Ronald Frankau (1938)

Titles read: “Pathetone now has pleasure in presenting - RONALD FRANKAU of Radio, Records & Stage Fame.“ London (probably Pathe Studio). A man stands before a microphone and explains that Ronald Frankau will be appearing in the place of the artists scheduled to appear (looks like a mock-up of a radio recording). Ronald Frankau walks to the microphone to scant applause and recites a poem about how the comedian feels when broadcasting on the radio - ’Pity the man that stands alone before the mike’. It is a rather bitter sweet poem, about how much the comedian depends on the applause at the end of his patter, and Frankau imagines people listening to him on the radio in different parts of the country and tuning into other programmes or going off to do something else. Unfortunately, the soundtrack cuts out at 01:53:00 - visuals continue, but we miss the second half of the poem! At the end of the piece, the announcer comes back on and gives Frankau a piece of paper - Frankau kicks him in the pants