Crying for the Carolines
{{short description|1930 animated film}}
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File:Crying for the Carolines title card.PNG
Crying for the Carolines is a 1930 short film made by Leon Schlesinger.{{Citation|last=silverhalfcrown|title=SM001 Crying for the Carolines (Dec., 1930)|date=August 22, 2009|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SBo98gjikxQ|access-date=May 25, 2018}} The theme for this short film is played on the Wurlitzer organ formerly installed at Warner Brothers studios by Milton Charles,{{Cite book|url=https://play.google.com/books/reader?id=M7vwCQAAQBAJ&printsec=frontcover&output=reader&hl=en_GB&pg=GBS.PA444|title=The First Hollywood Sound Shorts, 1926–1931|last=Bradley|first=Edwin M.|date=April 27, 2009|publisher=McFarland|isbn=9781476606842|language=en}} a theatre organist during the silent era of film.{{Cite news|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1991-11-07-mn-1421-story.html|title=Milton Charles; Organist for Silent Movies, Radio Shows|last=FOLKART|first=BURT A.|date=November 7, 1991|work=Los Angeles Times|access-date=May 25, 2018|issn=0458-3035}} He is dubbed the 'Singing Organist' in the film.
The film, which was recorded on Western Electric apparatus, was the only one made in a planned series called Spooney Melodies (rechristened "Song'nata" for another four shorts). The film is a music video to advertise the song sung by Charles. The organ music was written by Frank Marsales, who would go on to write the musical arrangements for the Merrie Melodies series, including the cartoon Smile, Darn Ya, Smile!
Plot
The film opens, with art deco style animation, set to organ music. It cuts to Charles playing the organ and singing Cryin' for the Carolines, a song written by Harry Warren, Sam Lewis, and Joe Young the same year. The animation which is shown throughout the film includes, a forest, a city and a sun shining over a country plain. Milton Charles is portrayed in voice and live action footage throughout the short, as he sings the song.
Background
The song, Cryin' for the Carolines, was originally featured in the 1930 Warner Bros. film Spring is Here. The song was issued on the sound system Vitaphone, accomplished with a record player which played a disk in time with the projector.{{Cite web|url=http://silentfilm.org/archive/vitaphone-vaudeville-1926-1930|title=Vitaphone Vaudeville, 1926–1930 |website=Silent Film |access-date=May 25, 2018}} This would be higher quality than sound-on-film. In the film, the song was sung by The Brox Sisters.{{Citation|last=rrgomes|title=The Brox Sisters: Crying for the Carolines (1930)|date=May 4, 2010|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=seQRlnczr3E|access-date=May 25, 2018}}
Availability
The planned series was short-lived, with Warner Brothers instead going for the Merrie Melodies series, beginning with 1931's Lady, Play Your Mandolin! This short is available on the Looney Tunes Golden Collection: Volume 6's 3rd disc.{{Cite web|url=https://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/35354/looney-tunes-golden-collection-vol-6/|title=Looney Tunes: Golden Collection, Vol. 6|website=DVD Talk|access-date=May 25, 2018}}
Reception
Crying for the Carolines was reviewed by the magazine Photoplay in its 1930 December issue.{{Cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/photoplay3839movi|title=Photoplay (Jul–Dec 1930)|last=Photoplay Magazine Publishing Company|date=1930|publisher=Chicago, Photoplay Magazine Publishing Company|others=PFA Library and Film Study Center UC Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive}} The magazine spoke positively about the film, citing that the film is a "distinct relief from the monotony of many sound shorts". The magazine also said that the short is notable for the "beauty of the results obtained", from the painting and the drawings featured in the film, "as well as the novelty of the film."
References
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External links
- [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SBo98gjikxQ Crying for the Carolines] on YouTube
- [https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0154367/ Crying for the Carolines] on IMDb
Category:Films produced by Leon Schlesinger
Category:Films scored by Frank Marsales
Category:American musical films