Laraine Porter: How cinema transitioned to the '30s

We mark our 30th episode by inviting independent researcher Laraine Porter onto the podcast to chat with Digital Content Manager Christina about what was going on in the film world on either side of, you guessed it, 1930. The cusp of the 'thirties was a pivotal moment for cinema, with synchronised sound radically changing operations across production and exhibition. Previously loud and boisterous sets had to adapt to operating in silence, and picture houses across the world had to make way for a whole new technology. The discussion ranges from the 'talkies' to the 'singies' and the goat gland films, and considers why some stars ended up as casualties of this seismic revolution.Additional links:⁠A selection of Laraine's Porter's writing on this subject⁠⁠Listen to Episode 23 to learn more about Hitchcock's (silent) heroines⁠⁠Watch 'Alma Reville: in the shadow of Hitchcock?'⁠Read the full English transcript of this episodeAbout the speaker:Laraine Porter is an independent researcher and Associate Fellow at DeMontfort University, University of Exeter and Bristol University. She was the co-founder and co-director of the British Silent FIlm Festival which ran between 1998 and 2019 and now runs as annual events at the Cinema Museum and Kings College in London. Between 2014 and 2019, Porter ran a major research project on British Silent Cinema and the Transition to Sound, and has written several journal articles on this subject.