Lemurian Congress

The New Yorker film reviewer of 1930 ("J.C.M."), after pooh-pooing the trend toward larger-format films (so-called "three-dim...

By September 27, 1930 the talkies had hit their stride. The technology had advanced to a point where procedures for recording sound were sta...

You thought Boston was only known for banning books ? No ma'am, they had problems with talkies as well, according to the July 12, 1930 i...

In 1930 -- several years after the arrival of the talkies -- The New Yorker continued to make references to the phenomenon, indicating that ...

In the August 24, 1929 issue of The New Yorker, James Thurber complains about the strange "resonance" and "clangor" of ...

If you were a moviegoer in 1929 -- and who wasn't? -- then you might have wondered how the "talking pictures" worked. Fortunat...

This "great new art" used by Paramount, Warner Brothers, Hal Roach, Columbia Pictures, Christie, Universal, United Artists, Harold...

Throughout the run of The New Yorker magazine, starting in February 1925, I've been following the transition from silent films to talkie...

I've enjoyed watching the invent of sound wash over the New Yorker film reviewer, leading him through the typical stages of denial and a...

It's certainly true that we live in a time of fast-moving technology, but those folks in 1928 were no slouches either. They were so busy...

I recently mentioned the joy of watching the "talking pictures" creep up on The New Yorker's stodgy film reviewer ("Bergm...

One of the interesting things about reading old New Yorker magazines is observing the slow approach of the talking film. Film reviews from 1...

I'm going through the back issues of The New Yorker chronologically, and they've finally gotten to "The Jazz Singer." The ...