Marx Brothers / Animal Crackers in Cinecolor 1930 (Mystery solved)

[Scotsguy]

Anyone who has seen that amazing Sabucat color Marx Brothers 'Animal
Crackers' footage may well have wondered why it was made or where did it
come from?

I e-mailed Sabucat today to tell them some good news. The clip is far of a
1930 Cinecolor short 'Wonderland of California'. This is a low budget one
reel production which mostly consists of shots of local beauty spots and
models. The end title card is in a slightly different style, suggesting that
there may have been an earlier version of the same short. Sadly the sound
and music are from stock, so the Marx footage has no sound.

The actual Marx sequence is a fraction longer.

I'm pleased to finally know where this footage came from and I hope by
mentioning here that it does help to explain to any Marx or early color fans
what was a puzzling clip. Looking at the footage, it is difficult to say if
this was test footage thrown in to add variety to the short, indeed most of
the footage looks like test color footage. At least we now have an origin to
all this.

I have uploaded two frames which people might find helpful,

http://img515.imageshack.us/my.php?image=marx12uf.jpg
http://img515.imageshack.us/my.php?image=marx27xn.jpg

[Scotsguy]

As a follow up to my original post, I forgot to add, that I think the film
was a re-issue of a 1930 short (if that wasn't clear).

[Je...@sabucat.com]

Well, not to break anyone's bubble, but this doesn't really help.

I know the piece is from that short subject; we supplied the short for
a European DVD release. But this begs the question. Why/where/how
come was footage shot in the first place?

We indeed have a nitrate print of this short, Wonderland California,
which contains various very early color test shots...including the Marx
Brothers piece. The short is a 1940 CineColor print from a 1930
MultiColor negative.

We still need to know: Who shot the footage? When? For what purpose?

Thanks,

Jeff Joseph
SabuCat Productions

[mco]

As listed in imdb.com:
During a rehearsal a test was made for a color movie process called
Multicolor (a predecessor of Cinecolor) and the result was the only
known footage of the Marx Brothers in color! The clip is silent and
lasts only 15 seconds

Also, from marx-bros.org:

In 1998 Turner Classic Movies has broadcast an original documentary
entitled, "Glorious Technicolor," about the development and use of
Technicolor. It included a 13-second sequence from a rehearsal of Animal
Crackers which was in vibrant color. It was, apparently, the scene in
which Harpo arrives as "The Professor" and hands Margaret Dumont his
stick horn. One of the most interesting aspects of the footage is that
Harpo is wearing a bathrobe and no wig (he has brown-reddish hair).
(Everyone else is in full costume.) Sabucat Productions obtained it from
somebody who had found it in a barn many years ago, as part of a series
of color film clips that were pieced together. This is the ONLY Marx
footage in this reel of film.

[J. Theakston]

There were no Multicolor productions in 1930 at Paramount... It seems
Paramount's color system was strictly Technicolor that year, meaning
Multicolor's guys shouldn't have even been on the lot, let alone
shooting ANIMAL CRACKERS in that format.

J. Theakston