LANGUAGE OVER-RULED.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIX, Issue 21165, 23 April 1932, Page 10 (Supplement)

LANGUAGE OVER-RULED.

LOYALTY TO FAVOURITES. SPANISH AMERICAN TASTES. The Spanish-speaking people of South [America much prefer ordinary Hollywood talking pictures with superimposed titles (placed across the bottom of the film track) to any foreign language adaptations. Film representatives believe the principal reason for this attitude is the deep loyalty of audiences in South America to old screen favourites, arid their refusal to relinquish these stars for new players in Spanish-dialogue versions. " The Latins are intensely loyal to their stars," one producer said recently. " You know, we tried to give them Spanish productions. To achieve the success of this venture we bought up the very finest that the Spanish speaking stage had to offer, regardless of the origin of the actor. The result was very unsatisfying. "We found out definitely on this trip that Latin America greatly preferred any such popular Star as Garbo, Chaplin, Novarro, Fairbanks, or Marie Dressier in English-speaking pictures over foreign versions. Even if the language is unintelligible to most of the picturegoers the assistance of superimposed titles in Spanish gives them a good idea of the story and plot. " The adherence of the Latin .American to the stars he'has taken to his heart has been commented on by other people, but I never realised before how deep-seated •tfas this trait. The established American gtars have retained public favour despite the talking pictures. The case of Clark Gable casts a still different aspect on this situation. No Latin American ever heard of Gable before the advent of sound. In fact, no film fan in America ever heard of Gable prior to a year or so ago. But now Gable's name is on every Latin American's tongue despite the inability of the masses to understand a single word that the star has ever uttered."