The Talkies: American Cinema's Transition to Sound, 1926-1931 / Edition 1

by Donald Crafton

Overview

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.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780520221284
Publisher:	University of California Press
Publication date:	11/22/1999
Series:	History of the American Cinema , #4
Edition description:	First Edition
Pages:	651
Product dimensions:	7.00(w) x 10.00(h) x 1.10(d)

About the Author

Donald Crafton is Chair of the Department of Film, Television, and Theatre at the University of Notre Dame. He is the author of Before Mickey: The Animated Film, 1898-1928 (1993) and Emile Cohl, Caricature, and Film (1990).

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments
1 Introduction: The Uncertainty of Sound

PART 1: A NEW ERA IN ELECTRICAL ENTERTAINMENT
2 Electric Affinities
3 Virtual Broadway, Virtual Orchestra: De Forest and Vitaphone
4 Fox-Case, Movietone, and the Talking Newsreel
5 Enticing the Audience: Warner Bros. and Vitaphone
6 Battle of the Giants: ERPI and RCA Consolidate Sound
7 The Big Hedge: Hollywood's Defensive Strategies
8 Boom to Bust
9 Labor Troubles
10 Inaudible Technology
11 Exhibition: Talkies Change the Bijou

PART 2: THREE SEASONS: THE FILMS OF 1928-1931
12 The New Entertainment Vitamin: 1928-1929
13 Taming the Talkies: 1929-1930
14 The Well-Tempered Sound Track: 1930-1931
15 The Sound of Custard: Shorts, Travelogues, and Animated Cartoons
16 Outside the Mainstream
17 Foreign Affairs

PART 3: HEARING THE AUDIENCE
18 The Voice Squad
19 Constructive Criticism: The Fans' Perspective
20 Buying Broadway: THE JAZZ SINGER's Reception
21 "The Great Ninety Per Cent"

Appendix 1: Selected Box Office Grosses, 1928-1931
Appendix 2: Academy Awards Related to Sound, 1927-1931
List of Abbreviations
Notes
Bibliography
Picture Sources
General Index
Index of Films

Editorial Reviews

Crafton (communication and theater, U. of Notre Dame) departs from revisionist accounts that stress the systematic development of film, and portrays the transition to sound as partly rational and partly confused. He maintains that even though the studios tried to develop a proactive approach to the transition, they were concerned with reducing risks, and often behaved in a retroactive way. Topics include the effects of the depression, the struggles for control over the new technology, and the popular reception of the talkies. Annotation c. by Book News, Inc., Portland, Or.

Booknews

The Talkies is quite a simply wonderful book. It takes place among the very top works of American film history.

Film Quarterly