Charlie Chaplin and Silent Films: Sound's Message

Upon returning to Hollywood following his 1931 World Tour, Chaplin encountered extreme changes in the film industry. The sound revolution had taken hold of the city and transformed its organizational structure from the top down. From acting, writing, and directing to the technical side of film-making, nothing was the same. "Overnight it had become a cold and serious industry." (Chaplin, pg.380) These changes reflect Marshall McLuhan's notion of the medium as the message. "This is merely to say that the personal and social consequences of any medium - that is, of any extension of ourselves - result from the new scale that is introduced into our affairs by any new technology." (McLuhan, pg.7) In other words, the new possibilities introduced by sound technology literally changed the landscape of the Hollywood film industry; this was the message of sound.

Chaplin comments on these drastic changes in his autobiography. For example, he describes the renovation of the studios, "Cameras the size of a room lumbered about the stage like juggernauts. Elaborate radio equipment was installed, involving thousands of electrical wires. Men geared like warriors from Mars sat with earphones while the actors performed, with microphones hovering above them like fishing rods." (Chaplin, pg.380) Within a few years, the studio became as foreign as an alien planet to the silent film-maker. Through the addition of the sound dimension, technology made Chaplin obsolete.

Accompanying Chaplin in his isolation from the industry, a generation of silent-film actors quickly found their talents antiquated. Chaplin points this out in his autobiography, "Most of the silent screen stars had disappeared - only a few of us were left." (Chaplin, pg.380) This proved a problem for Chaplin, who needed silent actors to continue his resistance to talkies. He details this predicament, "Since the advent of talkies...the actors had almost forgotten how to pantomime. All their timing had gone into talk and not action." (Chaplin, pg.326) The advent of sound introduced a new pattern to the structure of motion picture acting by incorporating dialogue. To make room for sound, actors nearly abandoned the expressive movements of pantomime. This change defines sound's message to the actors.

Lastly, the screenplay author of the late 1920s also found himself in an alien environment following advances in sound technology. Obviously, the advent of dialogue revolutionized the concept of writing a film. Language became the essential element of the process, rather than a mere tool used to describe ideas and images. This led to changes in the role of movies as entertainment. For example, it spawned a massive "Americanization" of the Hollywood film industry. More clearly, the arrival of dialogue gave "movies a distinctly American voice and cultural stamp." (Nysenholc, pg.105) The emergence of new film genres that focused on specific aspects of American culture, like the gangster movies of the 1930s, exemplifies this. (Molyneaux, pg.105) By allowing film-makers to reproduce American culture more realistically, sound renovated their role in the industry.

The combination of these changes resulted in Chaplin's decade-long artistic battle with technology. Despite his diligent resistance, he eventually succumbed to the structural changes created by sound. In 1940, he released The Great Dictator, his first talkie. Although this film and others to follow deserve appreciation, Chaplin's genius undoubtedly rests in his ability to convey meaning visually. His conversion to sound marks a decline in his career and is the result of sound's message. [Back]