The concept of the "Soundie"

I just discovered the concept of the "Soundie." These were very early music videos, form the 1940s. Some of them are very risque for their time, and I would almost be embarrassed to post them here. But here is one called, "Row,Row,Row."

Beat the Devil

Humphrey Bogart is in this one, and he is good. When a multi-national group travels on a ship headed towards Africa, some of them with ill intent, some simply wanting to make a fortune in Uranium, you know the journey will not go smoothly.

Strange Women

As the Kinks sang, "If you covered him in garbage, George Sanders would still have style." (Celluloid Heroes) Well, he is pretty good in this one. Labeled as public domain. In some ways, it portrays woman in a way that might rile modern feminists, but the character is a bit more than one one dimensional. she is an evil "Femme Fatal," yet does some things that go against straight out manipulation and conniving. This copy has an out of sync with the sound track problem at the very end.

The 39 Steps

This is one from Alfred Hitchcock dated 1935. It is in the Internet Archive, and carries a public domain stamp. It is an early spy thriller, sort of like a mystery. Very well known, and so, without further rambling...

The Lost Zeppelin

Early, 1929, talking action/adventure (maybe some romance) picture. A crew takes a Zeppelin on an adventure through the Arctic. Of course, this can not happen in an uneventful way. We all know that. Seriously? A love triangle further complicates matters. As far as the ending...did not see that coming.