TROUBLE WITH "TALKIES."

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVI, Issue 20229, 13 April 1929, Page 10 (Supplement)

TROUBLE WITH "TALKIES."

PROBLEMS FOR PRODUCERS. Producers of talking motion pictures ore beginning to bo alarmed over the future of their infant industry. Questionnaires have been handed out recently to patrons of American theatres where the "talkies" were on display, and their comments were invited. In some instances as many as 50 per cent, oi the replies were strongly adverse in so far as spoken dialogue was concerned. There was much less objection to having the incidental music supplied bv mechanical means. Some of the producers. as a result of this and other experiences, are beginning to feel that the great popularity of audible movies in the past year or so has been duo to their novelty. Unless they are greatly improved soon, both technically and artistically, it is felt that, the film without dialogue may come back into its own.

A great part of the revenue of the film industry comes from the export of pictures to all parts of the world, and spoken dialogue in English—or in American—is merely a detriment for Latin or Chinese audiences. There is a tendency for directors to tell their story in such a way that the pantomime is incomprohensive without the words, and it is very difficult to obtain an artistic effect without doing so. While dialogue can afterwards be supplied to a film in any language, the words plainly fail to synchronise with the movement of the speaker's lips, and the expense of furnishing spoken accompaniment in six or eight tongues is rather formidable.

In the United States a difficulty has itself which is also causing Sthe producers much concern. Most of the £ 48 American Slates have their own boards of censorship, and there are many cities ' and towns which do the same. These boards aro accustomed to demand with the greatest freedom that certain scenes be omitted or captions altered, and the film industry has no choice but to obey. Kisses on the screen are regulated as to length, a 10ft. caress being considered legitimate, while a 30ft. one is wicked. Crimes such as burglary, scenes in publichouses, and deeds of violence are all prohibited by many of these boards.

It would be quite impossible to make pictures which conformed in advance to all these various and contradictory regulations, and so the producer does what he pleases in Hollywood (subject to the general moral censorship of the happy ending and the incorruptible virtue of the hero and heroine), and then, with the scissors, tries to satisfy each parochial censorship board in turn. Ihis is not so hard when tho film is silent; but when dialogue has been added to :t any excision either ruins the synchronisation, if the sound is on phonograph records, or causes a gap in the visible action if it is photographed along the edge of the film. The makers of the "talkies" therefore insist that their work cannot be censored 1 without doing great harm from the point of view of the audience.

In some recent cases the local boards have actually gone so far as to demand that the words uttered by characters be altered, which the unhappy producers say is impossible without ruinous additional expense. The laws authorising censorship were all written before talk-ing-movies were invented, and as a rule they do not refer to audible speech. In some States legal contests are in progress to see whether the'censorship boards have not exceeded their authority in demanding the right to say what words shall be

spoken. /Unhappy Hollywood is confronted with another difficulty which at present seems to be insurmountable. The most popular form of tho "talkie" is a short musichall turn, in which comedians make jokes and sing comic songs. When these things ate done on the stage, cf course, the artist waits for the audience to laugh, and does not go on until they have finished. Similar pauses have been made in tho production of films; but it was soon discovered that various audiences take different lengths of time to recover from their merriment. When the gap is insufficient tho laughers miss tho next words, and when it is too long there is a melancholy, awkward pause. It begins to seem as though parochial talking films may be necessary to fit special conditions in various places. How tho resources of science supplement one another was oddly shown the other day, incidentally, in connection with a talking film. This picture had been made in Hollywood, and was being viewed }>v the experts in New York befote being released to the public. At one point it was felt that a certain actor should have added a word or two to a speech, something about as consequential as "Well, well!" Hollywood was rung up on long distance and the necessary instructions given. The actor appeared before the camera and uttered the words required; the film of his voice was developed and a print made from the negative. This was transmitted bv telegraph to New York, transposed again to film, and inserted at (ho proper point. Only a few hours after the decision had been made the actor was saying Y\cll, well!" at the precise moment in the tale where the pods of tho cinema had decreed that he must.