Priscilla Barlow writes:
"I'd add that they also listened to the radio a lot, and therefore were
more accustomed to having stories narrated via dialogue than audiences
are today."
 
A very good point!  My students often complain (at least at first) about
the actors talking "too fast" (especially at the beginning) in such older
films as STAGECOACH and MY MAN GODFREY.  Part of the problem is certainly
the sound quality (of the print and the recording technology) but I thinki
accustoming the ear to a type of discourse is part of it as well.
 
They also point out the common use of PRINT sources--newspapers, letters,
etc.--to convey narrative information.  I assume that there is less of that
now in part because it's so hard to read on small tv screens.
--Don Larsson, Mankato State U., MN