Yesterday and Today
Cast & Crew
Abner J. Greshler
George Jessel
James O. Baier
Ted Bellinger
Stanley Cortez
Eliot Daniel
Film Details
Synopsis
In his office, vaudeville performer and producer George Jessel describes the birth of the motion picture in 1893 and illustrates the first years of the medium with clips from some representative films of the first motion picture studio, Thomas A. Edison's Black Maria. Early newsreels show major events and public figures from the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, including an 1899 beauty pageant, Czar Nicholas II, King George V, Andrew Carnegie and Kaiser Wilhelm. Portions of films from the United States, England, France and Italy are shown. Jessel describes the progression of technological advances at the turn of the century and illustrates by explaining clips of French films such as The Living Head , The Professor's Secret (France, 1908), A Trip to the Moon (France, 1899) and Little Jimmy's Nightmare and Bride Retiring (France, 1904). Jessel discusses the earliest motion picture star, comedian John Bunny. He then shows scenes from early films of Little Moritz, French comedian Max Linder and Italian comedian Tontolini. Early dramas such as Edison's Asleep at the Switch are shown, as are early British and Russian dramas. In 1908, serials gain popularity, featuring such actresses as Pearl White and Ruth Roland. In a discussion of popular stars of the silent era, off-camera clips are shown of Blanche Sweet, Marie Dressler, George Arliss, Clara Bow, Dolores Del Rio, Eddie Cantor, Ronald Colman, Marion Davies, Harold Lloyd, Pola Negri, Tom Mix and his horse Tony, Charles Chaplin, Glora Swanson, Mary Pickford, Douglas Fairbanks, Mack Swain, Stuart Holmes, Tom Moore, Lon Chaney, Rudolph Valentino, Will Rogers and Lionel Barrymore. A portion of the animated Walt Disney film Alice in the Jungle (1925) is also shown. After discussing the importance of the box office hit The Jazz Singer (1927), starring Al Jolson in the first part-talking picture with synchronized sound, Jessel, who played the role on Broadway, imitates Jolson singing one of the film's hits, "Toot, Toot, Tootsie!" After briefly mentioning recent innovations such as Technicolor, CinemaScope and 3-D, Jessel posits, "Who knows what will happen next?" and comments that movies "will always be your best entertainment."
Director
Abner J. Greshler
Crew
James O. Baier
Ted Bellinger
Stanley Cortez
Eliot Daniel
Ernie Erdman
Abner J. Greshler
George Jessel
Gus Kahn
Art Lueker
Joel Moss
William Randall
Dan Russo
Phil Tuminello
Paul Weatherwax
Paul Weatherwax
Jerry Young
Film Details
Quotes
Trivia
Notes
Paul Weatherwax's credit reads: "Associate producer and editorial supervision," and George Jessel's reads: "Written and narrated by." An onscreen acknowledgment reads: "We gratefully acknowledge the cooperation of The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences." Although the copyright file on the film listed a running time of 62 minutes, reviews listed a running time of 57 minutes, which is consistent with the 5,129 feet length listed in the NYSA. The viewed print did not include a second song, "My Mother's Eyes," which is listed in copyright files; its deletion May account for the shorter running time noted in reviews.
Contemporary news items indicated that the footage of entertainer and producer George Jessel was to have been shot at the Motion Picture Center in New York City in early Jun, under the direction of Hal Walker. One news item also mentioned that Jessel was to perform in blackface, but this did not appear in the released film. Jessel introduces the picture and provides a running narration of the film clips shown. At numerous junctures, he is shown, sitting in his office, describing the history of motion pictures. The exact titles of some of the films excerpted could not be confirmed. Jessel's exit line was a slight variation on a motion picture industry tagline of the era, "movies are your best entertainment."
