kreuger, who is indeed a great eccentric but a charming and generous friend. While I can account for my obsessive compulsions, I cannot judge or condemn Miles for his.

[thtrbear]

Posted: 6/4/08 at 12:23pm

Thought I'd read + heard that Lincoln Ctr TOFT had this or a similar bootleg collection, inc. footage from Jumbo ('35).

[allofmylife]

Posted: 6/4/08 at 12:46pm

The Jumbo stuff is just footage from a newsreel. You can find it on youtube. No, Miles stuff is unique. And Harold Arlen's home movies are obviously unique.

And frankly, as a lifelong Astaire fan, I want to kill the little turd who is keeping me from seeing that footage, whoeveryouare.

[TulitaPepsi]

Posted: 6/4/08 at 1:12pm

Let me add my THANK YOUs to Allofmylife for all your fabulous links!

I am so with you on those Astaires clips! Someone should ask Michael Fienstien what he has in HIS cupboards! hee Hee...

I know he's collected tons of stuff too!

[bwaybabe2]

Posted: 6/7/08 at 1:59am

Wow! Claire Luce has an amazing resemblance to Fergie ("Black Eye Peas") =O

This vintage treasure is incredible, and should be preserved immediately!!! Is Mr. Kreuger colaborating with anyone about this...?

[sondheimgeek]

Posted: 6/7/08 at 8:50am

The video in the huffington post link seems to be unavailable. Too bad, I'd love to see it.

And thank you very much Allofmylife for everything you post here. I've never expected to ever see any of the items you post, and I'm so glad I finally have had the chance! Once again, thank you very much!

[allofmylife]

Posted: 6/7/08 at 9:24am

Awww (he blushes) thanks. Lots more where that came from, but I'm on the road until July 3 so no posts. When I get back to Los Angeles, I'll raid the storage locker and post some more.

[ggersten]

Posted: 3/3/11 at 4:24pm

The Knight collection is in trouble...It needs to be preserved and for that, it needs money.
I'm sure aloflmylife will accept donations to preserve allofmylife's collection as well.

Knight Collection Status Updated On: 3/3/11 at 04:24 PM

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 3/3/11 at 4:57pm

Miles is a selfish ****who should rot in hell.

[PalJoey]

Posted: 3/3/11 at 5:53pm

Anyone in favor of a government takeover of Miles Kreuger's possessions"

I say, "Aye."