The First Auto

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Audience Member Charming, but not very memorable. Rated 3.5/5 Stars •  Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 02/19/23 Full Review Audience Member An intriguing Vitaphone film that straddles the evolution of sound cinema while cleverly telling a self-reflexive tale of a different (and by then developed) changing technology. Director Roy Del Ruth must be admired for his enthusiasm for the coming of sound and for the many ways he utilizes its then limited capabilities. Though he had to fit an entire orchestral score onto the vinyl that accompanied the film, he uses a few choice vocal moments (no one who sees this film can forget the indescribable "Bob!") as well as a few sound effects as well. Of particular interest is the way he accentuates moments of violence with sound, introducing a loud and startling use of punctuation which is still very popular today. The story is mostly interesting as well; colored with interesting characters and timely conflicts between old and new, the film ends on an admirably optimistic note. Rated 3.5/5 Stars •  Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 02/11/23 Full Review Audience Member Fairly enjoyable early romp, even if it is so only for its innovative attempt at utilizing sync sound. Warner Brothers Studios was the pioneer in introducing the movie-going public to the wonders of sound without the accompaniment of a live orchestra. This first film, which applied the use of a device called the Vitaphone to achieve post-dubbed sync sounds of horses running, cars clanking, and recorded music – along with many other entertaining noises (the occasionally dubbed “Hey!” and “Bob!” get the most laughs), appears to be the perfect specimen to enact such a practice with its many auditory possibilities. The story itself is quite intelligent in containing a socio-political undertone, but the dialogue – mostly seen through intertitles – can be blatantly expository at times. Though there are large spaces of time without the use of matched dialogue or sound aiding the narrative, the production succeeded in introducing a new form of storytelling to a skeptical audience. Rated 3.5/5 Stars •  Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 01/25/23 Full Review Audience Member A nice quaint silent film about a very interesting part of american history...the birth of the motocar death of the horse and cart. The film in itself isn't amazing but the characters that film this story are really interesting. There are some great early car races that really show where ford has come. The strength of this film is the car races but a nice enjoyable well oiled machine of a film. Rated 2.5/5 Stars •  Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 02/21/23 Full Review Read all reviews

The First Auto

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