talking-picture
Definition
- Noun:
- A motion picture with synchronized sound: "talking-picture" refers to a film that includes spoken dialogue, music, and other sounds that are synchronized with the visual images, as opposed to a silent film.
- Historical term for early sound films: Specifically, it denotes the early sound films of the late 1920s and 1930s that marked the transition from silent cinema.
Usage Examples
- Noun:
- The Jazz Singer (1927) is widely considered the first successful talking-picture. (A film with synchronized sound that changed the movie industry.)
- My grandparents loved going to the cinema to see talking-pictures instead of silent films. (Early sound films that replaced silent movies.)
Advanced Usage
"to be a talking-picture": to describe a film that features spoken dialogue.
- By 1930, most Hollywood studios were producing only talking-pictures. (All new films had sound.)
"the age of the talking-picture": the historical period when sound films became dominant.
- The age of the talking-picture began in the late 1920s and forever changed entertainment. (The era of sound films.)
Variants and Related Words
Talkie (n): an informal, shortened form of "talking-picture".
- The early talkies were often crude in sound quality. (Informal term for early sound films.)
Sound film (n): a more modern and general term for a film with synchronized sound.
- Most films today are sound films, but some experimental works are silent. (A film with audio.)
Synonyms
- Sound film: a film with synchronized sound.
- Talkie: an informal synonym for "talking-picture".
Related Idioms
"to put on a talking-picture": to show or present a sound film.
- The theatre put on a talking-picture every Saturday night. (The theatre screened a sound film.)
"the talking-picture revolution": the major shift from silent to sound films.
- The talking-picture revolution rendered many silent-film actors obsolete. (The historical change in cinema.)