The Film Spectator (Mar-Dec 1928)

Page Four THE FILM SPECTATOR July 21, 1928 recording brought by radio developments — so will the talking picture slowly make a place for itself without disrupting the motion picture industry. The silent picture will always be made — at least for many years — to supply the great foreign market and the thousands of small theatres that cannot afford talking equipment as it is now installed. Nor can producers afford expensive all-talking productions when these can be placed in only a few hundred theatres. The talking picture after much abuse, many trials and experiments, will find its proper place without disturbing greatly the scheme of things other than to bring new life to the industry and revived interest from the public. Let those who doubt that the "talkie" is here to stay, go into any theatre that is running one of the latest talking pictures. Watch the audience lean forward and listen with rapt attention while the players are speaking. Watch the audience relax — sit back and whisper comments when the talking ceases and the old familiar printed title is flashed. The picture is once more a dead thing — without life, until another talking sequence occurs. The birds will sit on the rock until frightened by something new. Mr. and Mrs. Public will sit at home unless they are lured to the theatre by a constant variety in their entertainment. Not only is the "talkie" new, but it will afford an endless variety of entertainment. It will become as established a part of our everyday life as the moving picture itself. Those who welcome progress and rejoice in that which is new will welcome the talking picture and plunge eagerly and enthusiastically into the task of promoting it. Those who fail to see its possibilities and stand on the sidelines emulating the old lady watching the first steam train, will find themselves where she found herself — left behind in a cloud of dust. Talking Pictures and Foreigners By ROD LA ROCQUE MY Dear Welford: I have religiously followed your Spectator and have, therefore, read everything that you have written regarding the so-called talking pictures. You have treated the subject most cleverly and I have nothing more interesting to report than that I agree with you as far as you go, but I don't think you go far enough. You have signed off at the most interesting point. You have ignored our greatest problem. Now it is generally agreed that the European, or foreign market for pictures is thirty percent., or forty percent, (or something like that) of the American market. The percentage really doesn't matter. Pictures should be international in their appeal regardless of the market. Anyway, let's say that our pictures should be run in foreign countries, or that foreign-made pictures should be run in America. It works both ways. At any rate, the average successful American picture, I am authentically informed, is translated" into seventeen different languages. In my opinion, this fact presents the talking pictures with a pretty problem. I cannot help but feel that it would be bad policy to just do our pictures with English spoken titles and then be satisfied to release the same pictures to the non-English speaking world as ordinary old-fashioned silent pictures. On the other hand, something tells me (very probably innate premonition) that we might experience a degree of difficulty in obtaining a cast that spoke seventeen languages. And even if that were possible it would be too laborious and expensive to make seventeen takes of each scene. Furthermore, Europe will very probably make several talking pictures. I am sure that we will want to see them. Also hear them. Will we be content to listen to a language that we do not understand in the hope that the action will explain itself? Many European-made pictures have already proven a great success in America, but with English titles. Therefore, I firmly believe that some method of synchronizing a voice (any voice so long as it is pleasant and suits the character) in any language, to the action of the picture at any time after the picture is completed is necessary. Suiting the word to the action would be comparatively simple. Is there not a possible solution to this problem in the general mechanics that made possible the production of the opera Le Coq D'Or? Rimsky-Korsakoff, when he wrote this famous opera, was intent upon ha^^ng it done by a cast of opera singers. There was, however, a great amount of dancing in it, and it finally proved difficult to find a cast of singers who could do the ballet work. It proved, likewise, difficult to find a cast of dancers who could sing. At the time that Le Coq D'Or was first given production at Petrograd M. Fokine ingeniously de\ased the plan of having all the singers seated at each side of the stage, while the dancers interpreted, in pantomime, what was sung. This proved a great success, and has stood the acid test. * « • Of course, as far as the pictures are concerned one might easily argue against the above mentioned method. But will the objections eclipse the advantages? For instance, one might raise the already worn-out lip-reading objection, on the ground that what words another person would speak would not perfectly synchronize with the movements of the lips of the player who was in the scene. Well, the answers to this objection are obvious. In the first place, the titles of a finished picture have never been what we said when the scene was played. Secondly, the only people who are proficient at lip-reading are deaf persons, and fortunately, in comparison to the population there is a very small percentage of them. Thirdly, I have seen many American pictures exhibited in France, Germany and Hungary with French, (Jerman and Hungarian titles respectively and particularly noted (I believe the box-office receipts also record the fact) that the audiences enjoyed the pictures in spite of the fact that the French, German or Hungarian titles they read contained no words, as far as lip-reading was concerned, that were spoken in the scenes in the picture. Also the only time that the lips of a player can be read are in the very large close-ups. And the exaggerated close-up is rapidly becoming passe. Observation and deduction, therefore, convince me that the lip-reading objection is nil. • • • The next objection is very likely the cost. Starting anything is exi)ensive. But after the thing would be organized