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 is the last major analog sound-on-disc system and the only one that was widely used and commercially successful. The soundtrack is not printed on the film, but issued separately on phonograph records. The discs, recorded at 33+1⁄3 rpm and typically 16 inches (41 cm) in diameter, are played on a turntable physically coupled to the projector motor while the film is projected. Its frequency response is 4300 Hz. Many early talkies, such as The Jazz Singer (1927), used the Vitaphone system. The name "Vitaphone" derived from the Latin and Greek words, respectively, for "living" and "sound".
Colleen Moore was an American film actress who began her career during the silent film era. Moore became one of the most fashionable stars of the era and helped popularize the bobbed haircut.
Redskin is a 1929 American sound film with a synchronized musical score and sound effects, filmed partially in Technicolor. Its final six minutes were shown in Magnascope, an enlarged-screen projection novelty. The film, directed by Victor Schertzinger, stars Richard Dix and was produced and released by Paramount Famous Lasky Corp. Though not well remembered among the general public, the film is regarded highly by film historians for presenting sympathetic portrayals of Native Americans in the silent film era.
Good Time Charley is a 1927 American synchronized sound drama film produced and distributed by Warner Bros. and directed by Michael Curtiz. While the film has no audible dialog, it was released with a synchronized musical score with sound effects using the Vitaphone sound-on-disc process. It was considered to be a lost film. However, as of January 2021, the film is listed as extant at the Library of Congress.
Tenderloin is a 1928 American sound part-talkie crime film directed by Michael Curtiz, and starring Dolores Costello. In addition to sequences with audible dialogue or talking sequences, the film features a synchronized musical score and sound effects, along with English intertitles. The soundtrack was recorded using the Vitaphone sound-on-disc system. It was produced and released by Warner Bros. Tenderloin is considered a lost film, with no prints currently known to exist.
Footlights and Fools is a 1929 American pre-Code film directed by William A. Seiter that was billed by Warner Brothers as an all-talking musical film and released in Vitaphone with Technicolor sequences.
Smiling Irish Eyes (1929) is a Vitaphone American pre-Code musical film with Technicolor sequences. The film is now considered a lost film. However, the Vitaphone discs still exist.
Lilac Time is a 1928 American synchronized sound romantic war film directed by George Fitzmaurice and starring Colleen Moore and Gary Cooper. While the film has no audible dialog, it was released with a synchronized musical score with sound effects using the sound-on-disc Vitaphone process. The film is about young American aviators fighting for Britain during World War I who are billeted in a field next to a farmhouse in France. The daughter who lives on the farm meets one of the new aviators who is attracted to her. As the flyers head off on a mission, the young aviator promises to return to her.
Flaming Youth is a 1923 American silent drama film directed by John Francis Dillon and starring Colleen Moore and Milton Sills, based on the novel of the same name by Samuel Hopkins Adams. The film was produced and distributed by Associated First National. In his retrospective essay "Echoes of the Jazz Age", writer F. Scott Fitzgerald cited Flaming Youth as the only film that captured the sexual revolution of the Jazz Age.
Synthetic Sin is a 1929 American sound comedy film directed by William A. Seiter, based on a play of the same name. While the film has no audible dialog, it was released with a synchronized musical score with sound effects using both the sound-on-disc and sound-on-film process. It was released by Warner Bros. and was recorded using the Vitaphone sound system. Only the soundtrack disc for the last reel is known to survive.
Naughty but Nice is a 1927 American silent romantic comedy film directed by Millard Webb. Colleen Moore plays Bernice Sumners, a hayseed sent to a ritzy boarding school for finishing after her family strikes it rich in oil.
A Hoosier Romance is a 1918 Selig Polyscope silent film, featuring actress Colleen Moore.
So Long Letty is a 1920 silent American comedy film directed by Al Christie and starring Grace Darmond, T. Roy Barnes, and Colleen Moore. It was an adaptation of a 1916 popular stage comedy musical of the same name that starred Charlotte Greenwood.
Forsaking All Others is a 1922 American silent drama film starring actress Colleen Moore and directed by Emile Chautard for Universal Studios. It was made before Colleen became famous as a flapper but did visit some of the same subjects her later films would.
April Showers is a 1923 American silent romantic film directed by Tom Forman starring Colleen Moore. It is not known whether the film currently survives.
Success at Any Price is a 1934 American pre-Code film starring Douglas Fairbanks Jr., Genevieve Tobin, Frank Morgan and silent film star Colleen Moore. It is based on the 1932 play Success Story by John Howard Lawson.
The Girl of the Golden West is a 1930 American Pre-Code Western film produced and distributed by First National Pictures, a subsidiary of Warner Bros., directed by John Francis Dillon and starring actress Ann Harding and James Rennie. Harding's then-husband, Harry Bannister, plays the villain Jack Rance. David Belasco wrote, directed, and produced the original play in 1905 which starred Blanche Bates.
Sally is a 1925 American silent romantic comedy film starring Colleen Moore. The film was directed by Alfred E. Green, produced by Moore's husband John McCormick, and based on the musical Sally written by Guy Bolton and Clifford Grey that was adapted to film by June Mathis. The play was a Florenz Ziegfeld Jr. production written specifically for Marilyn Miller that opened on December 21, 1920, at the New Amsterdam Theatre on Broadway. It ran for 570 performances.
The Race is a 1916 American drama silent film directed by George Melford and written by Hector Turnbull and Clinton Stagg. The film stars Victor Moore, Anita King, Ronald Bradbury, William Dale, Mrs. Lewis McCord and Ernest Joy. The film was released on April 6, 1916, by Paramount Pictures. The film is lost.
Broken Hearts of Hollywood is a 1926 American silent comedy drama film released by Warner Bros. and directed by Lloyd Bacon. It is unknown, but the film might have been released with a Vitaphone soundtrack. A print of the film exists.
