After the Silents: Hollywood Film Music in the Early Sound Era, 1926-1934

Viewing more than two hundred films from the American film industry's early sound era (1926–1934), Michael Slowik launches the first comprehensive study of a long-neglected phase in Hollywood's development. Slowik follows filmmakers' shifting combinations of sound and image, recapturing the volatility of this era and the variety of film music strategies that were tested, abandoned, and kept. He explores early film music experiments and accompaniment practices in opera, melodrama, musicals, radio, and silent films and discusses the impact of synchronized dialogue. He concludes with a reassessment of King Kong (1933) and its groundbreaking approach to film music, challenging the film's place and importance in the timeline of sound achievement.

Viewing more than two hundred films from the period, Michael Slowik launches the first comprehensive study of a long-neglected phase in Hollywood’s initial development