The Vitaphone Corporation produced thousands of shorts featuring musicians, vaudeville acts, and radio stars between 1926 and 1931, recording the soundtracks on large phonograph discs for playback in theaters. When sound-on-disc technology became obsolete, Vitaphone shorts began to fade into oblivion. This program offers an eclectic mix of short subjects celebrating the often raucous talents that have made Vitaphone screenings must-see events.

—Paul Malcolm

• Ohman & Arden (1927, 7 mins). Joseph E. Howard, America’s Popular Composer (1928, 9 mins). The Opry House (1929, 9 mins). Tex McLeod “A Rope and a Story” (1928, 8 mins). Tal Henry and His North Carolinians (1929, 9 mins). Always Faithful (1929, 11 mins). Lou Holtz “Idle Chatter” (1929, 7 mins). Red Nichols and His Five Pennies (1929, 7 mins). Pat O’Brien “Crimes Square” (1930, 10 mins). Ben Bernie and His Orchestra (1930, 9 mins). Helen Morgan “The Gigolo Racket” (1931, 21 mins)

• (Total running time: c. 110 mins, B&W, 35mm, Permission Warner Bros. Preservation funded by the Library of Congress and UCLA, the American Film Institute/National Endowment for the Arts Film Preservation Grants Program, Hugh Hefner, and Robert G. Dixon.)