ABSTRACT
In this chapter, the author opens with a brief survey of the technological development of sound motion pictures and then considers the experiences of the engineers who wired America’s theaters for sound. She sketches the global dimensions of this story and considering how the engineers’ optimistic vision was defeated by a diversity of sounds. At this point, the motion picture industry basically gave up on the idea of synchronized sound. If Edison himself couldn’t make the movies talk, who could? Besides, the public clamored for silent films; why change an already successful product? RCA similarly designated its sound films as “Radio Pictures” to highlight their acoustical pedigree. But the transition to sound in the movies was strikingly abrupt, and it focused consumers’ attention in ways that these earlier technologies had not. The film industry of India, in particular, began to flourish in wake of the first Indian-produced talkie, Alam Ara, and the production of this film was recalled with nationalistic pride.
