Lupino Lane (Henry William George Lupino) was a member of the famous acting family, going back four hundred years. His cousin was actress, writer, director Ida Lupino. He promised a fellow performer, who was the last of her acting family that he would not let the name die out and changed his name to Lupino Lane.
1939?! I thought this was a joke until I looked it up. I had no idea BBC-TV (or any regularly broadcast TV for that matter) was this old. Thank you for posting this.
The first US tv stations began to broadcast in 1928, mechanically not electronically yet. www.edn.com/electronics-blogs/edn-moments/4376579/1st-American-TV-station-begins-broadcasting--July-2--1928 www.earlytelevision.org/w2xb.html
The BBC began broadcasting on the Baird 30 line system in 1932 for half an hour each evening after closedown of the Home Service. This carried on until 1935 when it was announced that two systems of what was then called High Definition Television would be trialled in 1936. The BBC Television Service opened in 1936 using the Marconi-EMI 405 line system and the Baird 240 line system on alternate weeks.
There was more to Lupino Lane than this film shows. He was a wonderful practical stunt comedian. His physicality was that of a gymnast (much like Doug Fairbanks, his friend and in whose films he co-starred in Hollywood.) He was also a total "everyman" and the people loved him, both commoner and swell. As for the singing and dancing, this was about the best the West End had to offer seventy five years ago. Watch some footage from a Broadway show of 1937 if you can find it, and there isn't much better. That's why Fred Astaire and Gene Kelly and Ray Bolger became big movie stars - they stuck out on stage.
+Fred Mertz Jr I'm not so sure about that. I think Lupino Lane's American counterpart would be Eddie Cantor and there's some wonderful film footage of him performing.
+kabardinka1 yes but most of it is silent. ray Knight filmed a great deal of footage from Broadway shows but there's no accompanying soundtrack. the only comfortable piece of footage I can think of is some rehearsal footage from jumbo in 1935. Because it was shot for a newsreel, there is some sound. this footage from me and my girl really stands out because it's a full recording live from the stage of the Victoria Palace Theatre in 1937.
It is amazing how well this looks and sounds. Did they show the complete show? I remember the BBC would broadcast shows from the West End. Only the first half of course and only on English bank holidays. On special days in the rest of the country, for their money, they got nothing. PS: Lupino Lane was a cousin of movie star Ida Lupino.
What a treasure! I think that they must have consulted these tapes when they did the 1980's revival because this 1939 set and the choreography seems to have inspired the revival creators.
Chris Darling not as far as I am aware. Hardy is from my paternal side whereas the Lupino’s (Hook) descended from my maternal side my 3rd great aunt Rosina Procter who married a Lupino and created the massive family of Lupinos.
The BBC did not film it for rebroadcast. It was broadcast live! The clip you show I believe was aired live from BBC Alexandra Palace Studio A. I will have to research this. It would have been severely truncated due to the limitations of the primitive 405line equipment of the day. Because it was before kinescope recording, the BBC would immediately after the live broadcast, repeat the performance for the film camera. Need to find out with Meand My Gal if this too was the case. Certainly, the clips here were incorporated into a BBC loop intermission feature that was repeated many times from the restart of the television service in 1946.
I did extensive research about this myself 15 years ago and this is what I remember. I read an article about the actual broadcast live from the Victoria Palace. Apparently, the BBC had made arrangements to broadcast live from Covent garden and something messed up so on one day's notice they moved the trucks, the cables and the camera to the Victoria Palace where they telecast. If you look at the broadcast weekly that the BBC ran back then it clearly says that the show was broadcast live from the stage of the Victoria Palace. The one thing that is confusing is that the female lead role is not played by Teddy St Dennis. I do know that the article said they also filmed the show simultaneously. Clearly, the footage above was shot from the balcony of a West end theater. If for no other reason then no broadcast studio had a massive red velvet curtain that could go straight up into a fly house. Additionally, all of the sets that are visible are from the original production. I have a copy of theater week which ran a 15-page article showing lots of shots taken of the original production on the stage and that's what we're seeing in this film. The Victoria Palace was bombed during the blitz and was closed for quite a while. I know that it reopened either at the end of the war or shortly thereafter and they went right back to doing me and my girl. Apparently lupino Lane played the role almost 10,000 times. He was still doing it years later. Then his son took over the role.
@@chrisdarling3617 Excellent research. The BBC OB'S would have advanced by 1939 and I believe the live feed would have been via the London Coaxial (LOCO) passed near the theatre and ran to Highgate and AP. (I worked for the BBC at Lime Grove in the 80s and I would send Parliamentary interviews via the LOCO to Lime Grove for the news. The LOCO was used also for the Proms from Royal Albert Hall as a backup protection circuit. All circumvented by the internet now of course. Because telerecording did not begin until 1947-48,the BBC would typically repeat a performance and separately record it to film. Maybe did not do it in this case. Maybe recorded to film as it was being broadcast hence the elevated camera angle?
It is the Victoria Palace theater which is still there. The theater was bombed during the war and closed for a while but then reopened and has been continually used ever since. "Me and My Girl" debuted at the Victoria Palace in 1937.
I know. It's very curious. I now think this is film. It doesn't look like BBC television footage from 1939, but it was used as part of a BBC do cu, so who knows. I just thank them for preserving it. And isn't Teddie St. James adorable?
I agree with you. It looks like BBC filmed a performance with multiple cameras and then broadcast it later after editing it together. It would be great if BBC would release the complete film, assuming it still exists.
Considering that the BBC filmed this live from the stage of the Victoria palace Just a few weeks after the show debuted , I would assume she was playing the role of Sally
What a totally uneducated comment, and I'm going to copy and paste this exact reply to someone else. In 1939 musicals were just evolving, and this particular one was ground-breaking in its day. Remember it was about 15 years before Rodgers and Hammerstein wrote their major musicals, and only 12 years after Showboat. All modern musicals have developed FROM THESE since then, so if you like dancing, that's great. Go watch a dance show, or a musical with incredible dance, and remember that it originated from this musical
interesting, but oh dear how static and amateurish the acting and dancing looks...this is what all the fuss was about Lupino Lane? Some things have definitely improved !
What a totally uneducated comment, and I'm going to copy and paste this exact reply to someone else. In 1939 musicals were just evolving, and this particular one was ground-breaking in its day. Remember it was about 15 years before Rodgers and Hammerstein wrote their major musicals, and only 12 years after Showboat. All modern musicals have developed FROM THESE since then, so if you like dancing, that's great. Go watch a dance show, or a musical with incredible dance, and remember that it originated from this musical
Well, it may not be great or my cup of tea, BUT it's light years ahead of anything playing on Broadway or the West End here in 2022. I wouldn't give you 2p for anything playing right now.
