The art of sound pictures (1930)

THE ART OF SOUND PICTURES 48 sales department should be conclusive here. But if it is true, it simply indicates the dullness of the average theater owner. True, no average American audience wants to see many pictures of foreign heroes and villains; but a few fine ones will go very well. Exhibitors and their audiences often fail to agree. Look at the case of Maurice Chevalier, that brilliant and charming French actor and singer, who lately appeared in The Innocents of Paris. Theater owners in small towns looked askance at this picture. They pointed out that is was full of French songs, that the leading character talked English with a marked French accent, and that the story was so essentially Parisian that some of the main features of it could not be appreciated unless one knew Frenchmen and their customs. It was freely predicted that Chevalier and his picture would prove a total failure before American audiences. Nevertheless, we have watched audiences react to The Innocents of Paris, and rarely have we witnessed such hilarity and all-around satisfaction. The interpolated songs, sung in French, did not seem to disturb anybody. Chevalier’s personal charm, as well as the excellent acting of his company, won everybody’s heart, and the producer reengaged him. Here is an instance where theory and some supposedly obvious principles failed to work out in practice. You can see, then, how important it is to build your story right, down to the finest detail ; more important than in magazine stories or plays for the stage. Why? Chiefly because of the great cost and trouble to alter a sound picture after it has been made. The music is made to fit