Deborah Cartmell is Professor of English and Director of the Centre for Adaptations at De Montfort University, UK, founder and co-editor of the international journals Shakespeare and Adaptation, founder and former Chair of the Association of Adaptation Studies.

Adaptation studies thrive amongst the complex and fertile interactions of writing, theatre and film. Disciplinary boundaries, professional territorialism and critical conventions often impede our access to the truth about those cultural relationships. Deborah Cartmell’s new book provokes us to dismantle barriers, disown vested interests and think again about the written and spoken word and their screen manifestations. Using the transition from silent to sound movies as a test-case, Cartmell demonstrates, with erudition, acumen and penetrating theoretical insight, that screen adaptations need to be explained by their economic, political, social and cultural entanglements, and not as separable ‘works’ of literature, drama or film.

• Chapter 1: Introduction: Early Reactions to Sound Adaptations Chapter 2: The Taming of the Shrew (1929) and the First Adaptation of ShakespeareChapter 3: Sound Shakespeares in the 1930sChapter 4: Sound Dickens in the 1930sChapter 5: Sound and Early 1930s Biopics: Disraeli (1929), The Private Life of Henry VIII (1933), Cleopatra (1934), The Barretts of Wimpole Street (1934)Chapter 6: Sound and the Gothic Survival of 1931 Chapter 7: Conclusion: The Sound Adaptation GenreReferences: Key Critical Works and a List of Adaptations

Deborah Cartmell is Professor of English and Director of the Centre for Adaptations at De Montfort University, UK, founder and co-editor of the international journals Shakespeare and Adaptation, founder and former Chair of the Association of Adaptation Studies.

Adaptation studies thrive amongst the complex and fertile interactions of writing, theatre and film. Disciplinary boundaries, professional territorialism and critical conventions often impede our access to the truth about those cultural relationships. Deborah Cartmell’s new book provokes us to dismantle barriers, disown vested interests and think again about the written and spoken word and their screen manifestations. Using the transition from silent to sound movies as a test-case, Cartmell demonstrates, with erudition, acumen and penetrating theoretical insight, that screen adaptations need to be explained by their economic, political, social and cultural entanglements, and not as separable ‘works’ of literature, drama or film.

• Chapter 1: Introduction: Early Reactions to Sound Adaptations Chapter 2: The Taming of the Shrew (1929) and the First Adaptation of ShakespeareChapter 3: Sound Shakespeares in the 1930sChapter 4: Sound Dickens in the 1930sChapter 5: Sound and Early 1930s Biopics: Disraeli (1929), The Private Life of Henry VIII (1933), Cleopatra (1934), The Barretts of Wimpole Street (1934)Chapter 6: Sound and the Gothic Survival of 1931 Chapter 7: Conclusion: The Sound Adaptation GenreReferences: Key Critical Works and a List of Adaptations

Deborah Cartmell is Professor of English and Director of the Centre for Adaptations at De Montfort University, UK, founder and co-editor of the international journals Shakespeare and Adaptation, founder and former Chair of the Association of Adaptation Studies.

Adaptation studies thrive amongst the complex and fertile interactions of writing, theatre and film. Disciplinary boundaries, professional territorialism and critical conventions often impede our access to the truth about those cultural relationships. Deborah Cartmell’s new book provokes us to dismantle barriers, disown vested interests and think again about the written and spoken word and their screen manifestations. Using the transition from silent to sound movies as a test-case, Cartmell demonstrates, with erudition, acumen and penetrating theoretical insight, that screen adaptations need to be explained by their economic, political, social and cultural entanglements, and not as separable ‘works’ of literature, drama or film.

• Chapter 1: Introduction: Early Reactions to Sound Adaptations Chapter 2: The Taming of the Shrew (1929) and the First Adaptation of ShakespeareChapter 3: Sound Shakespeares in the 1930sChapter 4: Sound Dickens in the 1930sChapter 5: Sound and Early 1930s Biopics: Disraeli (1929), The Private Life of Henry VIII (1933), Cleopatra (1934), The Barretts of Wimpole Street (1934)Chapter 6: Sound and the Gothic Survival of 1931 Chapter 7: Conclusion: The Sound Adaptation GenreReferences: Key Critical Works and a List of Adaptations