Vitaphone Pictorial Revue (sometimes spelled “Review”) was a series of 9-11 minute newsreel oriented (documentary) film shorts produced by Vitaphone and Warner Brothers.
Mostly edited in New York at the Vitaphone studio, but a few also made in California with Gordon Hollingshead producing, these were human-interest newsreels that resembled such rival series like “Pathé Audio Review”, distributed by RKO Pictures, and Paramount Pictures “Paramount Pictorial”. Each film is divided into three or four separate segments. In a couple, a segment was presented in Cinecolor.
The series lasted just two years in the 1930s and was mostly forgotten until Turner Classic Movies started showing a few as filler between feature presentations, sometimes with the color segments missing.
| Title (identified by number) | Vitaphone # | release date | Narrators | Subjects covered & additional notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hollywood Fashion Parade | 1967 | June 1936 | Roy Saunders & Joseph Bolton | Pilot film features a Canadian baby contest, a female alligator tamer and the title sequence in color | |
| No. 1 | 2233 | September 12, 1936 | All titles called Vitaphone Pictorial Revue: covers tap dancing, ski techniques, lamb stew preparation, modeling fur coats (in color) | ||
| No. 2 | 2234 | October 10, 1936 | John Young | movie stardom methods, steak cooking lesson, household gadgets invented by women, fashion models (in color) | |
| No. 3 | 2235 | November 21, 1936 | Paul Douglas | false eyelashes, a female football team and knitted fashion | |
| No. 4 | 2236 | December 23, 1936 | Howard Claney | machine testing of consumer products, testing balance & coordination, snow swimming, Southern fashions (in color); aired on TCM | |
| No. 5 | 2237 | February 13, 1937 | Paul Douglas | tuna fishing, Arthur Treacher's dill sauce, strange animal friends, cruise ships | |
| No. 6 | 2238 | March 20, 1937 | swimming lessons, cosmetics, racing trotters, Swiss wood carving. | ||
| No. 7 | 2239 | April 10, 1937 | fishing, recording techniques, women's polo, lipstick manufacturing (in color) | ||
| No. 8 | 2240 | April 10, 1937 | Paul Douglas | melon bowling, latest coiffures, shoe fashion, the use of cotton in paving streets | |
| No. 9 | 2241 | May 1, 1937 | Howard Claney | odd gadgets, home accidents, men's hats and beachwear fashions (color) | |
| No. 10 | 2242 | May 24, 1937 | water dancing, hotel dishwashers, angora rabbits, Moroccan crafts | ||
| No. 11 | 2243 | June 19, 1937 | Alan Kent | the US Postal Service, smart dogs, milk, oriental rugs | |
| No. 12 | 2244 | July 17, 1937 | Howard Claney | an expert child golfer, piano manufacturing, a baby genius, mural painting by Dean Cornwell (in “Naturalcolor”) | |
| No. 13 | 2245 | August 28, 1937 | Paul Douglas | good driving skills, book publishing, reducing weight, mink coats | |
| No. 2-1 (or #B) | 51B | September 18, 1937 | a racetrack opening with Hollywood stars (Bing Crosby included), wrestling rehearsals, gruyere cheese in Switzerland | ||
| No. 2-2 (or #C) | 52B | October 16, 1937 | Billy and Bobby Mauch, Margaret Lindsay, table tennis, autumn fashions (color) | ||
| No. 2-3 (or #D) | 53B | November 13, 1937 | Highlights: champion retrievers, a Hollywood rodeo, plastics | ||
| No. 2-4 (or #14) | 54B | December 11, 1937 | a handicapped artist, fighters in training, the making of rubber dolls | ||
| No. 2-5 (or #15) | 55B | January 1, 1938 | making ice cream, jockeys, glamorous women's outfits for the home (color) | ||
| No. 2-6 (or #E) | 56B | February 5, 1938 | Arabian horses, ice hockey, shoe manufacture, stars Ronald Reagan and Marie Wilson; aired on TCM | ||
| No. 2-7 (or #16) | 57B | February 19, 1938 | more dogs, a billiard champion. | ||
| No. 2-8 (or #F) | 58B | April 2, 1938 | songwriters Johnny Mercer & Harry Warren, bowling, rubber bathing suits | ||
| No. 2-9 (or #17) | 59B | April 30, 1938 | silver-smith, ice boating, model trains | ||
| No. 2-10 (or #18) | 60B | June 4, 1938 | beavers, polo, wool manufacture; aired on TCM | ||
| No. 2-11 (or #19) | 61B | July 9, 1938 | plastics, greyhounds, perfume manufacturing; aired on TCM | ||
| No. 2-12 (or #20) | 62B | August 13, 1938 | Gordon Hollingshead (producer); Lloyd French (director); Hollywood glamour girl, racing shells & fur coats (parts in “Naturalcolor”) |