Soundie

Panorams could be found in public amusement centers, nightclubs, taverns, restaurants, and factory lounges, and the films were changed weekly.

The movie-jukebox idea developed several imitations and variations of the technical design; the most successful of these imitators were the Techniprocess company (managed by Rudy Vallee) and the Featurettes company, which used original novelty songs and usually unknown talent (17-year-old Gwen Verdon appears in a couple of the Featurettes as "Gwen Verdun").

Harry McClintock, Jimmy Dorsey, Louis Jordan, Spike Jones, Stan Kenton, Kay Starr, Johnnie Johnston, Les Brown, The Hoosier Hot Shots, Charlie Spivak, Cliff Edwards, Martha Tilton, Sally Rand, Nick Lucas, Gene Krupa, Anita O'Day, Jimmie Dodd, Merle Travis, and Lawrence Welk were some of the leading Soundies performers.

Many stars of the future made appearances in Soundies at the beginning of their careers, including Gale Storm, Dorothy Dandridge, Ricardo Montalbán, Liberace, Doris Day, Gloria Grahame, Cyd Charisse, Alan Ladd, Marilyn Maxwell, and Yvonne DeCarlo.

Many nightclub and recording artists also made Soundies, including Harry "The Hipster" Gibson, Benny Fields, Frances Faye, Gloria Parker, Charles Magnante, Milton DeLugg, and Gus Van.

[12] However, in late 1941, the federal government restricted the use of rubber and precious metals, prioritizing these resources for military use during wartime.

This meant that Mills Novelty could no longer build and sell Panoram machines, and had to confine its activities to keeping the existing projectors supplied with films.

Don McGlynn produced and edited The Soundies in 1986, hosted by Cab Calloway; the film was broadcast nationally on PBS.

Dewey Russell compiled an hourlong, direct-to-video history, "Soundies: Music Video from the '40s" in 1987, narrated by Michael Sollazzo.

Such artists as The Ink Spots, Fats Waller,[3] Duke Ellington, Louis Jordan, Sister Rosetta Tharpe, Dorothy Dandridge, Big Joe Turner, Bob Howard, Billy Eckstine, Count Basie, The Mills Brothers, Herb Jeffries, Cab Calloway, Meade Lux Lewis, Lena Horne, Louis Armstrong, Nat King Cole, and Stepin Fetchit all made Soundies (several of these were excerpted from longer theatrical films).

Snader hired dozens of pop-music acts and vaudeville performers, many of whom had already appeared in Soundies, to star in his new films.