Here’s a very well done made-for-YouTube concoction in which the style/feel/materials of Ziegfeld’s 1927 edition of his legendary ‘Follies’ show is reproduced, using stills, footage culled from various Vitaphone shorts of the era (and other musical films which I can’t identify), all set to a recording of an Ampico Piano Roll of the period. It’s actually two pianists who cut the roll–piano duo acts became popular in the mid to late 20s. In this case, the players are Ralph Rainger (who later became a hit tunesmith, writing ‘Thanks For The Memory’ among many others) and Edgar Fairchild. This dandy little reel appears to have been assembled by pianist/musicologist Peter Mintun–and a very slick job it is. According to Mr. Mintun:

In 1926 Ralph Rainger (another native New Yorker), who also made piano rolls, teamed with Edgar Fairchild for the show “Queen High,” where they were prominently featured. The show was a resounding hit and they performed on stage for more than 367 performances. It was during the run of the show that they recorded a danceable medley for the Victor Talking Machine Company in New York City. A few months later AMPICO released a piano roll of the same repertoire. But with tempo variations, which led to several more stunning roll recordings of the duo. In 1927 the team was again featured on Broadway in the tuneful and long-running “Ziegfeld Follies of 1927,” starring Eddie Cantor and showcasing the songs of Irving Berlin. In 1928 the team recorded for Brunswick Records and appeared “with their Brunswick Orchestra” in a short-lived musical called “Cross Your Heart.” The same year, Rainger teamed with another roll recording artist Adam Carroll in the show “Angela,” which closed in a short time. Fortunately, Rainger and Carroll were chosen for the highly successful “The Little Show,” for which Rainger also composed music. Starring Clifton Webb, Fred Allen and Libby Holman, the Ralph Rainger song “Moanin’ Low” (lyrics by Howard Dietz) became one of the hits of the very popular show. From this point on, it was clear that Rainger was on the road to success as a composer of popular songs. Within a few years he was writing hit after hit for the films of Bing Crosby, Mae West, Maurice Chevalier, Shirley Ross and Marlene Dietrich.