The Transition To Sound

Abstract

Abstract From The beginning, of course, silent film was not silent. First, there were the narrators who stood alongside the screen, introducing the moving images as a circus barker might introduce a fire-eater or a contortionist. Then, as narrative film developed, along came the music-the single piano accompanist or, in the movie palaces, the organ or full-scale orchestra. Given the obvious contradiction between the existence of music and the designation of “silent film,” it is no wonder that a fanatical enthusiast like Vachel Lindsay would see musical accompaniment as a violation of the purity of the medium. But though purists might argue otherwise, it is hard to enjoy silent films without music; this fact alone suggests a basic disequilibrium in the system and indicates that the medium would eventually incorporate more extensive and varied kinds of sound. The door into the future had been opened from the beginning.