Elstree Calling
[DVD]

Description

Released in 1930 by British International Pictures in response to the lavish revues being produced by the major Hollywood studios, Elstree Calling was Britain's first musical film. This all-star vaudeville show features performers drawn from some of the era's most popular London productions, including Cicely Courtneidge, Anna May Wong, John Longden, and music-hall veterans Will Fyffe and Lily Morris. Compèred by Tommy Handley, the film presents nineteen comedy and musical sketches in the guise of a 'live' television broadcast; Alfred Hitchcock - then under contract to BIP - was responsible for creating the sketches and linking material. A fascinating snapshot of the earliest years of the British musical film and rarely seen since its original release, Elstree Calling is made available here in a brand-new transfer from the original elements in its as-exhibited theatrical aspect ratio. Several sequences in the film were originally artificially coloured using the Pathécolor system and those colour sequences are intact here. SPECIAL FEATURES: [] Image Gallery [] Includes full opening overture (fades up from black)

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