TECHNES Encyclopedia Database

One of the first people to plunge into this new kind of “talking” entertainment was Georges Mendel. In his 1901 catalogue this manufacturer of equipment, and film publisher and distributor, began to offer several “scenes for Phono-kinematographs to be shown either with the accompaniment of a Phonograph or by singing or speaking behind the screen.”^[1] Mendel’s repertoire was generally made up of films accompanied by commercial discs published by the companies Gramophone, Odéon, Pathé or Columbia. His offerings included operas and operettas (La Traviata, La Bohème, Carmen, Les mousquetaires au couvent, La fille de Madame Angot, etc.) performed by great singers such as Caruso, Affre, Dufranne, Tamagno, Muratore, etc.