A footnote to  the discussion of sound. Under  the studio system,

          except for  a  major director like Lubitsch or Hitchcock, it  was

          nearly impossible to  do  any sort of overlapping sound, fade, or

          other  unusual  effects  with  the  track.  For instance, through

          research  in  the  USC  Warner  Bros. archive,  I discovered that

          apparently director Robert Florey  tried  to experiment with  the

          dialogue recording to achieve  a  more realistic effect during  a

          party scene. This was during the production of a

          modestly-budgeted  ($230,000)  Barbara  Stanwyck  melodrama,  THE

          WOMAN IN RED, shot  in  late 1934. Florey was quickly rebuffed by

          the sound technicians complaining to  the supervisor, who went to

          the production chief, claiming that  not  all  dialogue would  be

          optimally audible, and Florey was forced to  fall  in  line  with

          more conventional methods. By contrast, unusual visuals were  not

          as difficult  to  achieve, because cameramen seem  to  have  been

          often  more  willing  to  try different types  of compositions or

          lighting.

 

          Probably many other directors had the same frustrations in regard

          to sound, with similar experiences to Florey on THE WOMAN IN RED.

 

 

          Brian Taves

          Motion Picture-Broadcasting-Recorded Sound Div.

          Library of Congress

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