Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-04-28

"HERE are still some backward
people who persist in the belief
that the ideal picture of the flu
ture will be one which combines
the old form with the new
that is to say, it will be a Subtitled silent
film, with incidental sound effects and
occasional dialogue sequences"
Even the stanch reactionary Wexford
Beaton admits that this theory is alb
surd. In his interesting journal, the
Film Spectator, he says: There might
be some hope for dialogue If a picture
containing both sound and silence we're
a possibility. but it isn't. When we hear
man utter even half dozen words in
a picture, we must hear everything else
he says when his lips are being, photo
graphed."
That is the obvious truth. Il know
that Mr.. Beaton will be panied to learn
that agree with him. A picture must
be one thing or the other. 1t must
either be all-talking or it must be all
silent, without so much as theme
song or crowd noise to mar it.
Those who see that grand orgy of
entertainment, SHOW Boat" will wit
ness the supreme test of the theory
that subtitles and dialogue may be COM
bined First there is the prologue. in
which Carl Laemmle, Florenz Ziegfeld,
Helen Morgan Jules BledSoe and others
talk and sing Then the picture itself
starts with magnificent scenes showing
the arrival of the show boat at Mis-
sissippi landing The audience hears
the calliope. the brass band. the ecStatic
cheers of the mob and other sounds,
but when the principal characters are
introduced they converse with each
other in print and the spectator realizes
that SHOW Boat" is sound picture"
without dialogue and adjusts himself
accordingly.
Later on in the story the characters
suddenly, and with no warning, start
to talk out loud After while they re-
vert to silence; then they talk again;
then they are once more silent. Toward
the end one is apt to become uncom-
fortably bewildered Each time the
scene changes and a character starts
to speak there is no way OF telling
whether his voice will be heard or
whether the movement of his lips will
be followed by an explanatory subtitle.
The suspense is awful.
Fortunately, in the case Of Show
Boat" the audience is kept in state
Of emotional coma by the frequent rep
etitions Of "Ole Man River" One
emerges from the picture conscious only
"a ttlc IdCb bIldt CPSl Al ~ dOAl onS
notf1in' 1t JUS keeps rollin' along"
In the minds of those who are I'M
alterably opposed to the talkies there
is only one sound that is forbidden on
the screen-that is the sound of the in
dividual human voice
In such worthy pictures as 1.-THE
Iron Mask" and THE Divine Lady" 1t
is permissible for the Movietone to
record the roars of crowds, the clash
of swords, the boom of cannons or of
surf. the clatter of horses hoofs, the
crash of broken glass or the roll OF
drum. But the moment one of the
characters says "Boo!" to the passing
goose, then everything is violated, in
Guiding the art of the cinematograph.
Sir Isaac Newton's natural law and
common decency.
A lengthy sequence in that all-talk-
ing thriller "Alibi" provides case in
point. The audience is shown the out
side of theater with customers stroll
ing out for smoke between the acts.
A taxicab drives up TO the curb. We
don't see who steps into it, The cab
darts of and we travel with it rapidly
through the brilliantly lighted streets
of the theatrical district, then away
from the main thoroughfares into a
series Of dark alleys. ending up at the
back door of a warehouse.
Not word has been said during this
ride, but we have heard the taxi motor,
the squawk OF its horn, the Earring
groan of it's brakes at the intersections, |
the roar Of its gears as 1t starts up
again.
At the warehouse thieves rush out
bearing stolen furs and throw them