Gus Visser and His Singing Duck
About Gus Visser and His Singing Duck
Vaudeville performer Gus Visser sings with a duck. Theodore Case filmed the act while testing his variable-density sound-on-film system at the Case Research Lab in Auburn, New York.
Cast & crew
More about Gus Visser and His Singing Duck
Case had been working on the process at the Auburn lab since 1921. This test was made in June 1925. Wikidata names Case as director. Some catalogs credit Earl I. Sponable, his collaborator.
Themes
Background
Case's variable-density experiments in Auburn fed the sound-on-film work that reached commercial features later in the 1920s.
Making
The short is a lab test of Case's soundtrack, not a released comedy. Visser and the duck are the picture that carries the sound.
Technique
Case exposed a variable-density soundtrack on the film itself, the method he had been refining at Auburn since 1921.
Music
The point of the reel is Case's variable-density optical track, recorded with Visser's song and the duck.
Preservation
George Eastman House holds an original print. The Library of Congress selected the film for the National Film Registry in 2002.
Notes
- The full title used by the National Film Registry is Theodore Case Sound Test: Gus Visser and His Singing Duck.
- An original print is at the George Eastman House.
- In 2002 the Library of Congress placed it on the National Film Registry.
Awards
- National Film Registry (2002)
Scenes
- Visser sings while the duck performs beside him.
Also available
- Wikimedia Commons (Gus Visser and His Singing Duck.webm)