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Dates Set For 'The Quiet Little Englishman' in Liverpool

stpwainwright@mac.com — 2008-09-05T20:32:10+01:00

Zho Visual Theatre have announced that The Quiet Little Englishman - the theatrical production based on the life of George Groves - will open in Liverpool on October 15th with ten performances staged over two weeks. As previously reported in this blog, it's written by Esther Wilson and is her second European Capital of Culture commission. Her first, Ten Tiny Toes at the Liverpool Everyman in June explored the conflicts experienced by returning soldiers and received very favourable reviews. (see Independent, Guardian, Telegraph).

The historic and disused Park Palace music hall / cinema where the production is being staged, has required a considerable amount of refurbishment to make it fit for theatrical purpose once again, but director Paula Simms tells this website that "the venue is coming along nicely and is almost ready".

A dedicated Quiet Little Englishman page will be added to this site over the next few days but for the moment here are the dates and ticket info:

Dates:     Wednesday 15th - Sunday 19th October
                    Wednesday 22nd - Sunday 26th October
Showtime:    7.45pm
Tickets:    £10 (£7 concessions)
Venue:   The Park Palace (on the corner of Park Street & Mill Street), Liverpool, L8 6QN.
Booking Information:   Unity Theatre Box Office: 0151 709 4988
Websites: Unity Theatre Website    Zho Visual Theatre Website

There was a three minute report on the Quiet Little Englishman production on the BBC earlier this year which can be viewed from one of these links:
High Quality Windows Media      Very High Quality QuickTime Media
Low Quality Windows Media for slower connections
(Nb. This material is © BBC MMVIII)

'The Quiet Little Englishman' Set for October Premiere

stpwainwright@mac.com — 2008-04-19T08:28:45+01:00

The Quiet Little Englishman is a play by Esther Wilson about the life and achievements of George Groves and it's being produced by Zho Visual Theatre. It's one of the eleven 'Liverpool Commissions' which were made last year by the Liverpool Culture Company as part of the Liverpool '08 European Capital of Culture celebrations.

The director is Paula Simms who reports that the production's premiere will be on October 16th, with a likely preview on the 15th. The venue is going to be an old cinema called the Park Palace which is located in Mill Street in the Dingle area of Liverpool.

It has quite a history, having been designed by architect J H Havelock-Sutton and built on the site of an old coach works at a cost of £5,000. It opened in December 1893 as a music hall called Park Palace of Varieties with a seating capacity of 1100 and in Kelly's 1894 directory was described as:

"...an edifice of brick with an imposing front panelled red bricks and terracotta. A large sunlight hangs from the ceiling. The building is supplied with ample entrances and exits and is ventilated to the latest principles."

In 1904 King Edward VII visited the theatre and the Royal coat of arms was subsequently installed above the proscenium. Like many other music halls it began to screen films as novelties in between acts. These proved to be so popular that by 1911 it had abandoned variety and was converted into a fully-fledged cinema. It had a seating capacity of 950 and in 1930 it was adapted to exhibit sound films.

The Park Palace (pictured left in 2004) finally closed its doors in March 1959 as its attendances were hit hard by the popularity of television.

Zho are turning the old building into a temporary venue for the event and the company are also making a documentary drama film about its history with contributions from the local community as Paula explains:
"Many of the people we have been interviewing remember it well and talk about the early days of cinema with great fondness. It's a great project to work on and a lot of people have told us that although it was a bit of a flea pit it was the preferred cinema because it had the best sound, so it seems right to do it there."

The BBC have also been filming at the old building and have approached this website for photographs of George for a forthcoming broadcast piece. Zho have just appointed a marketing and press coordinator and with a recent article in the St.Helens Star, it looks like George Groves' achievements are about to be given even more exposure. Watch this space for more on this exciting project!

'Victory of the Vitaphone' AND 'The Soundman' Downloads, Sam Warner Medal Pix & Play News

stpwainwright@mac.com — 2008-02-26T22:26:57+00:00

George Groves pictured at Bell Labs in National Magazine's 1927 article on Vitaphone

'Vitaphone' is one of my eBay saved searches and it came up trumps recently when the auction site listed a fascinating, four page article in US publication National Magazine entitled Victory of the Vitaphone. This was published in its January 1927 edition and I was able to acquire it for just $10, which included shipping to the UK! As well as photographs of the four Warner brothers and Walter Rich, the rare article also contains a picture of George Groves at work in the Bell Laboratories (above).

