On another list, the subject of people talking during the film has come up.  I
wonder if there has been any research into the subject of "proper" audience
behavior in theater and/or film as a historically-defined act.
 
People used to walk around and chat in the pit in Shakespeare's
day and old vaudeville and comedia theaters had the audience talking back (and
sometimes throwing stuff).  As a completely unconfirmed hypothesis, I wonder if
the Golden Age of Silence began first in the live theater, c. 1850 or so and
spread to cinema only when sound came in.  Other ideas, confirmations?
 
Don Larsson, Mankato State U (MN)
 
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