The Talkies offers readers a rare look at the time when sound was a vexing challenge for filmmakers and the source of contentious debate for audiences and critics. Donald Crafton presents a panoramic view of the talkies' reception as well as in-depth looks at sound design in selected films, filmmaking practices, censorship, issues of race, and the furious debate over cinema aesthetics that erupted once the movies began to speak. "[A] masterful delineation of the cultural-intellectual climate into which the sound film was inserted. . . . Crafton's analysis contributes not just to film history but to cultural studies more generally with its concern with the way ordinary consumers make use of their culture. . . . "The Talkies is quite simply a wonderful book. It takes its place among the very top works of American film history."--Dana Polan, "Film Quarterly " The Talkies is a valuable addition to a distinguished series especially important because it deals with one of the most eventful periods in motion picture history. Crafton's scholarship is impressive, and he has produced a readable book that's sure to become a standard reference." James Naremore, author of More than Night " The Talkies is a valuable addition to a distinguished series―especially important because it deals with one of the most eventful periods in motion picture history. Crafton's scholarship is impressive, and he has produced a readable book that's sure to become a standard reference."―James Naremore, author of More than Night Donald Crafton is Chair of the Department of Film, Television, and Theatre at the University of Notre Dame. He is the author of Before Mickey: The Animated Film , 1898-1928 (1993) and Emile Cohl, Caricature, and Film (1990).