The Talking Picture

By 1929 Hollywood had begun to recover from its first panic and was grinding out sound films as fast as they could be shot. Most of them were pretty bad. The public, still fascinated by the fact that they talked at all, was not yet very critical of what they said. There were, however, good ones. Mary Pickford, for example, chose wisely in selecting the title role of Helen Hayes' stage success, Coquette, as her first speaking part. She roved that her early training with Belasco had not been wasted. She was a good actress, not just a good movie actress. John Mack Brown played opposite her.

Mary and Doug had never been costarred in a film. They selected as their first talking picture together The Taming of the Shrew. The picture was signalized, among other things, for its immortal credit line: "The Taming of the Shrew, by William Shakespeare, with additional dialogue by Sam Taylor."

Norma Shearer also chose an adaptation of a successful stage play for one of her first ventures into the talkies. This was The Last of Mrs. Cheyney, and she played the role made famous by Ina Claire. Opposite her was Basil Rathbone, from the New Yorktheater. The film was "all talkie."

The first all-talking picture in which join Crawford appeared was Untamed. It would hardly deserve mention here, except for the fact that her leading man was a young actor named Robert Montgomery, who had come to Hollywood from the stage. Contrary to popular belief, Charlie McCarthy was not the first ventriloquist's dummy to appear on the screen. James Cruze directed this story of a man with a dual personality.

Gloria Swanson took no chances, but wisely chose Laura Hope Crews to coach her for her first talking picture, The Trespasser, produced in 1929. Thanks to Miss Crews' coaching and Edmund Goulding's direction--not to mention Miss Swanson's own talents--she made the transition with pronounced success.

Ruth Chatterton had, of course, been a stage star long before she went into pictures, and her theatrical training stood her good stead in the talking version of Madame X. Lionel Barrymore temporarily forsook acting to direct it.

George Arliss, being a consummate actor, became even more successful in talking pictures than he had been in silents.