Are movies pre-60s how people sounded?
Or did actors create a movie voice?
shareYou might be thinking of the Transatlantic accent. It's largely credited to dialogue coach Edith Skinner, who wrote a book about her theory called Speak with Distinction. Here's an article:
https://www.theintrepidguide.com/transatlantic-accent-explained/
i believe it was taught in private schools of that era, to give elites 'polish',
to buffer somewhat the harsher edges of american speech, relative to upper-class brits.
The article mentions Frances Fisher in Titanic (Rose's mother) as using this accent. That's the first person I thought of.
shareNice, so it was just a movie voice.
Interestingly, in movies dubbed into Spanish for Central and South America, there is a dialect that is a "movie voice" which is basically speaking Spanish in a professional way, with a cadence similar to English.
You won't meet anyone who talks like that.
I tried to base my spanish speaking voice on it and I was told it sounded great but fake, artificial, so I tried to tone it down a bit.
Back to movie voices for English speakers, I think it still exists to a degree, but it's more actors impersonating other actors with distinctive voices.
in movies dubbed into Spanish for Central and South America, there is a dialect that is a "movie voice" which is basically speaking Spanish in a professional way, with a cadence similar to English
Could you provide some link or example? I never heard of it, and I feel quite curious. share
Yeah that accent sounds so fake. I can't stand watching old movies because of it. Not only the accent, but also the dialog style... so fast firing it's obviously obvious that they were memorized. Not natural at all. Everyone is so witty and has lightning quick responses all the time.
shareyes, that was a thing in a certain era. you see it now sometimes, too.
shareI don't recall hearing those kind of fast firing dialog in recent movies.
sharehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=il-DowDFDo4
shareNever watched that movie but yeah... it's kinda a throwback to 50s movies. However, it's just a 3 minutes long. Imagine if the whole movie is like that. Also, those people depicted are not ordinary people. They are highly educated, trained and probably best of the best in their field of work which consists of a lot of fast thinking and debating.
In old movies, everyone and their grandmothers talk as if they are all top level attorneys and politicians.
yeah, i'm just saying that there is a style of fast-talking tv show around - mainly on NBC - but a lot of these more irritating crime procedurals have that aspect of the rapid-fire cocksure dialogue delivered by the authority figures, which is not so much a direct throwback to the 30s, but an irritating recurrence, which is a pet theory of mine that bad ideas never die, they echo on for eternity.
shareThat sounds so annoying. Good thing I never like TV shows anyway.
share"The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel" has plenty of rapid-fire funny dialogue (repartee) except it's spoken with a strong New York dialect.
Also "Star Trek: The Next Generation" technobabble.
Hmmm... I watched ST:TNG but I didn't notice any rapid-fire back and forth lightning quick responses. But it was a long time ago so I probably forgot.
The thing that bothers me is not just that the characters talk alot and fast, but also their inhuman ability to think super quick to give the best, wittiest, most appropiriate, winningest response at the exact right time with an incredible level of confidence.
And if it just one or two witty assholey characters like Tony Stark it's still okay, but seemingly ALL of them do in old movies.
Usually, the engineers like Geordi or O'Brien were explaining something. I used to zone out.
It's just bad writing when everyone sounds exactly the same.
You don't remember this famous scene from TNG?
Data: Hey Captain now! There's some sorta wiseacre humanoid alien tryin ta make off with all the dames on the ship.
Picard: Worf, by golly, do your job and get security on this, seeeee.
Worf: I was just about to, honest Mister. Don't get all sore at me and stuff.
Picard: Why I oughta...
Two words:
Aaron Sorkin
Especially in The Newsroom, but you see it other films too, like The Social Network.
It's an interesting subject. Actually, you still hear one particular accent in most shows and movies today, no matter where they take place. It's more natural than that old time movie accent, though. Movies where the characters do the local accents stand out a little because of it.
When I was watching the Pet Semetary remake, one thing that stood out to me is that they didn't bother with a Maine accent, even though it would have been pretty strong in that part of Maine, I think. They went with the standard accent you hear in most Hollywood movies. Even Jud, who grew up in rural Maine, didn't have a hint of it. In the original version, you did hear that Maine accent from some characters, though the movie wasn't very consistent about it. Fred Gwynne really made an effort at it, but the actor who played Jud as a boy didn't have a hint of it.
I think Cary Grant is probably the best example. A few years ago on American Horror Story Hotel Evan Peters character speaks with this accent.
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