Feb 212010
Obviously sound is a huge part of the film industry, but how did people initially react and how did our society take it? How is the present media landscape related to or effected by the time when Al Jolson was first singing on screen?
It was first seen as a mere novelty, and many thought it wouldn’t stay around. Obviously they were mistaken. This is just one of many technological improvements in the movies. It had some immediate effects: some actors lost their jobs because their voices couldn’t adapt to the new medium (the movie-about-the-movies “Singin’ in the Rain” deals with this). Also, it led to a more natural acting style. In the silents, actions and gestures were often exaggerated to make a point which could later be made by dialog. Interesting question.
At the time it was negligible. The Jazz Singer made a box office splash due to the novelty of sound, but it was not an all sound picture.
At the time sound was a novelty, but the technology was unreliable and expensive. And in Hollywood millions of dollars had been spent on the creation and proliferation of silent films. In Europe silent films had become a major art form. To say nothing of the fact that many silent stars did not have voices suited to the “talkies.” No one initially expected silent films to cease. In fact Jolson himself didn’t even bother to cancel his vaudeville commitments.
In less than two years the technology was perfected and studio engineers discovered it was fairly easy to convert the well built film stages to sound.
Talkies were a juggernaut that would not be stopped but the film itself did not have an appreciable impact. It was essentially produced with silent movie sensibilities. When talkies emerged a new more relaxed film style came with it. Actors stopped the pantomime of silents and camera angles as well as staging complimented talking pictures.
Not only did actors lose their jobs but the piano players for the silent movies weren’t needed anymore either. But on the plus side, it created more jobs to do the talking movies. It also be came more lifelike and realistic than the silent films.
I am sure it was fascinating in the beginning