Threat Of Talkies

Language developed tremendously through the use of silent films in the 1800s and early 1900s. A silent film is that which consists of only the picture, and no sound. This was an era of truly transformative filmmaking, forcing writers and producers to have to step out of a comfort zone in order to allow purely visual expressions to touch their audiences and convey their stories. This was achieved through a greater emphasis on facial expressions and body language.

Charlie Chaplin, or the “Little Tramp”, led a life many referred to as a Cinderella story. Chaplin was the son of a poor London family, who were entertainers. As a child, at an early age, he also performed, and made his stage debut in 1894. He began his career when he played a paperboy in the film Sherlock Holmes. He also worked as a mime in Vaudeville theatres in London, until he left for America. When Chaplin arrived in the States, he joined the Karno Pantomime Troupe, and toured with them for six years. This experience led him to branch out on his own, making his own films. One of these films was City Lights. Many say that this film and others, lead him to be one the most successful film stars of his time. “Chaplin dedicated himself to perfecting every scene during both the writing process and on set, sacrificing his personal life during production” (Eggert, 2006).

The Jazz Singer was a big hit when it was released in 1927 by the Warner Bros. It became the first known film that featured a synchronized dialogue that ended the silent film era. Although the film was mostly silent, the film has some talking and several songs sung exclusively by Al Jolson himself. “At the very first Academy Awards, held in May 1929 and honoring films from 1927 and 1928, The Jazz Singer earned a special citation as ‘the pioneer outstanding

The transition from the era of silent films to the sound era in the mid 1920s was a big transformation for the American film industry and mass entertainment in general. This phase initially brought about much excitement for movie goers who were thrilled with the expectation of hearing the voices of their favorite actors for the first time. However, such expectations were met with much disappointment when the highly fancied actors had voices that did not much the preconceptions of the fans. The technical difficulties and various issues that the American film industry faced during this transition are actually captured in the 1952 movie, “Singing in the Rain”. In part, the film is actually about movie making during the silent-to-sound era as its

Movies were becoming one of the biggest businesses during the 1920s and most people would spend their leisure time going to the theatre to watch the silent films. They were becoming huge in the popular culture and Hollywood was the place to be. Roughly by 1922, 40 million people a year in attendance over the entire country for the movie theatres and in 1930 over 100 million people would attend the movies every year. By 1927, the movie industry became the fourth largest industry in the country. “The Great Train Robbery” which was released in 1903 was the beginning of the film industry and would eventually change everything. “Jazz Singer” was the first movie that had synchronized sounds throughout the entire film. The popular genres during this decade were western,

in the twenties when a man by the name of Charlie Chaplain who was known for his "tramp" look, dominated the silent movie business. He was considered one of the most talented actors of the 20’s. Also during the 20’s radio was the popular for of listening to music and listening to the news. In the later 1920’s the television was created which now aloud people to see a picture in their home for entertainment, but the television did not surpass the radio entertainment wise, because most people were unable to afford it.

When silent movies were beginning to be replaced by movies with sound, or ‘Talkies’, controversy began to surround Hollywood and it stars. Between Fatty Arbuckle hitting an actress at a party

In 1927 new technology emerged in sound, people started going back to the theatres to watch films,

The first film that showed early signs of a rise in the quality of technology was the Western “The Great Train Robbery.” When this film first came out the audience were so amazed at the fact that they could watch something on a TV or at the cinema. Although this film was very good for the 1900s it still lacked some key features that make films much easier to understand such as dialogue, sound and camera shots. The one feature of a film that developed the quickest over the period of time was sound. Sound was introduced in October 1927 in the film “The Jazz singer”, which had three song numbers and a few lines of spoken dialogue. Apart from these few songs and words, the rest of the movie was silent, but the audience still thought that it was amazing that words had been spoken in the film, they used to call it “the movie that talked”.

Being one of the last silent films, Charlie Chaplin starred in, directed, produced, wrote, and edited a comedic and entertaining film serving as a great farewell to the Silent Era. Being reliant on audio, the idea of a film with no dialogue seemed unappealing, however, Charlie Chaplin’s City Lights offers a new sense of humor although it is considered antiquated.

Charlie Chaplin did not use sound to communicate to the audience in his movies. Despite the fact that there was no spoken language, his movies were sensational and the audiences loved them. Chaplin was thought of as cinema’s first genius and has been called the single most-influential artist in the history of motion pictures. I am researching Charlie Chaplin to learn how he became a sensational comedian and one of the best actors of all time.

Only the best of the best continued within the film industry. To succeed in this business you must make a name for yourself, you must stand out. The way Charlie Chaplin made his was into this business was through vaudeville, which was the way many comedians merged into comedy film. When

Chaplin chose to wind up an independent maker in a desire for more flexibility and more remarkable recreation in making his films. To that end, he engaged himself with the development of his own studios. This plan was arranged in the heart of the private segment of Hollywood at La Brea Avenue.

Every day millions of Americans go to theaters with their families to enjoy movies. Watching films has become one of the most popular activities to do. Although plenty of people know of Charlie Chaplin, most do not know any real information about him. Charlie Chaplin has been a major contributor to America’s advancement in the film industry from his innovative beginnings, and perseverance to improve and succeed, to his overall achievements in history.

The film remains Chaplin's one of the greatest achievements and it remains one of his popular film. (Back story source- Wikipedia)