| Finding His Voice | |
|---|---|
The short film | |
| Directed by | F. Lyle Goldman Max Fleischer |
| Written by | W. E. Erpi |
| Produced by | Western Electric |
| Starring | Billy Murray Walter Van Brunt Carlyle Ellis |
| Color process | Black and white |
Production company | |
| Distributed by | Western Electric |
Release date |
|
Running time | 10 minutes 38 seconds |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
Finding His Voice is ashort film created as aninstructional film on how theWestern Electricsound-on-film recording system worked. Recording starsBilly Murray andWalter Van Brunt[1], uncredited, provide the speaking and singing voices. Murray also provided the voice for theFleischer Studios characterBimbo.
A live-action hand draws a strip of (sound) film, which takes the form of a human head and uses musical notes to form a body. Then, he sings notes that create a xylophone. Then, he performs a short solo until another piece of film (silent) jumps on him. The talking strip yells, "Hey, Mute! What's the big idea, busting up my act?" The silent piece usessign language, with subtitles above, asking him about his voice's origin. He talks about a man named "Dr. Western" that gave him "a set of vocal cords", saying he needs to see him, too.
They go to his office, with "Talkie" telling him to put "'Mutie' through the 'works.'" They go on a filming set, where Talkie sings "Love's Old Sweet Song." Then, Dr. Western explains every step of the Western Electric process of sound recording, and Mutie finally earns his voice as Talkie is performing his song. He jumps onto the stage and disrupts his solo. He asks him to calm down, and they perform "Goodnight, Ladies" as they sail on a boat, with the awkward ending of awhale eating the boat and an advertisement for Western Electric.
Late in 1926,AT&T andWestern Electric created a licensing division,Electrical Research Products Inc. (ERPI), to handle the company's film-related audio technology rights. (InFinding His Voice, the credits give W. E. Erpi as the story's author.)
TheWarner Brothers sound-on-disc systemVitaphone still had legal exclusivity, but having lapsed in its royalty payments, effective control of the rights was in ERPI's hands. On December 31, 1926—just four months after the premiere of the first Vitaphone featureDon Juan—Warners grantedFox-Case a sublicense for using the Western Electric system. In exchange for the sublicense, Warners and ERPI received a share of Fox's related revenues. The patents of all three concerns were cross-licensed.[2] Superior recording and amplification technology were now available to two Hollywood studios, pursuing two very different methods of sound reproduction.
Although the film explained the Fox-Case sound-on-film system, when the film was initially released, the sound was provided by the Western Electric sound-on-disc system.
Co-director F. Lyle Goldman had done the animation forWireless Telephony (1921) andThe Mystery Box (1922) for theBray Studios and released byGoldwyn Pictures, andThe Ear (1920) forInternational Film Service and released byParamount Pictures.[citation needed]