Although his name is spelt incorrectly and it's a low quality image, this is the only picture that I'm aware of that shows George at work at Bell Labs. There is, of course, a well-known close up image of George inspecting a Vitaphone wax disc, but that was taken at the Vitagraph Studios in Brooklyn, not in Bell Labs. The gargantuan size of the equipment used at Bell in those days is the most striking feature of the picture. George is quite dwarfed by it all!

I've added the whole article to the Downloads section of this website for your enjoyment. I've also added "The Soundman", a paper that George wrote for SMPE in March 1947. Its summary states that:

"This paper outlines the tools and means that are at the disposal of the motion picture production mixer to enable him to fulfill his prime responsibility of being the director's assistant in all matters pertaining to sound."

A fabulous historical document with no mention anywhere of digital or computers!

I'm grateful to Roland Barrow, George's nephew, for taking photographs of the Samuel L. Warner Memorial Award which was presented to George Groves in 1972 by the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers. Larger versions of the photographs are now in our Photo-Album (1942-76). The solid gold medal was considered to be so valuable that it was stored in a bank vault in LA.

Finally news that "The Quiet Little Englishman", the proposed play on George Groves and written by Esther Wilson, has been pencilled in for its premiere in October 2008. This will be part of the Liverpool '08 Capital of Culture celebrations. Esther had a marvellous play called The Heroic Pursuits of Darleen Fyles broadcast by BBC Radio 4 last week. She tells me that the producers of the George Groves project, Zho Visual Theatre, are looking for further funding after receiving an Arts Council grant recently. So if you've got a bob or two to spare, please do get in touch!

Site Redesign Incorporating George Groves' Oral History

stpwainwright@mac.com — 2007-11-08T08:37:56+00:00

We're proud to present the new-look George Groves website! Three months work has gone into its redesign in which we've incorporated George's oral history as well as fifty newly acquired rare photographs and documents.

George made two oral history recordings in which he detailed his remarkable 46-year film career as a sound man. The first was for UCLA Film & Television Archive in 1962 which lasted 2 hours, although we have only managed to obtain 20 minutes of this. The second was for the American Film Institute in 1973 and lasted over 17 hours and is deposited in the Louis B. Mayer Library in Los Angeles. This is included in their collection of forty interviews with pioneers of the motion picture industry.

The Groves family and this website would like to thank librarian Caroline Sisneros for her tremendous cooperation in sending us copies of George's oral history. As a result this website can now tell George's story in his own words. And what a story it is!

A number of improvements have been made to the site including a Downloads page and a commenting facility has been incorporated into this blog. I expect we'll be fine tuning and fixing glitches for the next few days. Please do let us know if you spot any!

The Jazz Singer 80th Anniversary Three Disc DVD Collectord Edition Bexed Set (Region 1)

stpwainwright@mac.com — 2007-08-01T19:15:33+01:00

As you may already have heard, Warner Home Video announced in July that October 16th 2007 will be the release date for the region 1 version of The Jazz Singer 80th Anniversary 3 Disc DVD box set. To quote from their trade release:

Entertainment Legend Al Jolson Stars in the 1927 Black and White Classic, Newly Restored, With Collectible Memorabilia and Hours of Additional Content, including New Documentary “The Dawn of Sound” And over Three & ½ Hours of Rare Vitaphone Shorts.

I've obtained a copy of the 5 page trade release .pdf which details the treasure trove of rare film that's set to accompany the restored version of The Jazz Singer. I'm particularly excited about Disc 2 entitled The Early Sound Era which is set to contain:

An all new feature-length documentary The Dawn of Sound: How Movies Learned to Talk (George Groves will be in this)
Studio shorts celebrating the early sound era
The Voice That Thrilled The World - Warner Bros. short about sound
Okay for Sound - 1946 Warner Brothers short celebrating the twentieth anniversary of Vitaphone
The Voice from the Screen - 1926 WB ‘demonstration’ film which explores the Vitaphone technology and making of a Vitaphone short

And much, much more! To find out for yourself click HERE to view the .pdf.
I've supplied some images of George Groves to the production company making the Dawn of Sound documentary and so am especially looking forward to getting my hands on the boxed set. It does seem, incidentally, that only a region 1 release has been scheduled so far.

