"Hot Chocolate"

This view of Orpheum's marquee advertising Duke Ellington and his orchestra is seen at the beginning of the 3 minute Soundie titled "Hot Chocolate" (Soundies Distributing Corporation, 1941). This shot is followed by a look at a poster on display advertising the performers as being from the revue "Jump For Joy" that had played the Mayan. The band is playing "Cottontail."

It's on YouTube: post #1 | post # 2 | post #3 | post #4 | 

Thanks to Mark Cantor for spotting the theatre. He's the author of "The Soundies: A History and Catalog of Jukebox Film Shorts of the 1940s." It's on Amazon.

See the pages about the Orpheum Theatre on the Los Angeles Theatres site for a history of the 1926 vintage vaudeville house. It's at 842 S. Broadway.   

 

A Mills Novelty Co. Panoram machine on display at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Museum for "Regeneration," their 2022-2023 exhibit about early Black cinema.  The soundies were usually shot on 35mm. 16mm reversed prints were sent out in reels of 8 with the shorts featuring Black entertainers near the end of the reel. Soundies were distributed between 1941 and 1947. Photo: Bill Counter

See a Wikipedia article about Panorams. There's a World of Soundies Facebook page.