1h | Documentary, Musical | Video 10 January 2008
The 1920s was a time of great change in Hollywood. This program tells the story of the advent of sound technology for movies and the emergence of talkies and musicals in Hollywood. While audiences cried out for more, the movie industry struggled to adapt to the strange new technology. The result was an explosion of movie musicals by the end of the decade.
Writer/Director: Phillip Dye
66 songs in the Soundtracks, complete with link to film from which it was extracted!
The earliest talking short they excerpt here is from 1923.
The "20s" here stretches into the 30s, with 22 of the 72 films on the Connections page having a 193x release date. Since the first feature film with synchronized talking was The Jazz Singer ('27), I was surprised the 20s got their own hour. But when you can go back to '23 for shorts, and forward to '34... They also include silent films that show dancing.
I don't remember a discussion of sound technologies, but I'm writing this at least 12 hours, and maybe 24, after viewing. I also watched the 30s hour, and don't remember it there either. Namely: recording the sound on disc versus on film. But I have a through discussion of that elsewhere.
Some of the films mentioned are actually lost, and what they show is a segment that survives.
Rated 7.9 (31)
distr. Passport Video, dir. Dye; 7