Edit In the UK a two disc version is being released on November 12th, 2007 (Amazon link). Disc 3 of Vitaphone shorts called Astonishing Rarities has apparently been removed from the Region 2 release.

The 'Quiet Little Englishman' on Stage!

stpwainwright@mac.com — 2007-07-16T17:15:01+01:00

Every year since Athens in 1985, a city in Europe has been designated as the European City or Capital of Culture and next year will be Liverpool's turn. Since winning the prestigious title in 2003, the Liverpool Culture Company have been very active preparing for the 2008 celebrations and have just announced the 'Liverpool Commissions '. These are eleven brand new works of art which will be showcased throughout the year. One of the commissions is a theatre production called The Quiet Little Englishman which will be about our very own George Groves and his pioneering sound film work.

For the last two years playwright Esther Wilson and her colleagues at Zho Visual Theatre have been developing their proposal, researching George's story and applying for funding. They've won their commission from the LCC despite considerable competition and will subsequently share in £500,000 of funding. Esther writes that they still have some way to go as they plan to create a "huge multi-media event on a 'film lot' " which will incorporate a sound installation, live music, dance and theatre. Matching funding will be required from other bodies but they are confident that they'll succeed. The director will be Paula Simm whose currently directing a show in Portugal.

This is fantastic news and congratulations to Esther and all at Zho. I will, of course, be reporting any developments in this blog. You can read more about the Liverpool Commissions here and here.

The Jazz Singer Documentary from Warners

stpwainwright@mac.com — 2007-07-09T22:32:04+01:00

Sparkhill Productions of Burbank are completing production of a documentary on The Jazz Singer and the advent of motion picture sound technology for Warner Brothers and TCM. Sparkhill are a top producer of DVD programming for major motion picture studios and distributors. As one would expect, George Groves' contribution as recording engineer on the seminal film is being featured in the programme and I've been pleased to supply Sparkhill with some hi-res stills of George for inclusion. I hope to get a release date soon.

Talking of DVDs, I've been informed that the first part of A Century of Sound is close to being released. (See blog item below) This is the UCLA / Rick Chace three part documentary DVD series on the history of sound in motion pictures which extensively features George. The documentary's Wrap Party in Burbank is scheduled for July 19th to which I've been invited but am unable to fly over from St.Helens. Well I've got to think of my carbon footprint haven't I! Instead I've arranged for two of George's relatives who live in LA to attend. Hope it all goes well.

The DVD will feature seventeen minutes of George's oral history which he made c.1974 to Irene Kahn Atkins, daughter of legendary Hollywood songwriter Gus Kahn on behalf of the American Film Institute. I've discovered that a full two hour recording of George's recollections do exist stored at UCLA in LA. I'm currently trying to obtain a copy on behalf of the Groves family and, of course, this web site. The oral history was made just a couple of years before George died and is clearly an invaluable record from someone who was in at the very beginning of sound films and made important contributions in their development until his retirement in 1972.

I'll keep you posted on any news on this.

George Groves in UCLA Documentary

stpwainwright@mac.com — 2007-04-21T12:15:30+01:00

The Rick Chace Foundation and the UCLA Film and Television Archive are producing a comprehensive three part documentary DVD series on the history of sound in motion pictures. The DVDs will be released in June 2007 and will be distributed free of charge to educational institutions and archives worldwide. The first part is entitled A Century of Sound – The History of Sound in Motion Pictures: The Beginning 1876-1932 and is based on a lecture prepared originally in 1992 by Robert Gitt, Chief Preservation Officer of the UCLA Film & Television Archive. It contains many unseen film clips and portions of many Vitaphone productions and will also feature 17 minutes of George Groves' oral history which he made in 1975, just a year before he died.

I've been sent a copy of the introduction to the voice-over which refers to George's "illustrious career " and "significant contributions " to sound motion pictures. I've been delighted to supply the production team with many stills used in this web site and I look forward to viewing the DVD. It's great to see that George's pioneering work is continuing to gain recognition 31 years after his death.

George Groves in Norwegian University of Science and Technology Exhibit

stpwainwright@mac.com — 2007-01-06T09:35:32+00:00

The Norwegian University of Science and Technology will be including George Groves in an exhibition on the history of electroacoustics in the interwar period. The exhibition is organised by Faros, an exhibition group at the university in Trondheim and will be set up at the University museum from March to July 2007.

