Awkward Transitions - Hitchcock's 'Blackmail' and the Dynamics of Early Film Sound

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Awkward Transitions: Hitchcock's "Blackmail" and the Dynamics of Early Film SoundAuthor(s): John BeltonSource: The Musical Quarterly, Vol. 83, No. 2 (Summer, 1999), pp. 227-246Published by: Oxford University PressStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/742294

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Institutions,ndustries,

echnologies

Awkward

ransitions:

itchcock's

Blackmailnd he ynamicsf arly

Filmound

John

elton

Alan

Crosland's

927

film he

Jazz

inger

sheraldedn

most

inema

history

ooks s

thefirst

ound eature ilm.

trictly

peaking,

owever,

this s

ncorrect;

hathonor

oes

to

another ilm

roslandmade

year

earlier

itled on

Juan,

which

had a

synchronized

usicalcore.

While

The

Jazz

inger

s,

nevertheless,

hefirst

talkie,"

ooking

t the

filmo-

day,

he

most

trikinghing

bout t-its chief

ormal

eature-is hat t

is,

for he

most

art,

silent

ilm.

ndeed,

he

Jazz

inger

as

only

few

lines f ynchronousialogue-that s,wherepeech s nexact ynchro-

nizationwith

he

movementsf he

ctors'

ips-and

only

our rfive

synchronous

ongs,

ccounting

or t

best

en

or

twelve

minutes

f

what

we

today

onsider

o

be

"real

ound"

n

an

eighty-eight-minute

ilm.

he

rest f

hefilm

s

entirely

silent,"

sing

ntertitleso

convey

ialogue,

though

his

silent"

material

s

accompanied

y

music.

Muchof

the

film

was hot s a

silent

roduction;

heorchestral

usicwas

recordedater

on

a

sound

tage,

oughlyynchronized

o the

ilent

ootage

fter

twas

cut, s inthe arlier ilm,onJuan.Because t sneither silent ilm or

a

sound

ilm,

he

effectf

The

Jazz

inger

s

rather

isconcerting.

udi-

ences

who

begin

watching

t

as a silent ilm

re

tartled

hen

Al

Jolson

suddenly

urstsnto

renditionf

Toot

Toot

Tootsie" n

which he

words nd

music

ave

obviously

een

recorded

ive,

not

added

ater,

nd

in

which

he

wordsnd

music

ppear

o

be

coming

rom

he

visible

space

of

the

tory

what

ilm

heorists

efero

asthe

diegesis)

ndnot

from

ome

unseen,

ffscreen

rchestralource.

hen,

when

he

ong

s

over,

he

film

uddenly

everts

o its

ilent

mode.

We see

characterson-

versing,

utwe

do

not

hear

what

hey

re

aying;

nstead,

heir

ialogue

is

given

o us n

ntertitles.

The same

ort f

phenomenon

anbe

found n

Noah's

Ark

(Michael

Curtiz,

928),

another

arly

ound ilm

roduced

y

Warner

Bros. he

Vitaphone

ecordingystem

elied n

wax

discs

hatwere

kept

t a

constant

emperature

n a dust-free

nvironment;

oundwas

recorded nto

the

disc

by

means f

stylus,

hich

ut n

impression

227






228

The

Musical

uarterly

into he oftwax

see

Fig.

1).

As a

result,

he ntire

ecordingystem

had to be housed n a vibration-freeuildingopreventhe tylusrom

introducing

noise"

ntothedisc.Thus

early itaphone

ilms

ere,

f

necessity,

ound o

the

ound

tage;

he

recordingechnology

ould

not

beused

n

exteriors.his

technological

imitationtructureshe ound

recording

n

Noah's

Ark,

which eatures

ync-sound

ialogue

ninteriors

butrevertso silence

n all exterior

cenes,

n embarrassment

f orts

onlypartially

overed

ver

by

hemusical

nderscoring

hat

ccompa-

nies these

therwiseilent cenes.

n

effect,

art-talkie

ilms

end oun-

ravelbefore he udience's yes ndears, epeatedlyevertingo silence

and thenback nto

ynchronized

ound.

he

results

arring

hiftshat

are

curiously

t

oddswith he

effectfthe ound

cenes,

while

hifts

fromilent

equences

o sound

equences

esultn a similar reak

with

the

llusionism

roduced y

ilent ilm esthetics.

The

design

f

arly

ound

ecordingechnology

layed

crucial

role n

determining

he

look" f

arly

ound ilms.Western

lectric's

standardound

ecording

hannel onsisted

f

microphone-amplifier

units,

motor

enerators,

torage

atteries,

mplifiers,ixing

anels,

nd

recording achines,most fwhichwashousedn a two-storyRecord-

ing

Building,"ixty-fivey

ninety-five

eet,

ocated

within

few undred

feet f

the

ound

tages

see

Fig.

2).'

Though

ox's ound-on-film

ovie-

tone

ystem

elied

n similarWestern

lectric

quipment

or ound

pickup,mplification,

nd

mixing,

ts ound

ecorder,

hich erived

from

ptical ignaling

quipmenteveloped

or he

militaryuring

WorldWar

,

proved

more

lexiblen nature han he

disk ecorder.

ni-

tially esigned

y

Fox technicians

or

ewsreel

se,

heir ound-on-film

technologyasportable.he firstieldutfitseighed ,500pounds nd

took hreemen

o

operate

nd two ruckso

transport.

y

1930,

he

Fox field

quipment

ouldfit

nto

modified odel-A

Ford,

weighed

less han500

pounds,

nd

took

nly

wo

men o

operate.3

ortable

recording

nits

or eature

ilm

roduction

ere vailable

or

n

Old

Arizona

Irving ummings

nd

Raoul

Walsh, 929),

whichwas

filmed

on locationn ate 1928.

"Another

icture

asmade

ntheSouth

Seas

with

ery

ight

ortable

pparatus;

he

mplifier

nit

weighed

nly

2

pounds ndwasoperatedwith ry ells, he ntirepparatuseing rans-

ported y

anoe."4

Though

Movietone

made

filming

n

exteriors

nd

on location

os-

sible,

he

hooting

fboth ound-on-film

nd sound-on-disk

ilms

on-

tinued o be marked

y

echnological

ffects;

o

prevent

heomnidirec-

tional

microphones

rom

ickingp

camera

oise,

hecameras

were

placed

n

soundproof

ooths,

which

everely

estrictedheir

movement.

To facilitateheir

movement

rom

ne

set-up

o the

next,

he

heavy

booths

were

requently

ounted

n wheels

r"mobile amera

arriages,"






Blackmail

nd

arly

ilm

ound 229

--

Figure

.

An

engineer

monitorswaxblank s an electric utter ecords sound

ignal

on

it,

. 1930.

