Captioned event

Silent films - with sound??

As the talkie craze swept the world at the end of the 1920s, a number of film studios hit on the idea of adding sound sequences to selected sections of their recently completed silent films – some more convincingly than others! Thus was born the (very short-lived) phenomenon of the 'part-talkie' which, though often maligned as neither fish nor fowl, can perhaps be seen as an art form in its own right.
 
Productions from this transitional era included Victor Saville’s Kitty – Britain's first part-talkie, which premiered a full fortnight ahead of Hitchcock's Blackmail – whilst the silent version of The Flying Scotsman was transformed by both new sound and silent footage into a hybrid work built equally around its hair-raising stunts and the novelty of dialogue.

Join writer and self-declared 'film nerd’ Marc David Jacobs for this generously-illustrated presentation featuring clips from rarely-seen films, some eyebrow-raising news cuttings, and even The Old Sussex Pig Song!

Performing live: Jane Gardner (piano)

Run time: 1h5m (inc. Q&A)