We've supplied them with the Mammy photo from 1930 with George pictured with Al Jolson. This picture is currently in the January edition of the UK's Hi-Fi News in an interesting article by Britain's leading technology writer Barry Fox on how sound in the theatre shaped home cinema and disc-based hi-fi. I'm pleased that there are mentions of George's contributions.

Site Offline

stpwainwright@mac.com — 2007-01-06T09:10:42+00:00

This site is now back online after being down for the first five days of 2007. This was caused by an employee at my hosting company taking it on himself to reset the site to its default state. This means that all uploaded files were lost and a "Coming Soon " screen greeted visitors despite the site being online with this company for 12 months. Very, very annoying as there is increasing interest in the site with 100 unique visitors viewing it in the 24 hours before the plug was pulled. I'm informed that the employee is going to be disciplined for his actions. Apologies if you tried to access the site during this period.

Links to This Site

stpwainwright@mac.com — 2006-12-21T18:54:51+00:00

So far this month I've counted (via the site stats) fifty inbound links to this web site. This means that during December, a large number of visitors to George Groves - The First Sound Man had clicked on links contained within other web pages and blogs that had directed them to us. (This excludes search engines like Google and Yahoo). It's interesting to track down where the links emanate, although for one reason or another it's not always fruitful. However, a couple of interesting sources that I've just identified are worth reporting.

The Gotham Gazette from Gotham Sound and Communications says:

" For a lot more on the redoubtable George Groves, check out http://www.georgegroves.org.uk/, a fantastic online tribute with anecdotes, pictures, media clips, and more. "

I do like the Gotham Gazette's strap line All the noise that's fit to print !

Plus sync.sound.cinema says:

" Listen up, sportsfans: Anyone interested in reading about one of the instrumental figures in creating synchronized movie sound would do well to check out A Tribute to George Groves-The First Sound Man."

The site is receiving many more favourable mentions but, more importantly, George Groves is starting to get the real recognition he deserves. The plaque unveiling at his place of birth in St. Helens, England ten years ago was great, but it was essentially a local tribute. However, using the World Wide Web his place in the history of the development and use of production and post-production film sound is slowly being cemented.

Broken Links Fixed

stpwainwright@mac.com — 2006-11-18T11:19:21+00:00

I've performed a routine check on all the links in the Links page and was surprised to find that four were broken. After some investigation I've discovered that three sites had moved servers and so had changed their URLs. One had made its page a .pdf file and changed URL. All are now fixed. If any links don't work in the future please let us know. If you have any suggestions for more links to add to the list, again please get in touch. Thanks!

HI-FI News

stpwainwright@mac.com — 2006-11-17T19:06:27+00:00

Hi-Fi News in the UK are printing an article on the development of film sound during the 1920s. We've supplied some photos to them for inclusion in the piece, including the 1930 Mammy photo of George with Al Jolson.

This is a very rare photo (right) and as far as we know has never been in print media before. It's believed to have been taken at Jolson's insistence so George could send it from his home in Hollywood back to his family in England, who by then were living in Liverpool. The article will be printed in the December edition of Hi-Fi News, on sale Dec 15th 2006. This website will get a mention.

Sutton Beauty

stpwainwright@mac.com — 2006-10-28T19:01:42+01:00

Not directly related to George Groves but I have a new website Sutton Beauty which has just been launched. It's a photographic appreciation of the Sutton district of St Helens. George's Dad did live in Sutton for a while at 2 Cairne Street according to the electoral registers of 1899-1900. That's the only connection I can muster!

History of Hollywood Production Sound Recording Equipment & Workflows Thread

stpwainwright@mac.com — 2006-09-06T22:23:42+01:00

If you're interested in the history of film sound production and post-production, an interesting news group thread has been started by Ron Scelza. Ron describes it as:

Time Track -- "The History of Hollywood Production Sound recording equipments & workflows" from the 35MM Variable density track recorders in trucks to the Zaxcom Deva on location: As Hollywood changes technology the world of production adapts to its changes.

You can read it HERE.

Vitaphone Exhibition

stpwainwright@mac.com — 2006-09-06T21:42:59+01:00

If you live in California or planning a trip to LA later this year, you may be interested in what seems to be a fascinating exhibition run by the Science and Technology Council. As they say on their website:

The Council’s exhibition entitled “In Synch: The Birth of Vitaphone” tells the remarkable story of the Vitaphone Corporation by showcasing the people, the inventions and the impact of this revolutionary technology. It features an original lathe used for cutting Vitaphone wax records; a projector turntable; original wax, metal and plastic discs; and a special keepsake of Jack Warner’s – the original sound-mixing panel from The Jazz Singer.