Author's ollection)

a factor f whichseveral directors ookadvantagein order o execute

occasional camera

movements.5

pplause

Rouben Mamoulian,

1929)

contains

several

tracking

hots

accomplishedby

movement f

the booth

itself,

ncluding

he

tracks ut

and in

during sequence

in a

convent.

However,

the

bodily

movement f the booth

permitted

nly

straight-line

axial or lateral

movements6; omplex

movements

ombining

various

di-

rections r

patterns

emaineddifficulto achieve.

By

1929,

both Bell

&

Howell and Mitchell had

introduced

emi-silenced ameras

that could

operatewithin enfeetof a microphonewithout he latterpickingup

camera

noise.'

By

the

same

time,

tudioshad

developed

less restrictive

camera

housings,

alled

"blimps"

r

"bungalows,"

hat

eliminated he

need for umbersome

oundproof

ooths.8

Before his

nnovation,

am-

era movement

was further estricted

y

the

practice

of

multiple-camera

filming,

n

which between two and

six,

sometimes ven as

many

s nine

cameras

would be

used to film

single

action

simultaneously.9

nter-

locked with the

sound

recorder,

he

multiple

ameras,

outfitted

ith

lenses of different

ocal

lengths, rovided lose-ups,

medium

hots,

nd






230 TheMusical

uarterly

2K-~r

r --------iiii'~i

1W::::il

Figure

. Westernlectric'shief

ngineer,

dward

.

Craft

center),

oses

nfrontf

soundproof

camera oothwhose idewallhas been removed.

singlemicrophoneangs

bove

him,

ohis

eft;

a wax isc ecordertandsohis ight,ehindhe hreeechniciansnthe eftoreground,. 1926.

(Author'sollection)

long

hots

f

he

ction,

which ould

be

intercut,

hile lso

ensuring

synchronization

ith he

ound.The use of

multiple

ameras n the tu-

diofloor

everely

imitedndividualamera

movement,

hich

hreat-

ened to reveal he

presence

f hese ther

ameras. t the

ame

ime,

multiple-camerailming

urther

inderedn

already roblematic

icro-

phone overage f he ction,ncreasinghe ikelihood hat verhead

microphones

ould

e

seenwithin he hot.As

a

result,

uchmikeswere

further

emoved rom

he

ound

ource,

nd

recordists

epended

o an

even

greater

xtent hanbefore n

microphones

idden n

the et

n

flower

ots,

owls,

ndother

rops.'0

Multiple-camera

hotography

lso

played

avocwith raditional

lighting

ractice.

he

cameraman

ee

Garmes,

oted

or is Rem-

brandtesque

lack-and-white

ighting

tyle, omplained

hat

photogra-






Blackmailnd

arly

ilm ound

231

phywent ightutthewindow ecauseyou ust ouldn'tight or ix

cameras...

you

an't

ight

or ix

angles

nd

getgood ighting.""

ight-

ing

wasfurther

ompromised

ecause

with hree r more amera

ooths

on

thefloor fthe ound

tage,

herewas ittle r

no room eft or loor-

level

ighting;

ameramen ere orced o lluminateets rom

bove,

practice

hat ended o

resultn a

flat,

ven,

hadowless

ighting

tyle,

resembling

hat eenon

contemporary

elevisionitcoms

which,

ike

early

ound

ilms,

reshotwith

multiple

ameras).

o

complicate

mat-

ters ven

more,

raditionalrc

amps

gave

ff

high-pitched

histle

thatmicrophonesicked p."'2This necessitated switch osilent,n-

candescent

ights, change

hat urtherontributedo theflat

ighting

style

ictated

y

multiple-camera

ilming.

ot

only

did Mazda

ighting

lack the

carryingower

nd

sharp

hadows

ielded y

rcs,"'3

ut

t

also

necessitated

change

nfilm tock rom rthochromatico

panchro-

matic,which,

n

1928,

was somewhatofternd ess

contrasty

han r-

tho.14

hough

ubsequent

evelopments

n filmtock nd the

redesign

of

rc

circuits

n

order o silence hem

thus

nabling

hem

o be used

again)soonpermittedreturnoa more ounded,more ighlymodeled

lightingtyle, arly

ound

ilms,

anging

rom

Warner's

ightsf

NewYork

(Bryan

oy,

928)

to Paramount'she

Cocoanuts

Robert

lorey

nd

Joseph

antley,

929),

were haracterized

y

oft,

lat

ighting

funiform

intensity

hatwas

evenly

istributed

hroughout

he

et.

By

contrast,

scenes hot

silently,"

owhich

nonsynchronized

oundwas

ubsequently

added,

ould

be

filmed ith

omplex

amera

movementnd traditional

(i.e., arc)

ighting

echniques,

s illustratedn

parts

f

Applause,

lack-

mail, hinatownightsWilliamA. Wellman, 929),andThunderbolt

(Josef

on

Sternberg,

929).

Multiple-camerailming

as

ntroducednorder o

permit

hotva-

riety

nd the

traditional

ractice

f

ontinuity

diting

while

maintaining

synchronization

fthe

mage

rack

with

he

ound

rack.15

eparate

eg-

ments ffilm rom

arious

ngles

overed

y

differentameras

ouldbe

edited

ogether

ndmatched o

the ound

rack,

hich emainedon-

tinuous

nd uncut.

n

this

way,

he

ound rackstablished

he

measure

against

which he

mage

was

assembled.

ndeed,

n

the ound-on-disk

system,he ound rack, hichwason a waxdisk, ould learly otbe

edited,

hough,tarting

n

1927,

Warners

egan

he

practice

f

mixing

on

disks,

nterlocking

s

many

s

eight

isks

ogether

nd

cutting

ack

andforth rom

ne to

another o

produce

composite

edited"

isk.'6

Unfortunately,

his

ractice

esulted

n

a finalound rack

hatwas ev-

eral

generations

emoved romhe

ound n the

original

isk.

Butfor

the

most

art,

oundwas

mixed nthe et

during roduction,

ot

during

post-production.

s a

result,music,

ialogue,

nd sound

ffectsere






232 TheMusical

uarterly

recorded

imultaneously y

a

sound mixerwho

manipulated

fader

control

ettings

n

the

various

microphones rrayed

round the set

to

achieve

proper

balance

among

the differentound

inputs.

f

a

character

were

to listen to a

radio,

as Herbert

Marshall does

while

shaving

n

Hitchcock'sMurder

1930),

the

thirty-piece

rchestra

laying

he

music

heard on

theradio

would

have to be

just

offscreen,

n

the same

set,

and

would have

to be

recorded

t

the same

timeas the

actor was

being

filmed."7

Mixing

on the

fly,

owever,

an

occasionally yield

cacophonous

results,

ecessitating

ime-consuming

nd

costly

retakes,

nd even

the

best ivemulti-microphonemix-down acksthepreciseseparation and

thus

clarity)

f sounds

subsequently

ttainable

c.

