British Universities Film & Video Council

moving image and sound, knowledge and access

The Sounds of the Silents in Britain

This reminds me that there is more research to be done on the relationship between the aural and imagined ‘voice persona’ of the star into the 1920s. We also encounter the film prologues explored by Julie Brown, an art in which Britain seems to have briefly pioneered, and the wonderful merging of film and audience performance in the Singalong films discussed by Malcolm Cook, the latter showing how technology can both enable community interaction while at the same time increasingly controlling the way audiences behave through synchronised sound. Other topics covered include Annette Davison’s excellent work on an important issue for musicologists, worker’s rights and performing rights; James Buhler on the reception of British cinema practices in Moving Picture World; John Riley on different approaches to sound taken by the Film Society in London; and Fiona Ford on how the Austrian composer Edmund Meisel approached synchronised sound.

The collection demonstrates the value of contemporary sources, including the trade press, official records, newspapers and fiction, to illuminate both actual or ideal contemporary practices and key matters of regulation (national and local) that controlled what music may, or may not, be heard in the auditorium. The book stays true to its stated desire to look beyond the film text, though there are instructive textual references throughout, all supported by instructive illustrations. The editors’ ‘Overture’ provides an excellent introduction to the collection and its significance. However, I would have liked to seen a little more said about the periodization of the collection, which ranges from the late 19th century right up to the early 1930s, where a little more signposting would help further integrate, for example, Derek B. Scott’s interesting work on the neglected field of musical shorts in the early 1930s. The collection clearly benefits from an unusually strong sense of interconnection between the chapters, with frequent cross-referencing and everywhere an awareness of collective purpose. This reflects the skill of the editors as well as the kind of collaborative endeavour between scholars, archivists and other specialists fostered by the British Silent Film Festival and the Sounds of Early Cinema in Britain research network.

The Sounds of the Silents in Britain presents a complex story in an engaging and accessible fashion

The Sounds of the Silents in Britain presents a complex story in an engaging and accessible fashion, with an intelligently light touch taken, in general, with regard to theory. It is sure to become a valuable resource for film and music scholars, students and, indeed, anyone interested in this extraordinarily vibrant period of cinema. With its wonderful array of chapters (particularly Burrows and Kember) there is no excuse not to add the sound of silent cinema to any university module exploring this period of film and sound history. One closes the book having felt that its authors have enabled the reader to vicariously experience at least part of the dynamic and rather wonderful sounds of the silents.

 

Michael Williams

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