History of Sound Film: Jazz Singer

• The films The Adventures of Robin Hood and Laura are films to be covered.

Transition from Silent Film to Sound Film

• Talkies, or talking movies, were initially seen as a fad.
• 1922 saw the earliest demonstrations of sound films, with two competing systems.

Sound Film Systems

• Sound On Film (Phonofilm, Movietone): sound waves were photographed on the edge of the film, which provided excellent synchronization but poor audio quality.
• Sound On Disk (Warner Brothers’ Vitaphone): audio was recorded on a phonograph disk, synchronized with the film projector, which provided excellent audio quality but poor synchronization.

The Jazz Singer (1927)

• Featured the song "Blue Skies"
• It was primarily a silent film, but contained several minutes of synchronized sound and dialogue.
• The Jazz Singer is often mistakenly referred to as the "first sound film."
• Used Vitaphone technology.
• It was a massive financial success.
• The Jazz Singer marked the beginning of the end of the silent era.

Changes in Aesthetics and Technology with the Sound Film

• Film was initially developed as a silent medium causing worry about non-diegetic elements.
• Sound was produced in real time.
• Cameras were stationary.
• Musicians were present on set.
• Sound stages were built to prevent outside noise.
• There were too few sound systems, with approximately 1,000 out of 20,000 completed by 1929 and all done by 1935.
• There was a fear of non-digetic music in the 1930s.
• Cimaronn (1931) by Max Steiner recognized that non-digetic music might be more effective despite the risk of audience confusion.

Max Steiner (1888-1971)

• Born in Vienna, Austria.
• His father owned a theatre.
• He was a child prodigy, conducting by age 12 and touring by age 16, and writing operettas by age 17.
• In 1914, he faced deportation, and subsequently came to the US to work on Broadway for 15 years.
• In 1929, he was invited to Hollywood.
• Known for Rio Rita and Broadway Melody.
• King Kong (1933) was initially expected to flop until Steiner composed music for it which helped it succeed.
• Other works include The Informer (1935) which featured “Rule Britannia,” Gone With the Wind (1939), Casablanca (1942), and A Summer Place (1959).
• He spent most of his career as the head of Warner Bros (1937-1953).
• He was a workaholic and worked on over 300 films.

Erich Wolfgang Korngold (1897-1957)

• Like Steiner, he was born in Vienna.
• His teachers included Strauss and Mahler.
• He created his own arrangement of “A Midnight Summer’s Dream” in 1934.
• He liked Hollywood and returned several times.
• His style incorporated loud dynamics, rapid scale passages, aggressive elements, and a 19th-century style.
• His style often phrases the drama and uses very little Mickey Mousing.
• The Sea Hawk (1940) features an overture in ABA form, which includes heroic, love, and heroic themes.

The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938)

• Korngold initially refused to work on Robin Hood, but accepted after Austria was annexed by the Nazis.
• He won an Academy Award for his work on the film and it was the first time the award was given to a composer, not the head of the music department.
• The overture is in ABC form, with the first two parts based on a march and the third on love.
• The Robin Hood theme is a short fanfare, used when new characters join the Merry Men.
• The music during the Little John duel is not serious, indicating that the duel itself is not serious.
• There are two themes during the Robin/Marion dialogue, both generally love-themed.

The Great Depression (1930s)

• Depression era films were often spectacular or escapist, e.g., Lost Horizon (1937) and The Wizard of Oz (1939).
• By the 1940s, people were more interested in realistic stories, such as psychological dramas that explored the human psyche.

Film Noir

• Popularized film style in the 1940s that was influenced by German Expressionism.
• Dealt with darker elements like madness and alienation.

Miklos Rosa

• A Hungarian composer who traveled to the US due to World War II.
• His works include The Thief of Bagdad (1940), Jungle Book (1942), and Double Indemnity (1944).