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Silent Film Meets the Talkies:
A Brief History A gambling man, Governor Leland Stanford of California needed visual proof to win a bet he had eagerly placed. Governor Stanford firmly believed that at some point in their stride, horses had all four hooves off the ground at the same time. After hiring a photographer who was to no avail, the Governor brought in John D. Isaacs, the chief engineer for the Southern Pacific Railroad, to have a look at the situation. Isaacs decided to rig up a system of magnetic releases to trigger a series of cameras, twelve total, as the horse ran down the track (Everson, 17). Mounting these images on a rotating disk and projecting them on a screen through a special lantern, they produced a moving picture of the horse at full gallop as it had occurred in real life (Encyclopedia Britannica, 1211). American cinema's next big break came with beginning of World War I. Until this period, the industry had been dominated by France, Italy, and Germany, particularly in the area of feature length presentations and the construction of permanent theaters. However, when the war broke out in Europe, film production abroad nearly ceased due to the overlap of chemicals used in film and the manufacturing of gunpowder (Encyclopedia Britannica, 1213). Simultaneously, American Cinema experienced a period on unprecedented prosperity and growth. By the end of the war, when the Treaty of Versailles was signed in 1919, 90 percent of all films screened in Europe, Africa, and Asia were American (Encyclopedia Britannica, 1213). Germany however, was the exception, because it had been cut off from America since 1914. When the Germans did finally reconnect with the world, the United States benefited greatly from their technical and stylistic advances. The Germans empowered their camera, it became part of the narrative in addition to being a means of recording action (Ellis, 65). The camera could become a narrator, leading the audience into and through the story; similar to the way many current movies open up, with the camera taking us on a journey through a specific setting, usually before any dialogue is presented. The camera's abilities are likened to that of an author. Shifting the angle to below a person exaggerates their size and importance, while shifting it above accomplishes the opposite effect (Ellis, 65). The camera is now able to express opinions and influence the audience in its own right. Even the most extraneous details can have attention drawn to them without difficulty or awkwardness. New doors have opened for silent films which before, were essentially recorded plays and depended solely on the actors for the story. Within a few years after the mastery of silent film-feature productions, developments in sound improved enough to successfully combine it with film. After Thomas Edison invented the phonograph in 1877, which was not intentioned towards film, men began experimenting with numerous devices, attempting to mix sound and cinema (Geduld, 3). It was not until the early twenties, when and inventor named De Forest created a system called Phonofilm, that short films with synchronistic sounds became common (Geduld, 95). Yet, Hollywood was not interested, viewing sound as a passing phenomenon. It was not until years later, in 1926 with the creation of the Vitaphon disk system, that sound in movies was taken seriously (Geduld, 113). Shortly thereafter, feature-length talkies exploded. With this new potential for movies with clear dialogue came questions and fears about the careers of silent film stars, the movie houses they supported, stage shows and expensive orchestras. If any low-grade theater house could show films with beautiful music and dialogue built in, would the prestigious theaters fall (Geduld, 223)? Despite these fears, with the incorporation of sound came box office hits, regardless of the acting or recording quality. As talkies became more refined and commonplace, silent films started to dwindle. A backlash occurred and these pantomimed movies were labeled as the true art (Geduld, 253). Yet, nothing could be done to slow down the continual development of cinema as sound poured out of studios on a daily basis. In fact, this new cinematic style was so popular, the film industry turned out to be one of the few prosperous enterprises during the Depression (Geduld, 253). |
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Works Cited Ellis, Jack C. A History of Film. eedham Heights, Mass: Allyn and Bacon, 1995. Encyclopedia Britannica. Encyclopedia Britanica Inc.; vol. 24, 15th ed. Chicago, IL: 1995. Everson, William K. American Silent Film. New York: Oxford Univ. Press, 1978. Geduld, Harry M. The Birth of the Talkies. London: Indiana Univ. Press, 1975. |
