His Pastimes (1926) User Reviews

Smeck!

[planktonrules · 6/10 · 2 July 2019]

While the name Roy Smeck probably escapes everyone reading this review, he was apparently a reasonably popular expert at various stringed musical instruments....and like so many musicians of his era, Vitaphone arranged to record him using their new sound equipment at their New York studio. And, like so many of these early films, it debuted before "The Jazz Singer" so that they could refine the equipment and be ready for a full-length talking picture.

The poorly named Smeck plays a Hawaiian-style tune using a steel guitar (very popular at the time) as well as some banjo and ukelele music as well. He was a very versatile and energetic performer. Overall, pleasant and important historically speaking.

Amazing Skill & Versatility

[cinemanchild · 10/10 · 4 January 2007]

Roy Smeck shows his skills with a number of stringed instruments and truly earns the title "Wizard of the String".

Although I was first introduced to Roy Smeck's brilliant square-neck lap slide guitar playing, he proves that he is quite adept in the ukulele, banjo and harmonica as well.

His slide playing is especially off-the-hook. Although he may not have been as technically proficient as other slide players such as Sol Hoopi, King Benny, etc., his attack on the slide is fervent, passionate and seemingly impossible to chart.

This short is on www.youtube.com somewhere. This is a must-see for anyone who is an enthusiast of old-timey 20's music.

Raw

[Michael_Elliott · 31 March 2009]

Roy Smeck, the Wizard of String, in His Primetime (1926)

* 1/2 (out of 4)

The name Roy Smeck might not be known today but he became known as "The Wizard of String" as he could play the banjo, steel guitar and the ukulele. With that said, I found this short to be extremely poorly made and so poorly so that it really takes away from the talent behind Smeck. From a historic point of view this short is very important as it was one of the earliest examples of the Vitaphone sound-on-disc system. This film played on the same bill as the first feature to feature this new technology, DON JUAN, with John Barrymore. On that level I'd recommend people to watch this but it's rather aggravation in terms of entertainment. As is to be expected, the camera just stands still and the early sound recording leaves a lot to be desired. The film never really flows at any pace, which is another reason it doesn't work too well. I love catching these rare films on Turner Classic Movies but this one here is for film buffs only.