The Singing Brakeman (film)
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Basil Smith
"Frank Zucker" and Charles Harten
| The Singing Brakeman | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Directed by | Jasper Ewing Brady III Basil Smith |
| Starring | Jimmie Rodgers |
| Cinematography | L. D. Clawson and Frank Zukor "Frank Zucker" and Charles Harten |
| Music by | Jimmie Rodgers |
Production company | |
Release date |
|
Running time | 9 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
The Singing Brakeman is a 1929 short film, starring Jimmie Rodgers, and released by Columbia Pictures and the Victor Talking Machine Company. Rodgers sings three of his songs: "Waiting for a Train", "Daddy and Home" and "Blue Yodel".
Following Rodgers' success as a recording artist by the end of 1929, the short was filmed at the studios of the Victor Talking Machine Company in Camden, New Jersey. Two versions of the film were produced and released with different credits. One of the releases contained a copyright notice of 1929, while the second one, was credited in 1930.
The Singing Brakeman, advertised as a "singing novelty" was played in theaters from December 1929 between movies and newsreels. It was well received by the critics.
Following the opening credits featuring a jazz band, the film starts with a scene set in a railway station restaurant. Rodgers appears, dressed in a brakeman's uniform, and greets the waitress and an elderly woman sitting in a rocking chair. He checks the schedule for his departure, orders coffee, and the waitress requests him to sing a song. Rodgers accepts and she hands him a guitar. After his trademark train whistle, Rodgers sings "Waiting for a Train". The waitress then asks him: "Do you ever think of you ol' dad at home?" Rodgers says he does and offers to sing another song; he performs "Daddy and Home". The waitress then requests Rodgers to sing her favorite song, while he counters asking about his coffee. He starts singing "Blue Yodel". As he finishes the song, he stands up and enters the coffee shop. The film ends with the music of a jazz band.
Background and production
On August 4, 1927, Rodgers' songs were recorded for the first time during the Bristol sessions by producer Ralph Peer. His second session the same year produced "Blue Yodel". The song became Rodgers' first hit and propelled him to national popularity. By the end of 1929, his available recordings had sold twelve million records.[1]
In November 1929, Rodgers traveled to the Victor Talking Machine studios in Camden, New Jersey to film a short to be released on the Columbia-Victor Gems series of short films.[2] The songs featured Rodgers' characteristic guitar playing and yodeling.[3] The sound recording was made by Sooy Brothers on the Western Electric system. The short is nine minutes long,[4] and it was contained in a single movie reel.[5] The News & Observer reported the completion of the film in December 1929.[1]
Two versions of the film exist. The first version credited Jasper Ewing Brady as the director. L. D. Clawson and Frank Zukor were included as the cameramen. The copyright year indicated 1929 and it included Columbia Pictures' logo on the opening.[6] The second distributed version did not feature the logo, and has slight differences in the actors' performances. Rodgers' performance had also a slight variation. The second version credited Basil Smith as the director, while the photography was credited to "Frank Zucker" and Charles Harten. The variation in the credits was attributed to either an error by Columbia Pictures, or to the use of two different directors.[7] "The Singing Brakeman" was a nickname given to Rodgers in reference to his earlier work for different railroad companies.[8]
An uncredited jazz band performs an excerpt of "The Memphis Blues" under the opening and closing titles.[9] The filmmakers used the record Victor BVE-51751,[9] a soundtrack by conductor Rosario Bourdon and the sixteen-piece Motion Picture Orchestra, created for "Beginnings and endings for Columbia Pictures".[10]