It runs until December 2006. If anyone visits the exhibit and is allowed to take a picture of the mixing desk that George Groves used in 1927, I'd really appreciate a copy for this web site.

New Design

stpwainwright@mac.com — 2006-08-24T20:04:44+01:00

The site now has a new design with a wider layout or content container as it's called. The extra landscape has created an opportunity to add some new pictures.

Changes to the Video Page

stpwainwright@mac.com — 2006-08-12T10:56:47+01:00

The most common complaint about this web site is that the videos don't work, either because Windows users don't have QuickTime installed on their systems or use a version of Internet Explorer where there is an ActiveX conflict. As a result we've had the two videos converted to Windows Media Video 9 format and they are now hosted on fast streaming video servers which should work fine on all systems. There's two download speeds Standard (300 kbps) and High-Speed (700 kbps) to accommodate different internet connections.

George's Origins Update

stpwainwright@mac.com — 2006-08-05T12:46:34+01:00

We've undertaken more research into George Groves's twenty-one years in St.Helens and the family connection with Hollywood character actor of the 1930s Herbert Mundin (pictured below). Astonishingly it all hinged on a terrifying night in Duke Street on 13th November 1895! Read it HERE. Read the St.Helens Newspaper's account of 23rd November 1895, entitled A Fatal Jump - A Barber's Sad End HERE. Read the Herbert Mundin Connection HERE.

Herbert Mundin (1898-1939) born at 206 Windleshaw Road, St.Helens

Free Thinking!

stpwainwright@mac.com — 2006-07-28T17:21:53+01:00

As part of their Free Thinking initiative, BBC Radio 3 currently has a blog on their web site by Esther Wilson who writes about George Groves and links to this web site. Click HERE to view it. Esther is currently in development on a possible play on George.

Gathering of the Clan!

stpwainwright@mac.com — 2006-07-27T11:40:47+01:00

An unintentional benefit of this site has been the number of relatives and descendants of George Groves who we've been able to put in contact with George's niece Doreen Barrow. This has enabled her to expand her family tree and on Sunday 16th July, Doreen held a "gathering of the clan" at her home in Liverpool, England.

If you feel you may be connected to George, contact us and we'll put you in touch with Doreen. She also has a brother Roland in LA who also studies genealogy.

Su Barton has a Groves family tree which details the Bristol and St.Helens connections.

TCM Don Juan & Shorts Screening

stpwainwright@mac.com — 2006-07-01T11:45:28+01:00

Just heard that TCM in the US are screening Don Juan plus ALL the shorts that accompanied it on Sunday night July 2nd from 9.15pm PT (1215 am ET). These were all, of course, recorded at the Manhattan Opera House in New York by young George Groves.

The shorts are quite rare and open with Will Hays of the MPAA congratulating Warner Brothers for beginning a “new era in motion pictures". The other shorts were mainly classical performances by opera singer Marion Talley, violinist Mischa Elman, Anna Case in 'La Fiesta' and a duet by Zimbalist and Bauer.

However, banjoist Roy Smeck made arguably the biggest impression on the audience and critics, demonstrating that mainstram popular fare was what people really wanted to see.

Hopefully TCM will repeat these and screen them in other parts of the world (especially the UK!).

Bob Allen 1925 -2006

stpwainwright@mac.com — 2006-06-19T19:34:42+01:00

The sad news is received that Bob Allen, a founder and former chairman of the Association of Motion Picture Sound, passed away on the 18th June at his home in Wellington, New Zealand after a short illness. Bob was the driving force in commemorating the life and career of George Groves which culminated in two plaque unveilings ten years ago. He was also a great supporter of this web site and provided excellent advice.

Bob had a lengthy career in the film and television industries as a sound recordist and sound mixer. He worked on a wide range of films, on everything from The Adventures of Black Beauty to Fred Zinneman’s classic thriller Day of the Jackal. His first film credit was in 1959 and his last exactly forty years later. His filmography can be found HERE. Bob was 81 and is survived by his widow Shirley. He will be sorely missed.

Bob Allen is pictured above with Hilda Barrow unveiling the BFI plaque at George Groves' birthplace in June 1996