Abstract: Through an analysis of some of the first sound films produced in Paris, this chapter shows that even though contemporary critics frequently dismissed French films from this period as a return to ‘canned theatre,’ many films made by the major production companies were in fact highly experimental. Elaborate camera movements, inventive use of direct and off-screen sound, as well as complex editing patterns characterize these productions, especially at their beginnings. Moreover, some films self-consciously display sound film as a new medium, partly by addressing its relation to other sound media of the time. Only in 1934 experimentation seems to slow down when a more ‘classical’ way of using sound becomes common.

Keywords: film and theatre, visual style, camerawork, film editing, historical reception

At the beginning of the conversion to sound in France, several critics and filmmakers were furious about the talkies, attacking them as being static and dialogue-based. This is canned theatre! was a common complaint. Jean Mitry remembered this moment later: “Any flexibility was lost. Many people were saying: ‘The cinema is finished.’” A journalist's reaction in a trade magazine from the summer of 1928 is exemplary of this kind of critique:

The author of this article was one of many critics who had only seen talking pictures in London. In the summer of 1928, not one feature film with synchronized dialogue had been screened in France. Based on these experiences abroad, many French cinephiles feared the end of the acrobatic cinematography and extravagant montage preferred by the French avantgarde of the period.