accent
Anyone know why at that time characters had that fake English kind of accent? Very strange
shareI think it was part of their "upper-crust" persona.
"I like to think you killed a man...it's the romantic in me."
MovieChat Forums > The Women (1939) Discussion > accent
It's not a fake English accent, it was just the most common accent and dialect of that time. It was considered low class to pronounce the letter "r," and the lack of pronouncing it makes it more similar to English dialects from Britain. Since that time, the "elite" dialect has changed and now the lack of pronouncing the letter "r" is considered LOW class. Funny.
I'm a Linguistics major and accents are my niche ... I tried to contain my ramblings, though. :)
You are cool, Mr. or Ms. Linguistics Major! I'm not an eduacated anything but I do like accents and I'm not bad at distinguishing them. Rock on!
share[deleted]
Lucy Ricardo (and I am sure Lucille Ball) always pronounced "wonderful" as "wondahfull," in a faux high-brow sort of way. Perhaps the same thing.
shareWilliam F. Buckley had that same "received" accent. "Received" English is the English we today associate with aristocratic English of England, but that accent is a 19th Century contrivance - taught as a manufactured idiom in England's public schools. Hence, its adoption in America as emblem of the upper crust. . . . because let's face it, even the most articulate American watches his grammar in the presence of a received English speaker from the mother country. Yet today, this particular affectation in America is rare and dying, as are accents generally in the USA - at least for the educated. It's just plain flat "anchorman English." And if you drop your "r's" today, that means you're from working class Boston or New York (similar versions in San Francisco and New Orleans are dead).
shareYou offered a terrific explanation with interesting historical anecdotes. LOL, I had forgot all about Buckley! Thanks.
What, just for once in your life can't you be serious?
Yet today, this particular affectation in America is rare and dying, as are accents generally in the USA - at least for the educated. It's just plain flat "anchorman English."
No truer or wiser words could you have used to get the point across. You are absolutely right, and it's so sad! I would take the way they spoke back then to today's "anchorman English" any day! In fact, it's music to my hears and the accent lends itself to create a mature sound that is sharply lacking today---it's one of the big reasons I watch movies from the "golden age" way more often than I watch any made after---because I can't stand the way we've all but totally lost that more mature sound. Today, even moms and dads in movies, unless they are in their 60s or so, sound like young, immature teenagers!
Another reason I scarcely watch the movies of today (aside from the fact that I generally hate the way the actresses act, look, and sound---like nails on a chalkboard!) is that as accomplished as today's big stars might be, I find that they cannot pull off that accent convincingly, when a role calls for it.
For example, just last year, Kate Winslet starred in the mini-series adaptation of "Mildred Peirce" (a role first played by Joan Crawford in the 1945 movie version). The story opens in the 1930s and continues on into the 1940s, as far as I understand it. Well, I must admit that after the first episode, I couldn't watch anymore! Cause it was impossible not to notice that Winslet seemed like she was either not trying or incapable of sounding like anything other than a 21st century woman. Her voice and her accent just did not fit the role. Because whether people like to believe it or not, we didn't sound the same 60, 70, or 80 years ago! And, it is a tragedy, imo.
Please excuse typos/funny wording; I use speech-recognition that doesn't always recognize! share
They weren't FAKE English accents. Their dialect was the perfect elocution of the dialects of all well bred, East Coast Society women. That is the way they sounded, up to about the 1960s.
Not strange, at all.
What, just for once in your life can't you be serious?
Madonna affects the same accent.
shareMadonna affects the same accent.
LOL, hardly. She tries awfully hard but alas, NO!
What, just for once in your life can't you be serious?
OK, you're right. . . TRIES to! )
shareAlas, alias?
shareAlas, alias?
That was pretty awful, wasn't it? Thanks for pointing that out! Correction, noted.
Back to the topic at hand; now that Madonna has left Guy, and England, I think she's back to sporting the old "American Detroit" tone. It is all rather comical.
What, just for once in your life can't you be serious?
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My friend thought the same thing watching this movie. They were just doing proper diction at the time. I don't know why people consider that an "English" accent.
"You might very well think that; I couldn't possibly comment."
Many actors in that era had a 'Transatlantic' or 'mid-Atlantic' accent which is a combination of an English and educated American accent. They were taught to speak in that manner by the studio voice coaches. Those accents were used when working but they often used their real accents at home. One of the last to have this type of 'sophisticated' accents is Lauren Bacall. Miss Bacall's accent is 100% manufactured but it sounds great. Cary Grant also had a mid-Atlantic accent but being born in the UK his was more English than American.
share[deleted]
Have you ever heard Eleanor Roosevelt speak?
That was the way WASPS educated by English nannies and in élite Eastern preparatory schools spoke.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=9yzakVOdh6k
Scostatevi profani! Melpomene son io...
Actually, given that The Women was made in the mid-1930s, it was still quite common for Americans to have a hint of "Englishness" in their accents. Studio voice training had something to do with it too, but much is also due to the era. Accents in America change moderately from decade to decade, so actors in a movie that was made 70 years ago are going to sound drastically different to us today, even though they were American actors. William Powell and John Barrymore are a couple of examples of American actors who had hints of "English" in their accents.