Tag: sound conversion

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Phonofilm returns to Toronto

Eric Veillette

As we’ve previously examined, Toronto movie-goers were privy to various synchronized sound and film experiments before the medium settled permanently in the fall of 1928. On December 8, 1927, weeks before aviation epic (and recent Silent Sundays selection) Wings premiered at the Princess Theatre on King St. West, audiences were treated to the return of the Deforest Phonofilm, short sound and talking films dubbed “the revolution of the motion picture” by the Globe & Mail. The sound-on-film process, consisting of musical acts and Vaudeville routines, was made functional due to inventions by Theodore Case — who by 1927 was working … Continue reading Phonofilm returns to Toronto

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Talkies redux: The arrival of sound films in Toronto

Eric Veillette

With the surprising success of The Artist, a modern-day silent film dealing with the downfall of an actor at the on-set of the sound revolution, here are a few articles published here over the last few years dealing with the talkie transition in Toronto. Talkies the talk of Toronto! For the first time in the entirety of a feature film, they could hear the creaking of the stairs, the ghostly wind and the voices of all the characters. “Even the credits were spoken,” said the Daily Star. Other sound films had already played at the Tivoli, mostly Vitaphone shorts and … Continue reading Talkies redux: The arrival of sound films in Toronto

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You’re fired: Silent film musicians & the talkie revolution

Eric Veillette

To coincide with our upcoming Silent Sundays screening of Eisenstein’s pro-labour Strike on May 1, we examine how the arrival of sound pictures affected the livelihood of silent film musicians. The successful commercialization of synchronized sound films in the late 1920s was arguably the medium’s most important technological achievement since its invention. But often neglected is how the costly conversion to sound systematically put thousands of silent film musicians out of work. In Toronto, sound films first arrived at the Tivoli, at Richmond and Victoria Sts., when the Fox Movietone film Street Angel premiered on October 5, 1928. As Luigi … Continue reading You’re fired: Silent film musicians & the talkie revolution

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Talking pictures in the silent era

Eric Veillette

Before the pictures learned to talk, they stuttered. Talking pictures settled permanently in Toronto in late 1928, but it was far from the first time Hogtown movie-goers were exposed to the concept that the flickers needn’t be silent. In November of 1924, four years before the Tivoli and Uptown Theatres were wired for all-talking pictures, those attending the premiere of Elinor Glyn’s His Hour at Shea’s Hippodrome were treated to short subjects from radio pioneer Lee de Forest‘s Phonofilm, a sound-on-film process. On the screen, an orchestra performed “Come on, Spark Plug,” the sound modestly filling the auditorium while the … Continue reading Talking pictures in the silent era

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Always Cool and Comfortable at the Pantages

Eric Veillette

“Always cool and comfortable,” claims this ad for the Pantages Theatre in July, 1928, and on this ridiculously hot night (it’s a staggering 86F in Toronto), sitting in a cool movie theatre sounds like a great idea. As we recently examined, air conditioning was an early attraction in both movie palaces and neighbourhood theatres, and both its advertising and marquees often capitalized on the public’s desire to chill out. Lady Be Good, based on the  musical by George and Ira Gershwin, was directed by Richard Wallace, who spent years directing comedy shorts under Mack Sennett and Hal Roach. Although the … Continue reading Always Cool and Comfortable at the Pantages

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Talkies the Talk of Toronto!

Eric Veillette

by Eric Veillette Eighty years ago, on Dec. 28, 1928, the talkies came to Toronto. Despite the freezing weather that winter evening, over a thousand movie-goers ventured out to the Tivoli, located at the intersection of Richmond  and Victoria Sts. to see a midnight preview of The Terror, a haunted-house whodunit. This was more than a year after a New York City audience watched and listened as Al Jolson got down on one knee and sang “My Mammy” during The Jazz Singer premiere on Oct. 6, 1927 at the Warner Bros. Theatre.  Contrary to popular belief, that wildly successful “photo-dramatic … Continue reading Talkies the Talk of Toronto!