Part 3 of 4 This presentation was designed for a high school film production class - it provides a visual accompaniment to a lecture on Film History. This module covers the period from the introduction of sound through the end of the studio system with an aside about the McCarthy hearings of the 1950's. In 2020 as a result of the Coronavirus Pandemic, I recorded a video of this presentation. Here is the link: https://youtu.be/S_KiKhAS9pA Please feel free to use it in your classrooms.

1. Lecture prepared 12/02/08
Updated 4-8-2020
by John M. Grace
I.A.T.S.E. member
and film instructor
Savannah Technical College
Savannah, GA
Film History

2. Famous last words:
"Who in the hell wants to hear
actors talk?"
H.M. Warner, Warner Brothers Studios, 1927
Film History

3. By the mid-1920s technology had
been developed for adding sound to
films, but the big studios were
opposed to sound for 10 reasons:
1) They weren't sure the public
would accept it.
2) Some of the top stars were
foreign born with heavy accents.
3) Many stars had weak voices that
didn't match their macho or
seductive images.
Film History

4. 4) Many actors who didn't have
stage experience had voice and
diction problems.
5) The studios had spent large
sums of money promoting their
stable of silent stars and many of
them would not be able to make it
in "talkies."
6) It would mean investing
hundreds of thousands of dollars
in building sound stages.
Film History

5. 7) Producing sound films would
be significantly more expensive
than making silent films; a one-
million dollar silent film would
cost at least one and one-half
million dollars with sound.
8) Although it was relatively easy
to use subtitles to meet the needs
of foreign distribution, you
couldn't expect actors to speak
different languages.
Film History

6. 9) Silent film directors talked
actors through their moves while
they were on camera. Sound
meant that actors would have to
remember what to do and they
would have to memorize dialogue.
10) In 1927, there were 15,000
theaters showing silent films, all
of which would have to be
equipped with the expensive new
technology.
Film History

7. The big studios stuck together for
some time in discouraging the
introduction of sound. However,
one studio, Warner Brothers, was
outside that group. Given the
formidable competition from the
other studios, they were struggling
to survive.
Film History

8. Warner Brothers had nothing to
lose by trying something daring.
They reportedly didn't feel that
sound would be more than a
passing novelty, but, for as long as
it lasted, they figured it might
make them enough money to stay
afloat. Sound was already being
used in some theaters for news
shorts, so at least those theaters
were equipped for sound.
Film History

9. In 1927, Warner Bros. introduced
the first feature-length sound film:
The Jazz Singer with Al Jolson.
The film consisted mostly of
background music and contained
only two segments with
synchronized (lip-sync) sound - a
total of only 354 spoken words -
but that was enough to set off the
sound revolution.
Film History

10. Once the film captured public
attention, people were lined up
around the block from early
morning until late at night to get
tickets.
The Warner Bros. gamble paid off
- big time. As a result, the studio
has remained a powerful industry
leader for the last 80 years.
Film History

11. Recognizing a good thing, Warner
Brothers rushed another film with
Al Jolson into production. This
one, The Singing Fool, was an even
a bigger hit. It cost $200,000 to
make and brought in $5 million.
Al Jolson, a vaudeville performer,
was perfect choice to launch
sound. He had a natural talent for
relating to audiences.
Film History

12. Now, the major studios were
worried
Faced with the inevitable, the
major studios reluctantly
abandoned their stand against
sound and started building their
own sound stages.
Within a few years almost all films
were "talkies."
Film History

13. But, the move to sound was not
without its consequences.
Many stars couldn't make the
transition and left the business.
Others quickly signed up for voice
and diction lessons in an effort to
try to save their careers. Even so,
the studios used the special needs
of sound as an excuse to get rid of
some actors.
Film History

14. Hampered by the early limitations
of bulky sound equipment and the
influence of sound technicians who
were all but dictating how
everything should be done, film
production techniques took a giant
step backward.
Many of the early sound films
were not only crudely made, they
were downright boring.
Film History

15. Another major problem was that
the camera had to be housed in a
soundproof, telephone booth-like
enclosure to keep the noise of the
camera from being picked up by
the microphone. This meant that
the camera was virtually
immobile; and since this was
before the advent of zoom lenses,
shots tended to be static and
unimaginative.
Film History

16. By this time, the movie industry
had clearly established three basic
economic divisions: production,
distribution, and exhibition.
When the MPPC was dissolved in
1918 by a government antitrust
action, the studio heads gradually
moved to another type of control -
the Studio System.
Film History

17. MGM, 20th Century Fox, RKO,
Warner Brothers, Paramount,
Universal, and Columbia
dominated the studio years
between 1930 and 1950.
During this era the studios created
elaborate sound stages and back-
lot movie sets and developed a
well-coordinated and efficient
factory system for creating films.
Film History

18. These studios hired a stable of
stars and production people to do
as many films as possible. These
people were under contract and
were not allowed to work for any
other studio without permission.
During this period Warner Bros.
was known for its gangster films,
MGM for its lavish star-studded
musicals, and 20th Century Fox
for its historical adventure films.
Film History

19. An oligopoly is when a few
companies control such a large
part of an industry that the action
of one affects all of the others.
Although most of the studios were
located in the Hollywood-Los
Angeles area, they were managed
through their New York business
offices.
Film History

20. The studio heads like Louis Mayer
and Darryl Zanuck controlled all
of the business decisions, right
down to managing the lives of the
actors that were in their films.
These companies also controlled
theater chains and distribution of
their films. Having shed the
control of the MPPC, the film
industry was now under the
control of a few powerful studios.
Film History

21. By this time, films had changed
from the small wooden bench
nickelodeons to lavish theaters.
During the boom, theaters were
opening at the rate of one a week.
At this time, everyone regularly
went to the movies and at an
average ticket price of 65 cents
almost everyone could afford to.
Film History

22. During the “Golden age of
Hollywood” the studios controlled
the industry - and the profits.
One way to maintain control was
block booking, or requiring
theaters to take many inexpensive,
second-rate films in order to be
able to show a few really good
movies. Theaters were sometimes
required to sign up for packages of
100 or more films, sight unseen.
Film History

23. Early in this era, four major film
stars - Charlie Chaplin, Mary
Pickford, Douglas Fairbanks and
D.W. Griffith - rebelled against the
block booking practice and
formed their own production
company - United Artists.
Their company not only
eliminated block booking, but also
went on to produce many films
that are considered classics.
Film History