Of H.A. Spanuth and the Wonders of Vod-a-Vil

Vaudeville lovers owe much to the enterprise of Hans August (H.A.) Spanuth (1884-1976).

Spanuth was a second generation cultural figure. His father, August Spanuth (1857-1920) was a German pianist, composer, critic, journalist, music publisher, and educator. Born near Hanover, he toured the U.S. as a musician in 1886, taught at Chicago Musical College from 1887 to 1893, then in New York from 1893 through 1906, where he also edited the New York Staatszietung. From 1907 to 1919 he edited the Berlin- and Leipzig-based Signale für die musikalische Welt. The elder Spanuth’s second wife (m. 1898) was the opera singer Amanda Fabris (1867-1950).

H.A. Spanuth was born in Hamburg and came to the U.S. with his family when just a toddler. He was educated at Columbia and remained in the U.S. when his father returned to Germany. In 1907 (quite early in the game) he opened his first nickelodeon. In 1911 he produced what is quite possibly America’s first feature length film, Oliver Twist, with a cast that included Nat C. Goodwin, Vinnie Burns, Charley Rogers, and Stuart Holmes. He was on the verge of closing a deal with Charles Frohman to use his stage talent (Nazimova, John Drew, Billie Burke, Maude Adams, et al) in films when the producer was killed in the sinking of the Lusitania. At this stage, Spanuth’s feelings towards his native country must have been more than complicated!

Totos Brothers, Spanuth Short

From 1919 to 1920 he produced Spanuth’s Original Vod-A-Vil Movies, recording several minor vaudeville acts for theatres to show which couldn’t afford live talent. Most of the acts he featured were minor ones, including acrobats, dancers, knockabout comedians, and even animal acts. During this period he also made one novelty short starring a goat called Billy Whiskers. The Spanuth shorts that survive, rank with Edison’s and Vitaphone’s as crucial and rare records of what vaudeville was all about.

Spanuth also owned several theatres in the Chicago era. His entrepreneurial bent took him to several areas of the film business in subsequent years, mostly in rentals and distribution. When he was with the Film Studios of Chicago, he produced a newsreel series called Woman Speaks in the mid 1940s. This descriptive article for the Hans Spanuth Collection at Northwestern Libraries inaccurately describes it as a television show (rather than theatrical or educational films that were later screened on television), along with two or three other errors and distortions. Spanuth was still active when he was interviewed for a 1949 issue of Broadcasting magazine.

For more on vaudeville,consult No Applause, Just Throw Money: The Book That Made Vaudeville Famous, for more on early cinema please check out: Chain of Fools: Silent Comedy and Its Legacies from Nickelodeons to Youtube, and stay tuned for my upcomingElectric Vaudeville: A Century of Radio and TV Variety.