A Josephine McLean Dance Classic (USA 1929, Josephine McLean)
Credit: George Eastman Museum, Moving Image Department.
Photographs of the nitrate print by Barbara Flueckiger.
“Sound and Technicolor were an obvious combination; however, the melding of the two was not without its challenges. Combining sound- on-disc with color film prints was relatively unproblematic (because printing remained unchanged), but adding a sound track on the film itself was more difficult and required significant testing to perfect. After experimenting with a dye-based sound track, Technicolor solved the problem by printing the sound in black & white first, then adding the two-color image separately by dye-transfer printing.
The first feature released this way was Paramount’s The Dance of Life in August 1929, which contained an 8-minute color insert. A Josephine McLean Dance Classic is another early example of a Technicolor sound-on-film print. Its exact release date has not been determined, but screenings have been confirmed throughout 1929. Josephine McLean started as a vaudeville performer with the Marion Morgan Dancers. By 1929 she had formed her own group under the name ‘Dance Rhapsodies,’ composed of leading dancers from California. As far as we know, Dance Classic is McLean’s only work documented on film. It consists of a series of modern dance numbers shot on an Art Nouveau stage without live sound; music was added later in post-production. The film’s stage-bound settings and atmospheric lighting combine with its somber palette to add to its creative accomplishments. Although the title-cards are properly centered, the remainder of the film’s careful compositions are disrupted by the addition of the sound track over the left edge of the frame.”
James Layton, Catalogue of the Giornate del cinema muto, Pordenone 2014, p. 105.
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A Josephine McLean Dance Classic (1929). Credit: George Eastman Museum, Moving Image Department. Photographs of the nitrate print by Barbara Flueckiger.
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A Josephine McLean Dance Classic (1929). Credit: George Eastman Museum, Moving Image Department. Photographs of the nitrate print by Barbara Flueckiger.
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A Josephine McLean Dance Classic (1929). Credit: George Eastman Museum, Moving Image Department. Photographs of the nitrate print by Barbara Flueckiger.
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ShowHide details
A Josephine McLean Dance Classic (1929). Credit: George Eastman Museum, Moving Image Department. Photographs of the nitrate print by Barbara Flueckiger.
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A Josephine McLean Dance Classic (1929). Credit: George Eastman Museum, Moving Image Department. Photographs of the nitrate print by Barbara Flueckiger.
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A Josephine McLean Dance Classic (1929). Credit: George Eastman Museum, Moving Image Department. Photographs of the nitrate print by Barbara Flueckiger.
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ShowHide details
A Josephine McLean Dance Classic (1929). Credit: George Eastman Museum, Moving Image Department. Photographs of the nitrate print by Barbara Flueckiger.
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ShowHide details
A Josephine McLean Dance Classic (1929). Credit: George Eastman Museum, Moving Image Department. Photographs of the nitrate print by Barbara Flueckiger.
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ShowHide details
A Josephine McLean Dance Classic (1929). Credit: George Eastman Museum, Moving Image Department. Photographs of the nitrate print by Barbara Flueckiger.
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ShowHide details
A Josephine McLean Dance Classic (1929). Credit: George Eastman Museum, Moving Image Department. Photographs of the nitrate print by Barbara Flueckiger.
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ShowHide details
A Josephine McLean Dance Classic (1929). Credit: George Eastman Museum, Moving Image Department. Photographs of the nitrate print by Barbara Flueckiger.
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ShowHide details
A Josephine McLean Dance Classic (1929). Credit: George Eastman Museum, Moving Image Department. Photographs of the nitrate print by Barbara Flueckiger.
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ShowHide details
A Josephine McLean Dance Classic (1929). Credit: George Eastman Museum, Moving Image Department. Photographs of the nitrate print by Barbara Flueckiger.
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ShowHide details
A Josephine McLean Dance Classic (1929). Credit: George Eastman Museum, Moving Image Department. Photographs of the nitrate print by Barbara Flueckiger.
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ShowHide details
A Josephine McLean Dance Classic (1929). Credit: George Eastman Museum, Moving Image Department. Photographs of the nitrate print by Barbara Flueckiger.
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ShowHide details
A Josephine McLean Dance Classic (1929). Credit: George Eastman Museum, Moving Image Department. Photographs of the nitrate print by Barbara Flueckiger.
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ShowHide details
A Josephine McLean Dance Classic (1929). Credit: George Eastman Museum, Moving Image Department. Photographs of the nitrate print by Barbara Flueckiger.
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A Josephine McLean Dance Classic (1929). Credit: George Eastman Museum, Moving Image Department. Photographs of the nitrate print by Barbara Flueckiger.
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ShowHide details
A Josephine McLean Dance Classic (1929). Credit: George Eastman Museum, Moving Image Department. Photographs of the nitrate print by Barbara Flueckiger.
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A Josephine McLean Dance Classic (1929). Credit: George Eastman Museum, Moving Image Department. Photographs of the nitrate print by Barbara Flueckiger.
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A Josephine McLean Dance Classic (1929). Credit: George Eastman Museum, Moving Image Department. Photographs of the nitrate print by Barbara Flueckiger.
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A Josephine McLean Dance Classic (1929). Credit: George Eastman Museum, Moving Image Department. Photographs of the nitrate print by Barbara Flueckiger.
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A Josephine McLean Dance Classic (1929). Credit: George Eastman Museum, Moving Image Department. Photographs of the nitrate print by Barbara Flueckiger.