The popular classic Singing in the Rain has brought into light the negative effects of sound on the silent films stars, making a parody of the first time audiences heard their favorite silent film stars. This theme also comes into a more dramatic light in the film Chaplin, when the tramp has no choice but to speak on film for the first time, knowing it will force his audience away from him. In both cases it was the stars who suffered from sound, but in the reading, Geoffrey Nowell-Smith eludes to the fact that it also inhibited the growth of international cinema.
Up until the time of talkies "cinema all around the world was already capable of speaking many languages" (Nowell-Smith 62). Once the stars became more than a visual accessory to the developing art of cinema, however, a barrier was erected between nations. There became a "local cultural imperative of hearing the accents of one's own language" (Nowell-Smith 59). Now film patrons could here a difference between stars of their own country and those of another, and their sense of nationalism began to play into their taste in movies. People wanted to see films with people like themselves on the screen, instead of people from half-way around the world, because they related more to those of their own nationality.
Soon the legislating bodies in these countries began to take notice of this preference and saw an opportunity to close their markets to foreign cinema and generate more revenue on domestic products. "In Italy, for example, a law was passed in 1929 prohibiting the projection of a movie in any language other than Italian," (Nowell-Smith 59), a law that was soon mirrored in other European countries.
These laws soon began to disrupt international growth by any nation due to the language barrier that had been ignored so long by silent films. Now countries like France and Germany were unable to market their films in the most lucrative countries like Britain (Nowell-Smith 59), which inevitably lead to the decline in the revenue and stunted the growth of their industries.
There was a silver lining that persisted in the laws, at least for Americans. Since Britain and the United States were both English speaking counties, they could still market to each other. Due to the fact that "Britain was always Hollywood's most important foreign market" (Nowell-Smith 59), it was able to continue growth both domestically and abroad.
Up until the time of talkies "cinema all around the world was already capable of speaking many languages" (Nowell-Smith 62). Once the stars became more than a visual accessory to the developing art of cinema, however, a barrier was erected between nations. There became a "local cultural imperative of hearing the accents of one's own language" (Nowell-Smith 59). Now film patrons could here a difference between stars of their own country and those of another, and their sense of nationalism began to play into their taste in movies. People wanted to see films with people like themselves on the screen, instead of people from half-way around the world, because they related more to those of their own nationality.
Soon the legislating bodies in these countries began to take notice of this preference and saw an opportunity to close their markets to foreign cinema and generate more revenue on domestic products. "In Italy, for example, a law was passed in 1929 prohibiting the projection of a movie in any language other than Italian," (Nowell-Smith 59), a law that was soon mirrored in other European countries.
These laws soon began to disrupt international growth by any nation due to the language barrier that had been ignored so long by silent films. Now countries like France and Germany were unable to market their films in the most lucrative countries like Britain (Nowell-Smith 59), which inevitably lead to the decline in the revenue and stunted the growth of their industries.
There was a silver lining that persisted in the laws, at least for Americans. Since Britain and the United States were both English speaking counties, they could still market to each other. Due to the fact that "Britain was always Hollywood's most important foreign market" (Nowell-Smith 59), it was able to continue growth both domestically and abroad.
I found this interpretation of the introduction to sound very interesting, because we often forget that it harmed more than just the stars of cinema. Everyone was effected by new innovations in cinema, whether they were amoung those making films, or those enjoying them, and the introduction of sound remains one of the biggest changes to occur in cinema history to this day.
The Sherman Anti-Trust Act:
"The Sherman Anti-Trust Act of 1890 was the first measure passed by the U.S. Congress to prohibit abusive monopolies, and in some ways it remains the most important" (http://www.linfo.org/).
The article goes on to explain that a trust is "an arrangement by which stockholders in several companies transferred their shares to a single set of trustees. In exchange, the stockholders received a certificate entitling them to a specified share of the consolidated earnings of the jointly managed companies. The trusts came to dominate a number of major industries, and were, in effect, monopolies" (http://www.linfo.org/).
In the reading Nowell-Smith wrote about the Motion Picture Patents Company, and how it existed until 1915 and was then found illegal according to the Sherman Anti-Trust Act. This decision occurred in spite of the fact that it had already lost its control over the industry (Nowell-Smith 27). I understand now, from the definition of a trust, why the MPPC fell under the jurisdiction of the Sherman Anti-Trust Act. It was a collection of serveral comapnies that, in its prime, exceded its boundaries and continually appeared more and more like a monopoly.
Once I knew that the Motion Picture Patents Company had already become inferior by the time it was declared illegal, I wondered why they chose to pursue the decision. The best answer that I could come up with was that it was the only way to guarantee that the MPPC would be resurrected and develop unregulated until it formed a monopoly over the industry that was too powerful to be taken down.
Nowell-Smith, Geoffrey, ed. The Oxford History of World Cinema: A Definitive History of
Cinema Worlwide. New York: Oxford UP, 1996. Print.
"The Sherman Anti-Trust Act." Linfo. The Lenux Information Project, 17 June 2004. Web. 6
Sept. 2009..
The Sherman Anti-Trust Act:
"The Sherman Anti-Trust Act of 1890 was the first measure passed by the U.S. Congress to prohibit abusive monopolies, and in some ways it remains the most important" (http://www.linfo.org/).
The article goes on to explain that a trust is "an arrangement by which stockholders in several companies transferred their shares to a single set of trustees. In exchange, the stockholders received a certificate entitling them to a specified share of the consolidated earnings of the jointly managed companies. The trusts came to dominate a number of major industries, and were, in effect, monopolies" (http://www.linfo.org/).
In the reading Nowell-Smith wrote about the Motion Picture Patents Company, and how it existed until 1915 and was then found illegal according to the Sherman Anti-Trust Act. This decision occurred in spite of the fact that it had already lost its control over the industry (Nowell-Smith 27). I understand now, from the definition of a trust, why the MPPC fell under the jurisdiction of the Sherman Anti-Trust Act. It was a collection of serveral comapnies that, in its prime, exceded its boundaries and continually appeared more and more like a monopoly.
Once I knew that the Motion Picture Patents Company had already become inferior by the time it was declared illegal, I wondered why they chose to pursue the decision. The best answer that I could come up with was that it was the only way to guarantee that the MPPC would be resurrected and develop unregulated until it formed a monopoly over the industry that was too powerful to be taken down.
Nowell-Smith, Geoffrey, ed. The Oxford History of World Cinema: A Definitive History of
Cinema Worlwide. New York: Oxford UP, 1996. Print.
"The Sherman Anti-Trust Act." Linfo. The Lenux Information Project, 17 June 2004. Web. 6
Sept. 2009.
Lydia, I love your title. Very dramatic. I also appreciate your focus on how the introduction of sound (and hence the use of different languages) affected early cinema. Also, nice research on the MPPC and the anti-trust rules. It sheds light on an interesting and still very relevant part of US business and history.
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