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Hi,
After watching "Leave Her to Heaven" on FMC today, I was struck with
this recurring question: what is with the way people speak in 40s and
50s movies? My girlfriend was imitating the speaking style afterwards
and we are convinced it's intentional and not natural, & wonder if
anyone could comment on this phenomenon. In 40s and 50s films such as "Leave Her to Heaven" and "All that Heaven Allows" the one-on-one conversations between characters are delivered in a tone of voice that is emphatic and declamatory, yet oddly remote, studied, and depersonalized, almost as if the person was on some sort of anti-depressive medication that makes them sound somewhat outside of their skin and zombie-like... Thanks, Neil
Follow Ups:
This '50s style of dialogue delivery is what George Lucas uses in his modern films, like Star Wars. It's theatre style delivery, not meant to mimic life exactly, and is often confused with "wooden acting". Rent Attack of the Clones and you'll see what I'm talking about.Somewhere along the line, about the mid '60s, American films got all documentary-esque for some reason.
Sitting through some of the classic old films, I really get a sense of how dialogue-stuffed they often were. Probably 20-40% more words spoken than in a similar genre contemporary film. There are alot more lingering character shots and zooming/panning scenary cuts in today's films than there ever were back then. And that is not even including how much screen time goes into effects nowadays.We just watched The Philadelphia Story yesterday. Compare the amount of dialogue in that film to say, Sleepless in Seatle or The Wedding Planner or some other contemporary romantic comedy.
I think as a result, the candance of speech was faster in many a film back then and that this may contribute to what we see today as a forced style of acting. On the other hand, this amount and pace of converstion creates an effect of drawing the viewer in and, I think, encourages a level of concentration that is just not required in viewing one of today's typical Hollywood releases. This may come off as almost a sort of work that is needed to sit through an older film and may similarlly affect any classic/contemporary comparison.
Anyway, just my 2 cents on this topic.
Rob
our appreciation of acting reflects our tastes of the time. i think films of the era you're pointing to have a very strong theater stage feel. marlon brando, one of the first proponents of the method school of acting, was heralded as a great "natural" actor in films like on the waterfront. nowadays, our tastes have changed and his performance is pretty "theatrical" looking today.actors in a contemporary film do not really act or speak the way a real person does in real life. imagine if you threw a camera on a simliar scene in real life - it'd be a lot different. there's still a certain stageyness to the actions that we are able to overlook because of what we're accustomed to. a great actor can play within these necessary mannerisms but convince us that there we are seeing none.
acting in Treasure of The Sierre Madre, I think.mp
Film is pieces of time that are timeless.
Most of the better ones did not suffer from that as much. Good actors are/were good actors, and can "melt" into a role, and be natural. Even back then.Now, having just seen the Mystery Science Theater 3000 treatment of "I Accuse My Parents" I can also say that there was not a lack of bad films in the forties and fifties, either!
"Oh no, I can't do anything to the death. Doctor's orders. You see, I have this ulcer condition, and death is the worst thing for it."
.
My granddad gets out of bed, puts on his pants, and puts on his shiny wing tipped shoes, and his sweater vest (kind of like Mr. Rogers). I have never seen him barefoot, except at the beach. I figure he is in his mid eighties, he could relax a bit, but he can't, he's from another era.My older friends like saucers with their coffee or tea, and have a thing for fine table linens...we are much more practical today. How many men do you see wearing three peice suits, and hats to the office EVERYDAY, much less of that now.
Just in the seventies, lady teachers HAD to wear nylon stockings and respectable pumps with their dresses/skirts (even in Florida--with No air cond.) I can wear jeans and sneakers everyday if I so desire.
My hubbies parents lived, and continue to live in the 40's and 50's...and they are only capable of polite and benign conversation. No discussions of alternative lifestyles, drugs, sex are tolerated.
They pretend those things don't exhist.
If it's a film, maybe it's the genre, the writer, the director, the studio...that was when studios actually had personalities back then, a specialized in different types of entertainment.You have to look at more movies from lots of different directors, writers.
I'm sure that Howard Hawks, say "His Girl Friday", would blow your mind !
.
Cary Grant ? I'm talking Howard Hawks !
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