1931-32)

through

post-production

mixing

f

separate

multiple-channel

music,

dialogue,

and effects

racks.

Prior o the advent

of

double-system

ound-on-film

echnology

n

1929-allowing image

and sound to be

synchronously

ecorded

n

sepa-

rate

strips

f film-Fox

Movietone films emaineddifficult

o

edit. Be-

cause sound

preceded mage

on the

singlestrip

f

film,

uts had to be

made twenty rames head of the image norder oprovidefull oundin-

formation

or he

image

twenty

rames ehind it. When edits

did

occur,

they

were

necessarily

ccompanied

by

a

twenty-frame

ilence before he

occurrence f the next

synchronized

ound. Even as late as

1930,

Hearst

Metrotone

Newsreels,

mploying

Movietone

cameras,

how

evidence of

this

ound-image ag.

As

Steve

Handzo

further

oints

out in

comment-

ing

on Fox's

single-system

echnology,

fades nd

dissolves,

hen still

made

in

the

camera,

became difficultr

nearly

mpossible

o

execute,"

and

"development

f

the

negative

was an

unsatisfactoryompromise

between

the

pleasing

gray

cale desiredfor he

picture

nd the

high

contrast

equiredby

the sound

track."'8

Barry

alt has described he

development

f sound

editing

echnol-

ogy, ncluding

he

multiple

ynchronizer,

he sound

Moviola,

and

edge

numbering,

nd how

this

equipment

facilitated

return,

n

the

early

1930s,

to the faster

utting

atesof the late silent

period

and

thus

effaced

the "marks"

eft

n

classical

editing tyle

nd take

engthby

transition-

to-sound

echnology.19'

ditors

n

the

early

1930s discovered hat

cuts

could be concealed by aying bit ofdialoguefrom heprevious hot

over the next. As Warner's

post-production xpert

Rudi Fehr

explains

it,

"mosteditors et the

sound

track

verlap

a fewframes o the cut isn't

so obvious."20

With

the

advent of

television,

his

practice

s

frequently

reversed:

n

contemporary

elevision nd motion

pictureproduction,

sound editors

egularly verlay

he end of one scene or shot with a

few

frames f the sound from he

next

scene or

shot,

a

technique

that

n

turn

has establishednew normsfor ound

editing

n

the

cinema.21)

Through-






Blackmailnd

arly

ilm

ound

233

out the

ate

1920s

nd

1930s, echnologicalevelopment

orked

and

inhandwith ound

ecording

nd

mixing

ractice

o

create

sound

track hat

yielded

ewernd fewer

igns

fthe

technology

hat

roduced

it.

In

1926,

TheodoreCase introducedhe

technique

f

blooping

(inked-on

ades hat

kept

he

projector's

oundhead from

eeing

he

cut)

to

permit

oiselessound dits.22n

1927,

Earl

Sponabledesigned

perforatedrojection

creen,

nabling

heater

peakers

o be

placed

be-

hind

the

mage

rather

han

longside

t);23

this

helped

urther

he llu-

sion that

he oundwas

emanating

rom hecharactersnd events

eing

projected.Microphoneooms, eveloped yDouglas hearer tM-G-M

in

1929,

permitted

he

miking

f ctors

s

they

moved,

roviding

etter

sound

overage.24

mnidirectional

icrophones,

hich

icked p

un-

wanted,

mbient

ound,

ave

wayby

1939 to directional

icrophones,

which oast ten-to-one

atio f desired o undesired

ickup"

nd re-

duce"camera

oise,

loor

queaks,

olly

noises,

nd

sounds

eflectedrom

walls

nd other

eflecting

urfaces."25

he

direction f

echnological

change

nd the

development

f

ound

practice

nswer,

n

part,

hede-

mand f lassicalHollywoodinema or means f llusionisticroduc-

tion hat

emains,

or hemost

art,

nvisible-that

s,

t will

notdisturb

the

willing uspension

f

disbeliefhat

ermits

udiences obecome b-

sorbedna

film's arrativer

diegetic

world. he

evolutionaryoal

of

mainstream

ound

echnology

nd

practice

hus ends oward

hat

ne

couldcall a certain

naudibility

s well

s

invisibility.

Technological

evelopments

uch s soundwerenot

only

nlisted

inthe

production

f

greater

ealism ut

were

lso

celebrated

s

a

spec-

tacularmedia

ensationntheir wn

right,rawing

he udience's

tten-

tion o the

novelty

f

he

pparatus

tself.

he

"greater

ealism"

ro-

duced

by

the

new

technology

as

understood,

t

would

eem,

s a kind

f

excess,

which

was,

n

turn,

ackaged

s

spectacle.

Ads for

roadway

MelodyHarry

eaumont,

929)

announced hat

his all

talking,

ll

singing,

ll

dancing

ramatic

ensation" as

nothing

ess

han

theNew

Wonder fthe

Screen "

see

Fig.

3).

Fox

Movietone ubbed

tselfThe

Sound and

Sight

ensation."

ndeed,

he

pectacular

ature f

ound

was

foregroundedy

the

hifts

hat

ook

place

between he

ilent nd

sound equences.Whilefor oday'sudiences,neofthethingshat s

fascinating

bout

arly

ound ilmss that

hey

ppear

o violate ll

sorts

of

stablished

onventions

f

narrativeound

inema,

or

movie udi-

ences

n

1926-30,

who

had never eenorheard

ound

ilms

efore,

nd

for

ilmmakers,

ho

had nevermadethem

efore,

hese

ound-editing

conventions id not

yet

xist-they

had

not

yet

beencodified.

ndeed,

f

early

ound

ilms iolated

nything,

twas

perhaps

nly

he

onventions

of

ilent

inema.

n

fact,

or

1927

audience,

he

ong

equences

n

The






234

TheMusical

uarterly

: :: --

-oi,-1-

Figure

. A souvenir

rogram

or

roadwayelody,escribing

t s

"All

Talking

ll

Singing

ll

Dancing."

Jazz

ingermight

eem

o be

simply

n

extension f herecorded

musical

accompanimenthey

ad heard arlier n Don

Juan,

which

n

turn ad

simply

ynchronized

s

part

f he

film

echnology

tself he

ive

musical

accompanimentf ilent ilmshat hese udiences adbeenaccus-

tomed o

hearing

or

ears

n

movie heaters.

nd the

quality

f he

soundwasnot all

thatdifferent

rom

hat

hey

eard

n

radio,

n

records,

rover he

telephone.

ndeed,

he

ame

echnology

eveloped

for hese ther

ommunications

edia

wasused

n

early ecording

or

film.

