Vitaphone

Background

Vitaphone was a sound film process used on features and nearly 2,000 short subjects produced by Warner Bros. Pictures and its sister studio First National Pictures from 1926 to 1930. Vitaphone was the last, but most successful, of the sound-on-disc processes. The soundtrack was not printed on the actual film, but was issued separately on 16-inch phonograph records. The discs would be played while the film was being projected. Many early talkies, such as The Jazz Singer (1927), used the Vitaphone process. The name "Vitaphone" derives from the Latin and Greek words, respectively, for "living" and "sound".

Contents

1st Logo (1925-1926)	2nd Logo (1926-1929)	3rd Logo (1929-1931)	4th Logo (1931-1940s)

1st Logo (1925-1926)

On-screen
Title card notice

Visuals: Mainly consists of "The VITAPHONE Corporation presents" in a fancy font.

Variant: The logo may appear on title cards of various movies.

Technique: A printed graphic filmed by a cameraman.

Audio: The opening theme of the movie.

Availability: Seen on the earliest films to use this process such as Witt and Berg and The Voice of the Screen.

2nd Logo (1926-1929)

Visuals: Superimposed in the opening credits, the following is seen:

Presented by
The
VITAPHONE
CORPORATION

[a subsidiary of]
WARNER BROS.
PICTURES, INC.

"VITAPHONE" is in a wavy font as well as horizontally distorted to the right. The respective logos for Vitaphone and Warner Bros. Pictures appear next to their company names.

Variant: On one film, the Vitaphone logo is omitted and the Warner Bros. shield is underneath the company's name.

Technique: A printed graphic filmed by a cameraman.

Audio: The opening theme of the movie.

Availability: As with the previous logo, it's seen on short films that use the Vitaphone process such as The Revelers and The Jazzmania Quintette.

3rd Logo (1929-1931)

Normal
With trademark notice
Vitaphone logo with outline
Early
Warner Bros. notice alternate font
Standard closing
"Melody Master" closing
"Varieties" opening
"Varieties" closing

Visuals: Similar to the previous logo, except "THE" and "CORPORATION" are removed as well as the brackets surrounding "A Subsidiary of", which the first two words now have capitalization. The Vitaphone logo with the globe is also removed and the Warner Bros. shield is positioned underneath the now-named "WARNER BROTHERS PICTURES, Inc." as well as smaller text reading "PRODUCED with WESTERN ELECTRIC APPARATUS".

Variants:

Sometimes, a registered trademark notice is seen underneath the Vitaphone logo.
The Vitaphone logo may have an inner outline.
An early version of this logo has the "VITAPHONE" logo slightly more wavy as well as bigger, a trademark notice placed underneath said logo, and the "WARNER BROTHERS" section is smaller where the company's name is in one row rather than two.
On some films, there is a "Varieties" variant where the logo including a registered trademark notice is above said text in an arc.
- The closing for this variant would simply have "The End" above the logo and "Varieties" is smaller and less arched.
On The Morrissey and Miller Night Club Revue, "Presented by" and the Warner Bros. notice are in a different font as well as a different size.
Closing variants of this logo has the text appear more even in size, The Vitaphone notice is thicker, and the Warner Bros. notice is now in an Art Deco font. "The End" is at the bottom of the screen.
On By Request, the closing variant has the Warner Bros. notice in one row and "The End" is bigger. "A VITAPHONE MELODY MASTER" in two rows is placed underneath.

Technique: A printed graphic filmed by a cameraman.

Audio: The opening theme of the movie.

Availability: This was seen on many short films distributed by Warner Bros. at the time. Examples include Gus Arnheim and His Ambassadors, By Request, The Band Beautiful, and That's the Spirit.

4th Logo (1931-1940s)

Normal
"Varieties"

Visuals: There is a Vitaphone flag superimposed on the screen, without any mention of Warner Bros. Below the flag in a script font is PRESENTS. Under that, a copyright notice is shown.

Variant: For films using the "Varieties" label, the flag is elongated where "VARIETIES" is to the left of the logo and "Presents" and the copyright notice underneath are omitted.

Technique: A still, superimposed graphic.

Audio: The opening theme of the film or cartoon.

Availability: The Vitaphone Varieties - Volume One DVD has this logo intact.