Roy Pomeroy was Paramount Pictures most highly respected specialist in his field. He had won the Academy Award for Engineering Effects for his work in 1927's "Wings." He made the parting of the Red Sea possible in Cecil B. DeMille's 1923 "The Ten Commandments." He was a wizard when it came to working with new technology. Pomeroy's value was recognized when the studio appointed him as head of its research department.
Paramount was the first film studio to promise after October 1927's "The Jazz Singer" was released that it would produce only audible movies from now on. The studio aimed to make "All-Talkies," meaning the entire movie would be from beginning to end synchronized with dialogue and music with no inter titles. Since Pomeroy had visited the RCA and Western Electric labs to study their sound systems, he had an understanding of microphone placements and how dialogue could be captured onto film. As studio co-owner Jesse Lasky noted, "We couldn't have treated him with more awe and homage if he had been Edison himself."
Most Hollywood directors were afraid to step forward and handle their studios' first sound production. Paramount turned to Pomeroy, who had never directed a movie in his life, to be the primary director for its first all-talkie film. Sensing a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to get rich, he demanded his $250 per week salary be raised ten-fold to $2,500. "He threw his weight around,'" noticed propman Joe Youngerman, "He claimed he knew all about it." And he actually did. He was comfortable with the new audio gear, making suggestions on where to place the mics and advised his inexperienced technical crew on all the aspects of sound recording. The only problem for Pomeroy was his lack of creativity in camera shot selections. But that didn't stop the sound version of November 1928's "Interference" to become a rousing success at the box office.
The plot, based on a popular Broadway play, involves a World War One soldier, Philip Voaze (William Powell) returning to England without telling his wife Faith (Doris Kenyon). His wife had received notification from the War Department that her husband had been killed, and proceeded to marry Dr. John Marlay (Clive Brook). Conniving Deborah Kane (Evelyn Brent) sees Philip at a war memorial service and decides to blackmail Faith for bigamy. A murder takes place and the story becomes a who-done-it for the police to find out the perpetrator.
"Interference" began a cascade of talking pictures. The Film Spectator reviewer predicted "not only will all-talking pictures completely supplant silent pictures within a year, but in less than five years, they will supplant stage productions." "Interference's" competition that night in New York City was Al Jolson's part-singing, part-talkie 'The Singing Fool,' as well as the courtroom all-talkie (now lost) 'On Trial." The later was criticized for its sound quality and its actors looking uncomfortable gathering around hidden microphones.
"Interference," the second oldest all-talkie film to have survived, was released five months after the earliest one, June 1928's "The Lights of New York." Both movies' enormous financial successes are attributed to viewers' curiosity with the new format. By early spring of 1929 when studio personnel gained more experience working with the audio equipment, the quality of the all-talkies improved drastically. As one film historian wrote, "As others mastered talkie mystery, geniuses of a year before seemed not so ingenious anymore." Pomeroy, so cocky at his audio expertise on the set, demanded a further raise to $3,500 a week when Paramount offered him another directing assignment. The studio thought he was good, but not that good. Paramount let him walk by giving William DeMille, Cecil's brother, the director's chair instead. Pomeroy directed only two more films, 1930's 'Inside The Lines' and 1934's 'Shock,' an ignominious conclusion to an illustrious career.
Paramount was the first film studio to promise after October 1927's "The Jazz Singer" was released that it would produce only audible movies from now on. The studio aimed to make "All-Talkies," meaning the entire movie would be from beginning to end synchronized with dialogue and music with no inter titles. Since Pomeroy had visited the RCA and Western Electric labs to study their sound systems, he had an understanding of microphone placements and how dialogue could be captured onto film. As studio co-owner Jesse Lasky noted, "We couldn't have treated him with more awe and homage if he had been Edison himself."
Most Hollywood directors were afraid to step forward and handle their studios' first sound production. Paramount turned to Pomeroy, who had never directed a movie in his life, to be the primary director for its first all-talkie film. Sensing a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to get rich, he demanded his $250 per week salary be raised ten-fold to $2,500. "He threw his weight around,'" noticed propman Joe Youngerman, "He claimed he knew all about it." And he actually did. He was comfortable with the new audio gear, making suggestions on where to place the mics and advised his inexperienced technical crew on all the aspects of sound recording. The only problem for Pomeroy was his lack of creativity in camera shot selections. But that didn't stop the sound version of November 1928's "Interference" to become a rousing success at the box office.
The plot, based on a popular Broadway play, involves a World War One soldier, Philip Voaze (William Powell) returning to England without telling his wife Faith (Doris Kenyon). His wife had received notification from the War Department that her husband had been killed, and proceeded to marry Dr. John Marlay (Clive Brook). Conniving Deborah Kane (Evelyn Brent) sees Philip at a war memorial service and decides to blackmail Faith for bigamy. A murder takes place and the story becomes a who-done-it for the police to find out the perpetrator.
"Interference" began a cascade of talking pictures. The Film Spectator reviewer predicted "not only will all-talking pictures completely supplant silent pictures within a year, but in less than five years, they will supplant stage productions." "Interference's" competition that night in New York City was Al Jolson's part-singing, part-talkie 'The Singing Fool,' as well as the courtroom all-talkie (now lost) 'On Trial." The later was criticized for its sound quality and its actors looking uncomfortable gathering around hidden microphones.
"Interference," the second oldest all-talkie film to have survived, was released five months after the earliest one, June 1928's "The Lights of New York." Both movies' enormous financial successes are attributed to viewers' curiosity with the new format. By early spring of 1929 when studio personnel gained more experience working with the audio equipment, the quality of the all-talkies improved drastically. As one film historian wrote, "As others mastered talkie mystery, geniuses of a year before seemed not so ingenious anymore." Pomeroy, so cocky at his audio expertise on the set, demanded a further raise to $3,500 a week when Paramount offered him another directing assignment. The studio thought he was good, but not that good. Paramount let him walk by giving William DeMille, Cecil's brother, the director's chair instead. Pomeroy directed only two more films, 1930's 'Inside The Lines' and 1934's 'Shock,' an ignominious conclusion to an illustrious career.