The

expectations

f

udiences-and

what

hey

erceived

s

"realis-

tic"-were

changing

ear

yyear

uring

his

period,

whichs one

of

he






Blackmailnd

arly

ilm ound 235

reasons

film

ikeBlackmail

Alfred

itchcock, 929)

is so useful

n

documenting

hetransition-to-sound

eriod

nd the esthetic

hanges

t

introduced.

f,

or 929

audiences,

hevarious

mprints

nBlackmail

made

by

technology,

onventionsftraditional

ilm

ractice,

conomics,

ideology,

nd

other orces

ere

llegible-written,

s

it

were,

n

invisible

ink,

hen or

ontemporary

udiences,

ccustomedo

different

ilmmak-

ing

practices,

hat

writing

ecomes

emarkably

egible,

eaping

ut at us

through

ts ssential

ifference.

et,

n

watching

lackmail,

t s

impor-

tant

o

keep

n mind

hat heexistencef

part-talking

ilms

as

tselfn

theprocess fbecoming norm t that ime,ust searlycolor" ilms

were ften

othing

ther han hort

olor

equences

nsertedntoblack-

and-white

ilms.

Conventions

nd audience

xpectations

o not

explain

he

phe-

nomenon

f

part-talking

ilms

n its

ntirety;

here

s

an

economic

ea-

son for

heir

xistence s

well.Part-talkie

ilms

ould

asily

e converted

to all-silent

ilms

or xhibitionn the

great

majority

ftheatershathad

notconverted

o

sound

yet.

or

example,

y

he nd of

1927,

ust

fter

therelease fTheJazz inger,nly157of he21,700movie heatersn

theUnited tates ould

play

ound;

y

ate 1928

this

number ad

in-

creased o

1,046.

WhenBlackmail asreleased t the nd of

1929,4,000

domestic heaters

and

1,200

foreign

inemas)

werewired or

ound,

whichwas till ess han20

percent

fthetotal

number f

film

enues.

By

theendof

1930,

herewere

13,500

heatershathad

sound nstalla-

tions,

eaving

,200

theaters

till ilent.

ilm

roducers

ere eluctant

o

convert heir otalmovie

utput

osound

ecause

f he

costof onvert-

ing

ll

theaterst once. Thiswas essof factornthe

United

tates,

however,

inceheremost

ig

movie

houses

were wned

by

tudios,

nd

thus

irst-run

onversionsook

place

at

a

rapid

ate.Once the

talking

picture

evolution

otunderway,

hreatening

hevalueof

unreleased

silent

ilms,

tudios

egan

o insert

alkingequences

nto

heir

acklog

of ilent

ilms

o

give

hem ome

box-office

alue.

These

were

known

s

"goat-gland"

alkies,

ince

hey

were

njected

with bitof alk orenew

their conomic ife.

The

conversionosound n

Europe

agged

ehind hat n

the

United tates. tstarted woyearsaternEnglandndFrance;nsome

countries,

uch

s

theSoviet

Union,

he

conversiono

sound id notbe-

gin

until

930-31. n

England,

lfred

itchcockwastold o make

Blackmails

a silent ilm. he

studio

riginally

lanned

or he

film

o

concludewith ne

reel t

theend

containingynchronized

ialogue.

However,

itchcock

ecretly

adethe

filmn

sound

nstead,

sing

sound-on-film

rocess.

lackmail

as

subsequently

dvertiseds a 100

percent

ound

ilm,

ven

though

he

entire

irsteel s silent nd

there






236

TheMusical

uarterly

are

only

hirteen

ages

f

dialogue,

which

ranslate

nto

hirteen in-

utes f

ctual,

ynchronized

peech

n a filmhat s

eighty-six

inutesn

length

see

Fig.

4).

During

hetransition

eriod,

he

majority

ffilms

ere

mongrels-

part

ilent,

art

ound-and

as

a result

epresented

mixture

f

different

styles.

either

ully

ilent-andthusnot

representative

fthe

lready

highly

laboratedilent ilm esthetic-nor

ully

ound,

hey egotiated

an

interim

eriod uring

hich he

conventions

f coustic erisimili-

tude,

hat

s,

ofwhat

would ome

to

be

consideredrealistic"ound

prac-

tice,werenthe lowprocess fbeing stablished.or xample,here

wereno

rules

bout

dialogue;

n

all-talking

equence

ouldbe immedi-

ately

ollowed

y

scene n which ntertitles

eplaced poken ialogue.

Elsewheremusic ndsound ffects

ould

bruptlyive

way

o scenes

n

which here

was

no

music,

whereaseveral

ears

ater

as

illustrated

y

overscoredilms

ike

KingKong

Merian

.

Cooper

ndErnest .

Schoedsack,

933])

musicwould e used o hold

an audience lmost

continuously

hroughout

hecourse f

film,

nderscoring

ven

speech.

A number f ilent-filmheorists,ncludingudolf rnheim,aw

the

coming

f ound s a threato

the

developing

raditionf

pure"

cinema-the

attempt

o create

purely

inematic,

hat

s,

purely

isual,

language,

s

in

E

W. Murnau'silent

ilm

heLast

Laugh

1925),

in

which hebulk f

narrative

nformationascommunicated

isually

in-

deed,

Murnau's ilm eatured

nly

our

ntertitles).

mheim

rgued

hat

thecinema

had

developed

nto n art

n

arge art

ecause

f ts ilence

(i.e.,

because

f tsformal

ifferencerom

eality);

ts

purity

s an art

form

epended pon

ts utonomous

evelopment

sa visualmedium.

Thus

he felt hat

he ddition f sound

rack o

an

already erfectly

r-

ticulate

mage

rackwould esult

n

unnecessary

emiotic

edundancy

andwould

hereby

ransform

hemediumnto monstrous

ybrid.26

s

a

composite

orm,

ound

inema

merges

sa

cacophony

fredundant

r

opposing

oices n which he

eloquently

ilent voice"

f

the

mage

and

ofvisual

odily esture)

s

either

ointlesslyuplicated

rdrowned

ut

by

hevoices

n the ound

rack.

Hitchcock's

ork n

general-and

Blackmail

n

particular-illus-

trateshechallengehenewtechnologyosed o thethen-traditional

mode f

film

ractice

ndto

previously

stablished

ethods fvisual

storytelling

r,

nnonnarrative

ilms,

isual

xpression.

arly

ound

ilms

like

Blackmailreremarkableecause

hey

rovide

xamples

fthe

rup-

ture reated

y

he

new

technology;

rom

oday's erspective,

ou

an

seeand

hear hat reak

n thefilms

hemselves.itchcock's

ork

s,

n

many

ways,

he

epitome

f

pure

inema,

ynthesizing

he

two

major

silent

ilm raditionsf

purely

isual

xpression:

oviet

montage

nd






Blackmailnd

arly

ilm ound

237

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17

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Figure. Aposteror lackmaildvertisest s "a 100% alkie."Author'sollection)

German

xpressionism.

oth esthetic raditions

ight

e

saidto articu-

late

atent r

nitially

nintelligiblehenomena.Montage,

s

practiced

byDziga

Vertov nd

Sergei

isenstein,

rovides

n

analytic

nsight

nto

phenomenal eality,

evealing

arious

nderlying

orces

hat

tructure

t;

Vertov'severse-motion

hotography

nd

temporally

etrogressive

dit-

ing

n

Kino-Glaz

1924)

trace ack loaf f

bread

o ts

origins

s

grain






238

TheMusical

uarterly

in

a farmer's

ield;

isenstein's

diting

n Potemkin

1925)

lays

are he

chainof ause ndeffecthat eadsfrom soldier's ullet o a mother's

death,

o

the

headlong light

f

baby

arriage

own

he

Odessa

teps,

to the

baby's

eath,

nd to the

nsweringuns

f

the

revolutionary

sailors n thedeckof hePotemkin.

