Sound is awful

I have the Network dvd release (UK) special edition and i've noticed just how bad the sound is. Whilst i don't think the age of the film is of any help here i don't really think the problem is the film print itself but the technique used back in 1936. There are numerous times characters are standing too far away from the microphone to be heard properly(particularly the final third of the film set in 2036).

Numerous arty long and mid shots by the director that leave masses of room in front of or particularly above a characters head where the boom would usually be placed. You notice it particularly when the young man and woman that are selected to be sent on the mission round the moon walk into the room. The low angle of the camera coupled with their movement make the sound recording poor.

I know that sound on film was less than ten years old when this film was released but i was amazed by the amateurish nature of it, especially compared to other productions of the time. It may not necessarily be the sound recordists fault, the director must take some of the blame for not recognising that the microphone still needs to be hidden somewhere in shot or just off camera, and if the actor is standing on a sound stage with masses of head room and no props or furniture around them then the sound is going to suffer. I think the photography was too ambitous for these scenes if they wanted to record the dialogue on set. If the film had been shot silently then it wouldn't have been a problem, and microphone technology of the time was still fairly primitive.Dialogue should either have been dubbed in post production or the live sound should have been taken far more seriouslywhen planning the shots.

I would be curious to know if the negative and masters of this film still exist as the soundtrack definitely needs a proper remix to level things out.