THE "TALKIE" INVASION.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVI, Issue 20235, 20 April 1929, Page 9 (Supplement)

THE "TALKIE" INVASION.

looking to the future,

BY P. WINTER HALL. 'A few years ago tho American motion picture industry was considered to bo on B firm and reliable footing. It was regarded as a business that had stabilised itself, and had mado itself permanent. ]t was yielding satisfactory profits and was expected .to continue to yield such profits. From 1914 to about 1924 the silent motion picture had its heyday; it was America's most popular entertainment- T/hat period is now looked upon in Hollywood as the old regime, tho iime of big profits, of a plentitudo of money both f° r stars and producers. In

one sense, it was" the Golden Age. f It was. in fact, so golden that it overreached itself. At the end of 1924 a sharp depression was rioted in the returns cf Hollywood pictures. Theatres were not ' full every night and were not paying. In short, a slump made itself felt. 1 lie studios tried to cut down on expenses. Jloney was being lost. Many of the old favourites found themselves without jobs, and without prospects of a job. New faces, new blood were imported. Hoilyyood made an effort to give diversity to its pictures. But Hollywood's rally was rot enough. Several large studios came close to a complete suspension of activities. Hard days were with the picture industry. And the direct result of these bard days was, and is, the " talkie." The " talkie" has swept the field. It has poured money into the laps of its vatrons. Ib has put Warner Brothers studio up at the head of the list;'it has mada Fox the most powerful organisation in Hollywood; and several other firms have sunk as, a result of its popularity. First National sold out. to Warner Brothers, and during the last few weeks. Metro-Goldwyn-Maver, the former head of tho tribe,/.has gone under Fox supervision. Tha talking pifcturo hUs done all this. And now the question is: what is going to happen to the talking picture? Personally, I think that it is hero to stay. Recent sound films have advanced marvellously in merit. Tho one now captivating Holly wgfod theatregoers is " The Broadway Melody," made by Metro- / Goldwyu-Mayer. It has a sirnplo little story, three or four lilting, catchy tunes written specially for it. and a competent cast. With these ingredients the director has spun a lively thing that keeps you interested every inch ot tho way. It is jnaking much well-deserved money at Graunian's Chinese Theatre. At tho outset of the talking picture craze several authorities were emphatic in declarations to the effect that the talkie obliterated every foreign market for American films. On looking the situation over for the first time, this Would indeed seem to be tho case. But uiuce then other angles have presented themselves, and ways of surmounting the obstacle ot non-English speaking audiences have appeared. For instance, every talking film, now produced is made with two versions'.:; a silent version and a sound version. The silent one is made first, made more hastily, made on the old style, and frequently with a different director. This is necessary not only for foreign con- / sumption, but also for the American market. Of twenty thousand theatres in the United States, perhaps two thousand are fitted for talkies. And now Louis B. Mayer, the prominent head of Metro-Goldwvn-Mayer, comes forward with a still more optimistic view. He announces that English' may become the universal language of the world through the distiibution of talking films. Certainly this is a sweeping statement. Here are a few of Mr. Mayer's reasons for giving it. _ "Just as the silent American pictures have popularised American habits and customs abroad (as tliey certainly have done), so the American talking picture popularise the English language in foreign countries," he says. Mi'. Mayer points out that Esperanto failed. It was an impossibility to introduce world-wide study of the new tongue. But in the " talkie," he says, one finds an ideal text book, a text book bound to bo popular. It Mill automatically promote the use of English. Mr. Mayer thinks that, a pupil can learn more from a " talkie" about our tongue than lie can learn in a week from a book. The silent film will certainly continue for a number of years. The expense of fitting out A theatre for sound will limit the frowth of the " talkie more than anything else. But gradually the sound picture will supersede the other—according to Mi'. Mayer. Lvorytiling scorns to liv pointing to it now, at any rate. But. what does the future hold for this new medium of entertainment ? Will it die down as rapidly as it rose, or wi.l it prove to be a marvellous means of introducing world-wide English, ati entertainer and an educator combined? It is a far-fetched hope but it is not impossible.