Whathistorians

f

film

tyle

efero as cinematic

xpressionism

n-

volves

he

manipulation

f he

plastics

f he

mage

o

producemeaning,

as

in the

exaggerated

et

design

fTheCabinet

f

Dr.

Caligari

Robert

Wiene,

1919),

or

optical

istortionso

reflect

character'snner

tate,

such s thedoorman'srunkennessnLastLaugh. xpressionisticanip-

ulations

enerally

ocus

esson

the

political

han n

"spiritual"

imen-

sions f he

narrative,

iving

orm o emotional

nd

psychological

s-

pects y

means

f

film

orm-in et

design,ighting,

ise-en-schne,

editing,

nd

acting.

n

a

purely eneric

evel,

he

ssociation f

xpres-

sionism

ith

ampires,

onsters,

nd demons-andits

tylistic

urvival

in

classic s well s

contemporary

merican orror

ilms-gives

vi-

denceofthese

oncerns.

nd whatmore

raphic

ay

s there

o

convey

a

character's

nner,

sychological

tate han o

project

t

upon

he

pace

surroundinghat haracter-tomake hat pacereadable sa cipher f

otherwise

nvisible

ynamics.

Both

montage

nd

expressionism

re aidto have been

deeply

n-

dermined

y

the

coming

f

ynchronized

ound.

ound-and

especially

dialogue-functioned

o anchor

he

mage

nthe

real,"

acrificing

uch

of he

tylisticutonomy

f ilent

ilm

n

favor f

powerful

eferential

illusion.

his

heightening

f

what

s often

eferred

o

as the

reality

f-

fect" eemed

t

odds

with he

formallyde-realizing"trategies

fdidac-

ticSovietmontagendGermanxpressionism,hich tructuredhe m-

age

more s a

sign

ra

signifying

omplex.

n

some

ways,

his

rgument

has

some

merit.tis

hard o

think

f

rapidmontage

equence

ccom-

paniedby

ontinuous

ialogue;

he

continuity

f

the

peech

would

surely

ork

gainst

he

discontinuity

f he

editing.

hefamoushower

sequence

n

Psycho

Alfred

itchcock,

960)

is

unimaginableccompa-

nied

by nything

ut

ound

ffectsnd music.

ut,

s

the urvival f

montageequence

n

Psycho

emonstrates,

ound

learly

idnot

destroy

montage ut implyransformedt.Bythe ame oken,he urvival f

expressionistic

evices n American

ound

ilm-especially

n

genres

such s

the

horror

ilm,

ilm

oir,

rcertainmelodramas

hat eal with

issues

f haracter

sychology-belies

henotion

hat uch

tylisticrac-

ticeswere

ncompatible

ith

ynchronized

ound.

ndeed,

t

couldbe ar-

gued

hat irectorsuch s

Hitchcock,

or

xample,

ffectively

ecast

silent ilm

echniques

ssociated

ith

montage

nd

expressionism

nre-

sponse

o

the

mperativesmposed y

he dvent f

the ound

ilm,

s a

closer xaminationfBlackmail

illreveal.






Blackmailnd

arly

ilm

ound

239

In

talking

ith

Fran.ois

Truffaut,

itchcock

penly

cknowledged

hisprivilegingfpure inema nd nsistedhat ilent ilm as thepurest

formf inema.At

one

point

he even

attacked

arly

ound inema

or

abandoning

he

techniques

f ilent

inema,

ince

Hitchcockwas

con-

vinced hat uch

practices

ouldbe

incorporated

nto henew

technol-

ogy;

n

short,

e felt hat ound

ould

be

manipulated

long

he

ame

lines s the

mage.

Hitchcock elieved hathe

could

mpose

ilent

es-

thetics

pon

the ound ilm.

lackmail

osesproblems

or

nyone

t-

tempting

o

simply

quate

he

coming

f oundwith he

ntroduction

of greaterealism rfor nyonentent nfindingdramaticreak

between ilent nd

sound ilm.

ifferences,

f

ourse,

re

apparent,

ut

what

s

surprising

s the

arger

ense f

continuity.

Blackmail

oves ack nd

forth

na

highly

luid

ay

between

sound nd silent

equences.

ndeed,

t even

establishes

ridges

rom ne

to the

other,

s in

the nstance

fthefamousut

fromilent

ootage

ul-

minating

n

Alice's

point-of-view

hot fthe

outstretched

and

of

sleeping

erelict

o the cream

fCrewe's

andlady

s she ees

his simi-

larly

utstretched

andwhen

he

discovers isdead

body.

he

film

e-

peatedlyelies n the rticulatingevices haracteristicf ilent ilm

style;

o,

for

xample,

t

ncludes

montage equences

uch s the

one

that erves o

ndicate he

passage

f

time

uring

he

questioning

f n

arrested

uspect.

erethe

camera

ocuses n

a

clock-shapedshtray,

having

he

partially

moked

igarettes

ove

lockwise

hrough

series

of

dissolves rom

ne

hour-hand

osition

oanother

round he

shtray

as the

uspect

s

questioned

or everal

ours

y

he

police.

There

s

also

an

expressive

issolve rom he

uspect's

ace o the

mage

f

his

finger-

print, transitionhat ells sthathehas beenbooked ndsuggestshat

somehow is

fingerprint

ill onnecthim

o the

crime.

For

Hitchcock,

hetwo

tyles

f ilent nd

sound

ilmmaking

unc-

tion s

productive

imitations.

e

uses he

imitations

mposed

pon

filming

y

ound

echnology

o

convey

nformation

bouthis

characters.

If

the

confinement

f hecamera

o a

soundproof

ooth n

the

early

sound ra

threatened

o imit ertain

means f

xpression,

itchcock

uses his ame

onfinement

o

develop

sense

f

claustrophobia.

