{"product_id":"silent-to-sound-geoff-brown-9780861967568","title":"Silent to Sound: British Cinema in Transition","description":"\u003cp\u003eSilent cinema was never silent. But from the mid-1920s onwards, the 'sound' part of the cinema experience was transformed by the arrival of films, long and short, with clearly audible talk, music, and sound effects built in. It marked the most fundamental shift in cinema technology since cinema's birth. The first book devoted to Britain's conversion to talkies, and the result of eight years' research, \u003ci\u003eSilent to Sound: British Cinema in Transition \u003c\/i\u003etakes a lively and comprehensive look at the production side of the British sound revolution, stretching from experimental efforts in the late 19th century, through the sound shorts of the 1920s, to the key year of 1929, the year of Hitchcock's\u003ci\u003e Blackmail \u003c\/i\u003e(Britain's first home-grown talkie feature), and the industry turmoil that followed. The narrative concludes in 1934, when John Grierson's GPO Film Unit finally acquired sound equipment, prompting a late burst of experimentation just when commercial feature soundtracks had settled down. Films familiar, neglected, and unknown are examined: overripe melodramas (the lost \u003ci\u003eBlack Waters\u003c\/i\u003e), local versions of Hollywood musicals (\u003ci\u003eHarmony Heaven\u003c\/i\u003e), visually elaborate science-fiction (\u003ci\u003eHigh Treason\u003c\/i\u003e), plus newsreels, documentaries, amateur films, and the last phase of British silent production. The impact of sound on studio technique is examined, along with the industry's complex relations with Britain's strong theatre traditions, with Europe, and above all, cinema's superpower, America. It's also never forgotten that the sound transition was shaped not just by technology but by the talents, foibles, and follies of individual people. Film history with a human face.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Geoff Brown\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-10:\u003c\/b\u003e 0861967569\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-13:\u003c\/b\u003e 9780861967568\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e John Libbey \u0026amp; Company\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLanguage:\u003c\/b\u003e English\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 10\/22\/2024\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 408\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFormat:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 1.80lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 8.90h x 6.10w x 0.90d","brand":"Geoff Brown","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":46250660692223,"sku":"9780861967568","price":45.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0662\/2982\/9887\/files\/img_bcdd8f71-0b74-43f6-a17c-02c58bfc3f2a.jpg?v=1729601015","url":"https:\/\/www.whiterainbookhouse.com\/products\/silent-to-sound-geoff-brown-9780861967568","provider":"WR Book House","version":"1.0","type":"link"}