The Talkies offers readers a rare look at the time when sound was a vexing challenge for filmmakers and the source of contentious debate for audiences and critics. Donald Crafton presents a panoramic view of the talkies' reception as well as in-depth looks at sound design in selected films, filmmaking practices, censorship, issues of race, and the furious debate over cinema aesthetics that erupted once the movies began to speak.
--This text refers to the
Paperback
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Editorial Reviews
Review
"[A] masterful delineation of the cultural-intellectual climate into which the sound film was inserted. . . . Crafton's analysis contributes not just to film history but to cultural studies more generally with its concern with the way ordinary consumers make use of their culture. . . . The Talkies is quite simply a wonderful book. It takes its place among the very top works of American film history." -- Dana Polan, Film Quarterly
--This text refers to the
Paperback
edition.
From the Inside Flap
"The Talkies is a valuable addition to a distinguished series--especially important because it deals with one of the most eventful periods in motion picture history. Crafton's scholarship is impressive, and he has produced a readable book that's sure to become a standard reference."--James Naremore, author of More than Night
--This text refers to the
Paperback
edition.
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8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Comprehensive book on motion pictures' transition to sound,
This review is from: The Talkies: American Cinema's Transition to Sound, 1926-1931 (History of the American Cinema) (Paperback)
This is a very interesting book on a very short but crucial period of time in film history. This book combines biographical information, business strategies of the studios, cultural ramifications, and the actual technical aspects of the transition to sound in a somewhat academic style that is both entertaining and informative.
Particularly interesting is the skeptical attitude of the studio business community about adding sound to pictures. So great was their concern about audience acceptance that Warner Brother's first talkie film was a piece on the automobile and how it made its forerunner obsolete, an obvious ploy at coaxing the consumer to see sound in pictures in the same light as the auto - as a step forward in progress. Of course now it seems silly to think that audiences would have preferred the lack of use of one of their human senses when the technology was present to integrate it into their viewing experience, but such was the outlook of the business community in 1926. Another interesting chapter is on the little-known figure of Lee de Forest and his invention of the Phonofilm process in 1920, a way to make the movies talk by adding a synchronized optical soundtrack to the film. This process used a device called a light valve to expose a series of light and dark areas on the film which were read by a photocell and converted to audio. Although basically correct in principle, its operating quality was poor, and the inventor found himself unable to interest film producers in its possibilities. Ironically, with the Vitaphone "sound on disk" system being such a difficult process to work with both technically and logistically, within a few years' time the motion-picture industry converted to talking pictures by using a sound-on-film process similar to that of de Forest's. On the corporate level, Crafton frames the battle over sound technology as ERPI versus RCA. In 1926, Fox signed an agreement with ERPI to combine its Movietone sound-on-film method with Western Electric's amplification methods for theater use. The ERPI variable density system would compete for the next decade with the RCA variable area system that was adopted by RKO after 1928. Crafton does a good job of making this battle of the titans very interesting, involving all kinds of maneuvering and even, of all people, Joe Kennedy. Crafton goes over theatrical and tactical issues of converting to sound as well, including how changes in direction and acting techniques were required, as actors in early talkies were still making the wild gestures that were necessary to convey the action taking place in silent films, but just looked ridiculous when sound was added. Likewise, dialogue was initially extremely pedestrian, as is best illustrated in the first feature-length all-talking picture "The Lights of New York" with such hammy gangster lines as "Take him for a ride." Thus, Crafton goes over a variety of early talkie successes and failures and how the budding film industry learned from both. The back of the book has an extensive bibliography and even box office receipts for the years 1928 through 1931. I highly recommend this book for anyone interested in this fascinating era in cinema history.
4 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Tour de force among all 10 volumes which are now in publicat,
By A Customer
This review is from: The Talkies: American Cinema's Transition to Sound, 1926-1931 (History of the American Cinema) (Paperback)
Crafton out-did himself and his established firm scholarship in this book. A "must have."I am told this is the definitive series of books and believe it from this one. Maybe libraries will also pick up on these and have them on the shelves. All ten books are now published by Charles Scribner Sons which is now a part of Thomson and Gale or by the University of Calif. Press.
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