8mm Forum: Silent versions of early talkies

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Posted by Dominique De Bast (Member # 3798) on June 22, 2017, 06:05 PM:

I read that when sound films appeared in France, it took a while before all the cinemas were equiped to show them. It seems that several years after silent films were almost no longer released, sound films were projected is some cinemas (at that time about 50 % of the French cinemas had still not appropriate equpment) sound films were projected through silent projectors. In an episode of the "Hollywood" serie, it is mentionned that, as not all the cinemas in the US could project sound, there had been silent versions of early talkies (the 1930 film "All Quiet Of The Western Front" was given as an example). Does anyone have any informations about that ? I always thought that silent versions of sound films were only released in substandard gauges. I would never have suspected it had been done also for 35 mm releases.

Posted by Chris Bird (Member # 3839) on June 23, 2017, 02:40 AM:

Dominique, what you describe was certainly the situation in Britain and America. The cost of re-equipping the cinemas was big, and there was a period of a year or two before all cinemas did so, or went bust. (A bit like the switch to digital projection.)

So many films were released in both sound on silent versions, on 35mm, for the cinema. A good example, which has just been restored by the BFI and issued on Blu Ray, is The Informer. The Blu Ray has both the sound and silent versions, as released in different cinemas.

Hitchcock's Blackmail can also be seen in sound and silent releases; most fans prefer the silent version. Here's a review comparing the two versions:
http://moviessilently.com/2017/01/01/blackmail-1929-a-silent-film-review/

Posted by Dominique De Bast (Member # 3798) on June 23, 2017, 04:13 AM:

Thanks a lot, Chris !

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