George Grossmith and Edmund Payne were two of the biggest stars of the London stage in the early twentieth century. On 21 March 1911, they recorded The Two Obadiahs, subtitled "The Young Obadiah and the Old Obadiah, A Moral Song by HP Lyste". They regularly performed this song at music halls, and the same year they made this short film using Cecil Hepworth's early synchronized sound-on-disc system known as the Vivaphone. Only about two thirds of the film still exist.