Throughoutlackmail,hort anninghots riss-crosshetaut, riangu-

lar

confrontationshat

ake

place

within

he

claustrophobic

onfines

of

familyarlor

where he

blackmailer

Tracy)

nd

histwo

victims,

the

heroine,

lice,

nd her

police-detective

oyfriend,

rank,

ave se-

questered

hemselves.he

short

ans

brilliantly

rticulatehe

ines f

tension hat

onnect he

three

haracters,

apping

ut the

ntricate

webof

ove,

guilt,

ear,

nd

greed

n

which

hey

re all

entangled.

n

a

similar

ashion,

tyle

nd

theme

rehere

nextricably

inked;

hefor-

mal

device

of

the

hort

an

both

determinesnd

s

determined

y

he






240

TheMusical

uarterly

thematicontentf

the

equence.

he

filming

f

he

cene

s

also

a

functionf

the

imitationsf

he

technology:

treflectshefact

hat t

was

filmed

y

camera

mprisoned

ithin

soundproof

ooth

whose

glass

window

estrictedhe

ength

f

nypan

to

roughly

ixty egrees

(i.e.,

thecamera ould

only an thirtyegrees

othe

right

r

eft

f

center efore

evealing

he

dges

f

hebooth'swindow

see

Fig.

5).

But

it also takes

dvantage

f

nd n a sense onceals hose

imitations

y

transforming

hem

nto

ndicatorsf haracter

sychology.

itchcock's

direction f he

equence

enders

hese echnicalimitations

which

shapewhat pectatorseeonthe creen) nvisibleygivinghere-

stricted

anspsychological

nd thematicmotivation

ithinhe

tory,

turningtechnological

onstraintnto

n

ingenious

arrative

ain.

Hitchcock

ven

engages

n

playful

okes

bout hebooth r

"icebox"

n

which hecamera

s confined.

uring

ne

scene,

or

xample,

lice and

Frank

alk,

utof arshot f

others,

y tepping

ntothe

phone

booth o-

cated n herfather's

hop.

Here,

nstead f

onfining

he

camera

o

a

soundproof

ooth,

hecharactersonfine

hemselveso

a

booth;

heir

conversationsundoubtedlyecordedy microphoneocated n the

mouthpiece

f he

phone

tself.

ater,

booth s

again

usedto

toy

with

our

desire o

hear;

Frank

ets

call

from cotland

Yard,

eaves he

door

open,

nd

then,

s

he

gets

nterested

n what s

being

aid,

loses

he

door n

us,

preventing

he udience

rom

earing

isconversation.

Blackmail

merges

s an

amalgam

fdifferent

tyles,ombining

he

heightened

realism"f

ynch-sound

ith

ome

f he

xpressionistic

devices

f

ilent ilm

tyle.

or

hemost

art,

hefilm's

ighting

bserves

thecodesof arlyound ecording,hich equiredhat ynch-sound

scenes uch s

the

Lyons

ornerHouse

sequence

rthe

pisodes

n Al-

ice's

parlor

e lit

flatly

o allow

multiple-camera

ilming.

y

contrast,

he

silent

equences

n Blackmail

ave

considerably

ore

modeling

f

figures

with

ight.

ndeed,

here

re everal

ighting

ffects

n

silent

equences

that

might

e termed

xpressionistic,

specially

hemurder

equence

n

which he

truggling

hadows

re

projected

rom

ehind

nto

the

bed

curtain.

arlier

n the

cene,

s

the rtist

ontemplates

he

eduction,

e

pauses

efore

alking

cross he

room,

tanding

or moment

ehind

chandelier hat hrows shadow esemblingmelodrama-villain'sus-

tache cross

isface.

imilarly,

ear

he nd of he

film,

henAlicede-

cides o

give

herself

p,

he

stands

p

after

aving

written

er

onfession

and

places

her

head nto

noosecreated

y symbolic

hadow.

arallel

to

thefilm's

xpressionistic

ighting,

here s

also

what necould

all

an

aural

xpressionism

hat

ccompanies

nd s

mixed

ogether

ith

more

"realistic"coustic

ractices.

he most amous

nstancef

this

xpres-

sionistic

endency

n

the ound

rack ccurs

n theknife

cene,

n

which






Blackmail

nd

arly

ilm

ound

241

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Figure

.

Alfred

itchcockistens

hrougharphones

othe

ecording

f

ialogue

or

lackmail.

sign

elow he

narrow indowf

he

amera ooth

to

his

ight)ays

Please

eep

Away

romront

ofCamera."

Author's

ollection)

the

peech

f

gossipyeighbor

s

nitially

lear,

hen

deliberately

ar-

bled,

electivelyccentuating

heword

knife,"

s that nstrument

e-

peatedlytabs heguilt-riddenlice,whocan hearnothing.he sound

track

xpressionistically

aunts hecentral

haracter,

ike sort f ural

ghost.

n a

musical

evel,

he

Miss

After

ay" song

hat

he rtist

lays

on

his

piano

to seduce

Alice

recursmoments

fter er

murder

n the

sound rack s Alice wanders he treets.ntroduced

nitially

s a

dieget-

ically

motivatedound ssociated

ith he rtist ho

plays

t,

t

later

returnso haunt

her na

disembodied,low,

irgelike

ersion.

As

ElizabethWeis

points

ut

n her xcellent

tudy

f

Hitchcock's

sound racks,lackmailsfull f ubjectiveural ffectshat electively

screen ut ome ounds nd

foreground

thers.27

everal cenes

t

Scot-

landYard nvolve electiveilence:

okes

retoldwhose ontent

we

can-

not

hear,

lthough

e

do hear he

aughter

hat ollows.

s Alice and

the

rtist tand utside

is

apartment,

he

blackmailer,

racy,

alls he

artist

way

or minute o

talkwith

him,

ut

ll we hear

s

mumbling.

After he

murder,

he

canary

nAlice'sroom

hirps

more

oudly

han

might

e

expected, roviding

n irritationnthe ound rack hat






242

TheMusical

uarterly

makes udibleAlice'sown

barely

oncealed

nner

urbulence.

he film

doesnot

present

swith full

ange

f

ounds,

eflecting

he

diversity

f

sounds

within he nvironment.

nstead,

t hierarchizes

coustic

pace,

carefullyelecting

ne

or two ounds

hatwillbe used

xpressively

o

convey

ertaindeas.For

xample,

heunheard

okes

from hichwe

(and

certain

haracters)

reexcluded

stablish

certain

elationship

e-

tween

s

and the

narrator,

ho

uppresses

nformationrom

s,

using

sound oexcite ur

uriosity

s

to

its

ontent,

sing

he

desire

or

ound

that s

especially

haracteristicf

he

early ears

f

he

ound

ilm nd

frustratinghat esire ymakinghepotentialource fpleasure-a

joke-inaudible.

This works

gainst

he

grain

f realistic"ound

rac-

tice,

which

ictates

hat

verything,specially

uman

peech,

must e

audible.

he

firstse of

dialogue

nthefilm-the

police alking

bout

tailornd a suit

n the

washroom-is

oubly rustrating:

t

is

bothbanal

and

barely

udible. et s such

tserves omake he

point

hat

ound

films

o not

always

ave to have

ntelligible

r

even

ubstantive

ia-

logue;

t

s a

joke

on

us,

foregrounding

nd

mocking

ur

desire

o hear

by elective seofthenew ound echnology.t the ame ime,tserves

to

construct

henarrative

ersona

itchcock s

gradually

eveloping

s

that f

narrator ho

plays

r

toys

withhis audience.

