Laraine Porter: How cinema transitioned to the '30s

Laraine Porter: How cinema transitioned to the '30s

From HippCast by The Hippodrome Silent Film Festival

November 27, 2025 · 52 min

About this episode

Laraine Porter discusses the pivotal transition of cinema from silent films to sound in the early 1930s.

We mark our 30th episode by inviting independent researcher Laraine Porter onto the podcast to chat with Digital Content Manager Christina about what was going on in the film world on either side of, you guessed it, 1930. The cusp of the 'thirties was a pivotal moment for cinema, with synchronised sound radically changing operations across production and exhibition. Previously loud and boisterous sets had to adapt to operating in silence, and picture houses across the world had to make way for a whole new technology. The discussion ranges from the 'talkies' to the 'singies' and the goat gland films, and considers why some stars ended up as casualties of this seismic revolution. Additional links: ⁠A selection of Laraine's Porter's writing on this subject⁠ ⁠Listen to Episode 23 to learn more about Hitchcock's (silent) heroines⁠ ⁠Watch 'Alma Reville: in the shadow of Hitchcock?'⁠ Read the full English transcript of this episode About the speaker: Laraine Porter is an independent researcher and Associate Fellow at DeMontfort University, University of Exeter and Bristol University. She was the co-founder and co-director of the British Silent FIlm Festival which ran between 1998 and…

People in this episode

Host: Christina

Guest: Laraine Porter

Topics covered

Keywords

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: DeMontfort University, University of Exeter, Bristol University, British Silent Film Festival

Books & works: Alma Reville: in the shadow of Hitchcock?

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