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The Talkies offers readers a rare look at the time when sound was a vexing challenge for filmmakers and the source of contentious debate for audiences and critics. Donald Crafton presents a panoramic view of the talkies' reception as well as in-depth looks at sound design in selected films, filmmaking practices, censorship, issues of race, and the furious debate over cinema aesthetics that erupted once the movies began to speak.
Price: $45.95
Pages: 651
Publisher: University of California Press
Imprint: University of California Press
Series: History of the American Cinema
Publication Date:
22 November 1999
Trim Size: 10.00 X 7.00 in
ISBN: 9780520221284
Format: Paperback
BISACs:
Donald Crafton is Chair of the Department of Film, Television, and Theatre at the University of Notre Dame. He is the author of Before Mickey: The Animated Film, 1898-1928 (1993) and Emile Cohl, Caricature, and Film (1990).
Acknowledgments
1 Introduction: The Uncertainty of Sound
PART 1: A NEW ERA IN ELECTRICAL ENTERTAINMENT
2 Electric Affinities
3 Virtual Broadway, Virtual Orchestra: De Forest and Vitaphone
4 Fox-Case, Movietone, and the Talking Newsreel
5 Enticing the Audience: Warner Bros. and Vitaphone
6 Battle of the Giants: ERPI and RCA Consolidate Sound
7 The Big Hedge: Hollywood's Defensive Strategies
8 Boom to Bust
9 Labor Troubles
10 Inaudible Technology
11 Exhibition: Talkies Change the Bijou
PART 2: THREE SEASONS: THE FILMS OF 1928-1931
12 The New Entertainment Vitamin: 1928-1929
13 Taming the Talkies: 1929-1930
14 The Well-Tempered Sound Track: 1930-1931
15 The Sound of Custard: Shorts, Travelogues, and Animated Cartoons
16 Outside the Mainstream
17 Foreign Affairs
PART 3: HEARING THE AUDIENCE
18 The Voice Squad
19 Constructive Criticism: The Fans' Perspective
20 Buying Broadway: THE JAZZ SINGER's Reception
21 "The Great Ninety Per Cent"
Appendix 1: Selected Box Office Grosses, 1928-1931
Appendix 2: Academy Awards Related to Sound, 1927-1931
List of Abbreviations
Notes
Bibliography
Picture Sources
General Index
Index of Films
1 Introduction: The Uncertainty of Sound
PART 1: A NEW ERA IN ELECTRICAL ENTERTAINMENT
2 Electric Affinities
3 Virtual Broadway, Virtual Orchestra: De Forest and Vitaphone
4 Fox-Case, Movietone, and the Talking Newsreel
5 Enticing the Audience: Warner Bros. and Vitaphone
6 Battle of the Giants: ERPI and RCA Consolidate Sound
7 The Big Hedge: Hollywood's Defensive Strategies
8 Boom to Bust
9 Labor Troubles
10 Inaudible Technology
11 Exhibition: Talkies Change the Bijou
PART 2: THREE SEASONS: THE FILMS OF 1928-1931
12 The New Entertainment Vitamin: 1928-1929
13 Taming the Talkies: 1929-1930
14 The Well-Tempered Sound Track: 1930-1931
15 The Sound of Custard: Shorts, Travelogues, and Animated Cartoons
16 Outside the Mainstream
17 Foreign Affairs
PART 3: HEARING THE AUDIENCE
18 The Voice Squad
19 Constructive Criticism: The Fans' Perspective
20 Buying Broadway: THE JAZZ SINGER's Reception
21 "The Great Ninety Per Cent"
Appendix 1: Selected Box Office Grosses, 1928-1931
Appendix 2: Academy Awards Related to Sound, 1927-1931
List of Abbreviations
Notes
Bibliography
Picture Sources
General Index
Index of Films