More

mportantly

or his

articular

ilm,

he

oke-tellingequences

set

up

a

pattern

f ilence nd

aughter,

hich

merge

s

prominent

themes

n thefilm. ne

aspect

f

the

okes

sthat

hey

re

hared ecrets

between wo

haracters,

xcluding

ther

haracters.

hared

ecrets

m-

ply

hared

nowledge,

s

suggested

y

he

phrase

inside

oke."

The en-

try

f

Tracy

nto heWhites' stablishment

naugurateslengthy

eries

of nside

okes, ommencing

ithhisdesire

o

use the

phone

o

"get

n

to Scotland

Yard,"

request

meant o communicate

is

ntentions

o

the

guilty

ouple.

This s followed

y

his

pointed

uestion

Any

news

of

hemurder?"nd his

ubsequent

ttempt

t

comedy

with he

ine

"detectives

n

glass

houses houldn't

aveclues."As he devours

black-

mailed

reakfast,

racy lithely

histles

The Best

Things

n Life re

Free,"

referenceo his

atest

cquisitions-a

cigar, ocket

money,

nda

free

meal.

The central

elationship

etween

lice

and Frank

s alsobuilt

upon ecret,hared nowledge-thatfthecrime.Whetherheyike t

or

not,

hey

re

ccomplices

o

a

murder;

heir

ilence,

heir

ttempt

o

cover

t

up,

nvolves

hemn a shared

uilt.

As

Weis

points

ut,

he

film

epeatedly

ssociates

ilence

with

guilt;

he

nability

o

speak

s

equated

with hetrauma

esulting

rom

guilty

nowledge.

he

murder

akes

lace

na silent

equence-the

result f

Alice's

ttempt

o

defend

erself,

hich

egan

with erulti-

mately

nsuccessful

erbal

rotestations.

he

murder

enders

er ilent:






Blackmailnd

arly

ilm ound 243

she becomesmore r

essmute ftert.

She remains

teadfastly

ilent

in thecontext f

repeated

ncounters ith

erbosity,anging

romhe

neighbor

hotalks bout n

"honest

whack ver hehead with

brick"

toher

parents

ndto

Frank,

hoasks

her

point

lank what

appened

last

night"

nd,

receiving

o

answer,

omplains,

Why

on't

you

ell

me

.

.

.

For

God's

sake,

ay

omething."

rank's

nowledge

fher n-

volvementn thecrime

orces

im

obe silent s

well,

ntil

e

discovers

that cotlandYard s

ooking

or

racy.

rank,

earning

hat

Tracy,

ot

Alice,

s

suspected

y

he

police,

efuses

o ether

peak,

nterrupting

er

when hetries oimplicate erself.or xample,whenFrank urnshe

tables

gainst racy,

lackmailing

im

n

turn,

lice

protests,

Frank,

you

an'tdo this." n

response

o

his

query Why

not?"

he

begins

o

re-

ply

but s

prevented

rom

oing

o

by

Frank's

ilencing

ine

"Now,now,

don't

nterfere

lice,"

eading

racy

o

plead,

Why

on't

you

et

her

speak?"

ear theend

of he

film,

fter

racy's

eath

upposedly

loses

the

case,

Alice

goes

to the

police

tation o confess hat hedid t.En-

tering

hechief

nspector's

ffice,

he

hesitatingly

ellshim I ...

I know

whodid

t,"

butFrankgain nterruptser ndpreventserfrompeak-

ing.

The

film

ndswith final

oke

about

lady

etectivest the

Yard"

who threateno

replace

men,

joke

that ealsAlice's

ilence. he

is

forced

ot

only

o

accept

but o

laugh

therown

ilencing

long

with

Frank nd

another

oliceman.

n

this

moment,

itchcock'sirst

ound

filmeveals tself

s

a

work hat s

ultimately

bout

he

relation

f ound

and silence.

t uses

ound

s

a foil

o

foreground

ts

entral

haracter's

inability

o

speak.

The transitiono

the

ound rathreatenedo

disrupt

he

homo-

geneity

f ilent ilm.

ndeed,

heoristsfthe ilent

ilm,

uch s

Arn-

heim,

iewed ound s

a formf noise"

hat

nterfered

ith he

elo-

quent

speech"

f

ilent ilm

tylistics.

nsound

ilms,

he voice"

f

the

image ompetes

or

ominancewith hat

fthe ound rack.

or

Arn-

heim,

ialogue

ifferentiated

hose

who

poke

rom he

previously

o-

mogenous

because

uniformly

ilent)

world

f

the

film,

iving

hem

c-

cesstoa mode

f

xpression

enied

o other

lements

f

the

mage

such

as

objects),

which

emainedilent. n

terms fthe

transitiono

sound n

filmsuch sTheJazz ingerndBlackmail,rnheim'serceptionfthe

potential

esthetic

onsequences

fthe

ddition f

ynchronized

ound

has a

certain

alidity.

n

theirhifts ack

nd

forth etween

ilence nd

sound ndbetween

ilent ndsound ilm

esthetics,

hese

ilms

onsti-

tute siteof

rupture

or

lassical

Hollywood

inema.

his

rupture

on-

sists fthe

repeated

iolation f he

llusionism

enerated y

mutually

exclusive ilent nd

sound ilm

esthetics.ilms uch

s

Blackmail

on-

tain

hese

upturesy

narrativizing

hem,

rawing

hem

nto

new,






244

TheMusical

uarterly

compositellusionismnwhich ound ndsilence ngagen a dramati-

cally

motivatednteraction.

y

the nd

of

he

transitiono the

ound

period,

the

embarrassmentf silence

has

effectively

een contained

by

the

film

ndustry,

hich,

ike

Hitchcock,

has learned to narrativize i-

lence.

Butwhat emains

ascinating

bout ilms fthe

transition-to-

sound

period

s the

way

n which the

marks f this transition emain

visible

and

audible. No matter

ow

hard

these films

ry

o conceal

the

technology

hat

produces

them,

hat

technology

evertheless

eaves its

indelible traces.

Notes

This

s a

substantially

evised ersion f n

essay

hatwasfirst

ublished

n

Spanish

s

"Cine Sonoro:

Technologia

Estetica"

n

volume ixofthe

Historia eneral

el ine:

a

transicionelmudo

l

sonoro,

d. ManuelPalacio nd Pedro antos

Madrid:

diciones

Catedra, 995).

1. H. C.

Humphrey,Typical

oundStudio

Recording

nstallations,"

ransactions

f

he

Society

f

Motion icture

ngineers

3,

no.37

(May

1929):

161.

