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140 HARVARD BUSINESS REPORTS
sound reproducing systems was increasing in December, 1928, at the rate of approximately 150 per month, with orders for installations for six months in advance.
The opinions of leaders in the industry and of the public varied as to the future of sound pictures. Sound films were proving highly successful in the larger cities, and the Broadway theaters were making new records in weekly attendance. Scores of screen executives thought that within a few years sound pictures would be the sole medium of dramatic entertainment. Others looked upon the development as a novelty that would soon lose its appeal to the public. It was commonly held, however, that the addition of musical accompaniment had improved the silent picture.
Large producers had adopted differing policies in the production of sound pictures. One large producing company was devoting its attention almost entirely to the production of dialogue pictures, in many cases making no endeavor to distribute to unwired theaters. Stage celebrities replaced screen stars in many such productions. Other large producing companies were releasing films produced primarily for their value as sound pictures and secondarily for silent entertainment. Screen stars were being cast in dialogue or singing roles which in some instances occupied the major part of the screen time of the picture.
The Universal Pictures Corporation had an arrangement with the manufacturer of Movietone sound recording equipment. During the 192 81929 season, the company had scheduled 450 films for release, of which 63 were feature pictures. Four pictures with dialogue and sound effects had been released in November and December, 1928, and it was planned to release others during the latter part of the theatrical year. The sound pictures had been well received in the theaters wired for sound. The company believed, however, that a picture produced as a sound picture and shown as a silent picture was inferior to that same picture originally produced as a silent product. The company was considering the simultaneous showing of two versions of a forthcoming release in adjacent theaters in New York City as a test of the general popularity of sound versus silent pictures.
One consequence of the development of sound and talking pictures had been an extension of the length of run for a picture in a theater. This was particularly true of the larger theaters, where it was not uncommon to hold for two to five weeks a sound