DO TALKIES OVERTALK ?

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LXX, 19 December 1936, Page 11

DO TALKIES OVERTALK ?

LONDON CRITICS SAY SOUND TRACK OVERUSED LANGUAGE TO CONCEAL THOUGHTS Do talkies overtalk? A cynic once said that man used \ language to conceal his thoughts, j Some critics contend many producers ; use talk to conceal their lack of j thought. They hold that many talkie makers follow over-closely the technique of the stage play, and especially urge that using dialogue—worse still, monologue—for purposes of explanation. and exposition, which is often tedious in the drama, is intolerable and insufferable in talkies. These critics contend that the pictures themselves should tell the story, that the sound-track should be used sparingly, that dialogue should be entirely subsidiary to the sweep and •swing of happenings on the screen. H. G. Wells’s “Things To Come” is quoted as a sign of genuine advance, since it is not an imitation of the stage, but gives great play to impressionistic effects; uses fluidity which the film alone can give to narrative; does not hesitate before fantasy; and bears the impress of a prophetic and challenging mind. The new picture, “Rembrandt,” is quoted as a reaction, pilling up incidents and depending on the persuasive influence of the central character, rather than on the flow of action as a whole. It is even suggested that if talking is overdone in the future, films may see a revival of silents.