2.

Charles

eden,

Newsreel an

(New

York:

oubleday,

oran

&

Co.,

1932),

18-19.

By

ontrast,

aramount's

portable"quipment,

hich

was

also

mounted

n a

truck,

weighed

9,000

pounds.

ee AlbertW.

DeSart,

Sound

Recording

ractice,"

n

Recording

Sound

or

Motion

ictures,

d.Lester owan

New

York:

McGraw-Hill, 931),

274.

3.

Sponable

Collection

Columbia

University

ibraries),

rojects-Interdepartmental

Correspondence

older,

ox

16,

memo oEarl

ponable

rom

.

J.

anial,

dated7

April

1931.

4. "Technical rogressn the ndustryuring 929:Report f heSMPE (Spring

1929),"

n

The 1930

Film

aily

Book

f

Motion

ictures,

d.

John

Alicoate

The

Film

Daily,

930),

839.

5.

David

Bordwell

oints

ut

that he ncreased

eight

f

arly,

limped

ound ameras

led studioso

put

hem nmovable

ameramountso facilitate

heirmovementn

the

set

between

hots nd

argues

hat his

roduction

emand

made t

possible

or irectors

to

resume hekind f ameramovement

hat

had become featuref ate ilent ilms.

"Camera

Movement,

he

Coming

f

Sound,

nd theClassical

Hollywood tyle,"

nFilm:

Historical-Theoretical

peculations,

ds.Ben Lawton

nd

Janet

taiger

Pleasantville,

.Y.:

Redgrave ublishing,977),29-30.

6.

Axial movement

nvolves orwardr backward

ovement

fthe

amera;

ateral

movement

nvolves orizontal ovement

fthe amera.

ee

Joseph

.

Mascelli,

The

Technique

f

Follow-Focus,"

merican

inematographer

8,

no.

12

1957):

789.

7.

Laurence

.

Roberts iscusses

ell

&

Howell's ilenced 709

cameran"Camerasnd

Systems:

History

f

Contributions

rom heBell

&

HowellCo.

(Part

1),"

Journal

f

he

SMPTE

91,

no. 10

October 982):

945-46.

Roberts escribes

heMitchell

tandard

Sound

camera,

whichwas ntroduced

n

1928,

n "TheMitchell amera:

The Machine

and

ts

Makers,"

ournal

f

he

MPTE

91,

no.2

(February

982):

146-47.






Blackmailnd

arly

ilm

ound

245

8. Barryalt, ilmtylendTechnology:istoryndAnalysisLondon:tarword,983),

227.

9. For discussionf

multiple-camera

hooting,

eeDavid

Bordwell,anet

taiger,

nd

Kristen

hompson,

he

Classical

ollywood

inema: ilm

tyle

ndMode

f

roductiono

1960

New

York: olumbia

niversity

ress,985),

04-6.

10. Gorden

awyer,

npublished

nterview

y

lisabeth

eis,

975.

11.

Unpublished

nterview

y

lisabeth

eis,

ummer.1975.

n

filming

israeli

Alfred

E.

Green,

929),

Garmes

liminateds

many

amerass

possible,

sing nly

wo,

n n

attempt

oreintroduceore

ubtle

ighting.

y

930,

efore

is

amous

ollaboration

withternbergMorocco,ishonored,nAmericanragedy,hanghaixpress),armes

had

returnedo

hooting

ith

ne

blimped)

amera.

12. Bordwellnd

Thompson,

he

Classical

ollywood

inema,

00.

13. Bordwellnd

Thompson,

he

Classical

ollywood

inema,

00.

14.

Bordwellnd

Thompson,

he

Classical

ollywood

inema,

85.

15. DavidBordwellotes

hat

multiple-camerailming,hough

t ntroducesariations

in

mage uality

due

o

differentocal

engths

f he enses

sed)

when he cene

s

fi-

nally

dited,

as evisedo

perpetuate

he

classical

chemata

f

utting"

eveloped

n

the ilentra, ermittingnalyticalnd hot-reversehotditing.Textualnalysis,

Etc.,"

nclitic

,

no.

2-6,

no. 1

fall

981-spring

982):

33.

16.

Sawyer

nterview.obert itt

eports

hatWarnersontinuedhe

ractice

fmix-

ing

ndisk everal

ears

fter

hey

tarted

eleasing

heir ilms ith

ptical

ound,

switchhat

egan

nthe

pring

f

1930.

17.

Hitchcockiscusses

his

rocedure

ith

rangois

ruffaut

n

Truffaut/Hitchcock

(New

York:imon nd

chuster,967),

3.

18. Steve

Handzo,

A

Narrative

lossary

f ilm ound

echnology,"

nFilm

ound:

Theorynd ractice,d.Elisabeth eis ndJohneltonNewYork: olumbianiver-

sity

ress,

985),

89.

19.

Salt,

ilm

tyle

nd

Technology,

81-83.

20.

Unpublished

nterview

y

lisabeth

eis,

975.

21. See

RickAltmann "the ound

dvance"

n

his

ociety

or inema

tudies

aper

"Television/Sound,"

ew

Orleans,

986;

eprinted

s

"Television/Sound,"

n

Studiesn

Entertainment:

ritical

pproaches

oMass

ulture,

d.

TaniaModleski

Bloomington:

Indiana

niversity

ress,

986).

n

an

nterview

y

lisabeth eis

1975),

RobertWise

claims ohave

nitiatedhe

ractice

f he ound dvancen

motion

ictures

n

editing

SomebodypThereikes e 1956).Wise,f ourse,asnot rainedntelevision,

though

e

may

ave

een nfluenced

y

elevision

ractice

onetheless.

22.

Sponable,

Historical

evelopment

f he

ound

ilm,"

merican

inematographer

(August

947):

95.

23.

Edward

.

Kellogg,

History

f

oundMotion

ictures,"

ournal

f

he

MPTE

6

(June

955);

eprinted

n

A

Technological

istory

f

Motion

ictures

nd

Television,

d.

Raymond

ieldingBerkeley:

niversity

f

California

ress, 967),

79.

24.

Bordwellnd

Thompson,

he

Classical

ollywood

inema,

99.






246

The

Musical

uarterly

25.

G.

R.

Groves,

The

oundman,"

ournalf

he

MPTE

8,

no.

13

March

947):

223.

26.

Rudolf

rnheim,

ilm

s

Art

Berkeley:niversity

f

California

ress,957),

215-16,

.

27. Elisabeth

eis,

he

ilentcream:

lfred

itchcock's

ound

rack

Rutherford,

.J.:

Fairleigh

ickinson

niversity

ress,982).

Awkward Transitions - Hitchcock's 'Blackmail' and the Dynamics of Early Film Sound

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Transcript of Awkward Transitions - Hitchcock's 'Blackmail' and the Dynamics of Early Film Sound