We maintain sound has a place in the pictures of tomorrow. Producers
have to learn ichat that place is.
MAURICE KANN, Film Daily, 1 APRIL 1928

We have unlimited variety in a motion picture. Unity is the quality desired, the thing to strive for, as no notion picture can qualify as a
meritorious work of art without it.
JOHN F. SEITZ, Cinematographic Annual 1930

For decades the myth was that Hollywood was in a state of equilibrium that the coming of sound disrupted. In John Seitz's thinking, sound had introduced potentially divisive "variety" and now it was necessary to restore "unity." Unquestionably, sound had caused decisive changes in the way films were produced. Throughout the twenties Hollywood had achieved efficiency, predictability, and sustained economic success by developing standard practices which were applied to acting, storytelling, photography, editing...