Entertainment Value and Sound Cinema

Abstract

This chapter explores how the rise of sound cinema impacted Thalberg’s approach to filmmaking. Like others in the industry, Thalberg did not initially recognize the dominance of the talkies; yet in a 1929 lecture, he would frame his response to sound within a broader theory of “entertainment value.” Here, Thalberg aligned the new technology with a more fundamental imperative to provide meaningful and immersive productions for the public. The chapter draws from this cohesive commentary and look closely at three films released in various stages of the talkie revolution – Garbo vehicle Wild Orchids (Franklin, 1929), foundational musical Broadway Melody of 1929 (Beaumont, 1929), and Chaney tour-de-force The Unholy Three (Conway, 1930) – to consider Thalberg’s response to sound as part of his broader conception of “entertainment value” rather than as an isolated historical episode.