#Betty boop black and white lips trial
#Betty boop black and white lips series

But it clearly was removed from the negative. Why else would it be there? This direct reference to Helen Kane was deliberately removed from the negative so that a new print could be shown in court that would not indicate an edit. In the background is an image on an easel that looks like the image of Helen Kane. At two points there is a Long Shot, one of which Pans from the stage to the audience. You hear an audio splice from the audience applause going to the song. This song is not set up by the celebrity picture on the easel as the others are. Oddly, the sequence begins with Betty going right into “That’s My Weakness Now”, a song made popular by Helen Kane. The voice of Fanny Brice is an imitation by Mae Questel. Only the voice of Maurice Chevalier is authentic. Each is introduced by a photograph of that celebrity with animated lips and the voice of that celebrity coming from the picture.

#Betty boop black and white lips series

This is the first official Betty Boop cartoon which consists of a series of contemporary celebrities Margie Hines (who also voiced Olive Oyl), Little Ann Little, Kate Wright, Bonnie Poe. Further evidence can be found in the tampering with the original negative to “Stopping the Show”, which was built around Mae Questel’s (who studied drama at Columbia University) stage act impressions, which prompted Max Fleischer in hiring her. However since there is a Film Faily Trade Ad that places a picture of Helen Kane next to an early version of Betty Boop. The remark about Justice McGoldrick being “bribed” is a conclusion not based on fact. There was enough remaining evidence to prove Miss Kane’s case. A new married print with optical sound was produced, the Paramount News Lab being kept open all night waiting for this to present as evidence the next morning. Lou and Kitty Pfister, head Film Cutter stayed up all night locating spots to insert black film slugs to replace the lost frames to put the crucial spot back in sync. What happened was the print has been spliced in several places due to breakage and went out of sync at the crucial point due to the lost frames. The film did not “break” at the point of the Boop-Oop-a-Doop part. Information provided by Ray Pointer (Lou Fleischer Historian, Max’s brother): The film of “Baby” Esther was a double system sound technique like Vitaphone.

#Betty boop black and white lips trial

Other claims asked to Kane during the trial were that a witness claimed to have heard the phrase uttered in a Edith Griffith song, another defence asked if she had heard a 1913 song called Bou Dou Ba Da Boum to which Helen had denied.Įdith Griffith and Felix Mayol were also used as evidence against Helen Kane, but the old footage of Baby Esther performing the routine helped prove that Helen Kane was not the “first” Boop-Oop-a-Doop singer in the business. In his opinion, the “baby” technique of singing did not originate with Kane. “The plaintiff has failed to sustain either cause of action by proof of sufficient probative force”. You can revoke your consent to receive emails at any time by using the SafeUnsubscribe® link, found at the bottom of every email. McGoldrick ruled:īy submitting this form, you are consenting to receive marketing emails from: Harlem World Magazine, 2521 1/2 west 42nd street, Los Angeles, CA, 90008. Baby Esther’s manager also testified that Helen Kane had seen Baby Esther’s cabaret act in Harlem, 1928. An early test sound film was also discovered, which featured Baby Esther performing in this style, disproving Kane’s claims. Helen Kane saw Baby’s act somewhere between 1927-1928 and had first used it in her first Victor release “That’s My Weakness Now” she then used it in the Broadway show Good Boy and had a hit with the song entitled I Wanna Be Loved By You in 1928 and became famous overnight. Baby Esther interpolated words such as ‘Boo-Boo-Boo’ & ‘Doo-Doo-Doo’ in songs at a cabaret. The post has been edited for this posting:Įsther Jones is a singer who was known by her stage name, “Baby Esther.” Baby Esther was a popular entertainer at Harlem’s Cotton Club in the late 1920s. We found this story that sounds very similar to the Little Richard story, at times artists lose their Intellectual Property Rights. We originally ran The Story Of Harlem’s Baby “Betty Boop” Esther in 2016, and again in 2017, and received a number of emails asking if Baby Esther was the original “Betty Boop” voice? We suggest reading the story to decide for yourself.