International Review of Educational Cinematography (Jan-Dec 1930)

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A02 art. Let us hope he will remain firm in this resolve, lest the mystery that surrounds his art should be destroyed. But if Charlie Chaplin, and here and there a few others of the really great film favourites (Greta Garbo, Buster Keaton) may continue still to score successes on the mute film, they are the exception. The minor stars are accepting the new terms of the vocal film. Work for the sound film is no easy matter, even to the experienced stage actor, for he has to count with the petty treasons of the microphone. Just as the camera so often distorts a beautiful face and makes a plain one look lovely, so the microphone — as indeed the gramophone and broadcasting — has its snares. Some of the best voices in the world sound bad on the film. It is impossible to tell why. On the other hand, the microphone of the sound film has led to some surprising discoveries of new talent. It is true, however, that these, as compared with the legions of new « film stars » arising, are but very rare exceptions. There are such a host of film stars that it is impossible to recall them all. It is obvious that one much oftener comes across a pretty, expressionless face than a beautiful and agreeable voice. Another risk that besets the actor recruited from the stage is the temptation to exaggerate dramatically both pantomine and words. In some ways, the present position of the sound film recalls the early days of the cinematographic art, when few apart from dramatic actors had been recruited to the screen. It was so common among them to exaggerate mimicry that the effect was often grotesque and ridiculous. But the talking film has its own aesthetic laws. Just as the dramatic stage actor had to learn to moderate the mimic language of the film, he must now learn to adapt his vocal organs to the microphone; otherwise his voice is delivered in an unnatural and over theatrical style. The microphone registers the lightest breath with meticulous care. To sing and speak quietly and naturally is the supreme law of the vocal film. Let me say a word here regarding the plays themselves. I am certainly not giving away any secret in stating that hitherto the intellectual level of the « talkie » has been distressingly low. The sound film came upon us unexpectedly like a midsummer thunderstorm, with the result that scenarios intended for the mute film were hastily adapted to its vocal countertype. This system gave rise to sloppy, colourless plays, of no intrinsic merit, the principal aim of which was to give some theatrical star a chance of singing a topical song. Luckily enough, « talkies » of this kind are on the wane owing to the desertion of the public. The sound film must comply with specific aesthetic laws in the selection of plot, as in its other features. Noises, dialogues, and songs cannot be mixed up in a general jumble; care must be taken that each separate feature fits into its proper place. There must be no excesses and no deficiencies. It is the job of the artistic direction to prescribe the correct doses and the correct mixture. The fact that the dialogue was often not placed in sufficient relief, because the play was too much taken up with the visual effects, was responsible for many