Why Do People In Old Movies Talk Weird?

It’s not quite British, and it’s not quite American – so what gives? Why do all those actors of yesteryear have such a distinct and strange accent?

If you’ve ever heard old movies or newsreels from the thirties or forties, then you’ve probably heard that weird old-timey voice.

It sounds a little like a blend between American English and a form of British English. So what is this cadence, exactly?

This type of pronunciation is called the Transatlantic, or Mid-Atlantic, accent. And it isn’t like most other accents – instead of naturally evolving, the Transatlantic accent was acquired. This means that people in the United States were taught to speak in this voice. Historically Transatlantic speech was the hallmark of aristocratic America and theatre. In upper-class boarding schools across New England, students learned the Transatlantic accent as an international norm for communication, similar to the way posh British society used Received Pronunciation – essentially, the way the Queen and aristocrats are taught to speak.

It has several quasi-British elements, such a lack of rhoticity. This means that Mid-Atlantic speakers dropped their “r’s” at the end of words like “winner” or “clear”. They’ll also use softer, British vowels – “dahnce” instead of “dance”, for instance. Another thing that stands out is the emphasis on clipped, sharp t’s. In American English we often pronounce the “t” in words like “writer” and “water” as d’s. Transatlantic speakers will hit that T like it stole something. “Writer.” “Water.”

But, again, this speech pattern isn’t completely British, nor completely American. Instead, it’s a form of English that’s hard to place… and that’s part of why Hollywood loved it.

There’s also a theory that technological constraints helped Mid-Atlantic’s popularity. According to Professor Jay O’Berski, this nasally, clipped pronunciation is a vestige from the early days of radio. Receivers had very little bass technology at the time, and it was very difficult – if not impossible – to hear bass tones on your home device. Now we live in an age where bass technology is booms from the trunks of cars across America.

So what happened to this accent? Linguist William Labov notes that Mid-Atlantic speech fell out of favor after World War II, as fewer teachers continued teaching the pronunciation to their students. That’s one of the reasons this speech sounds so ‘old-timey’ to us today: when people learn it, they’re usually learning it for acting purposes, rather than for everyday use. However, we can still hear the effects of Mid-Atlantic speech in recordings of everyone from Katherine Hepburn to Franklin D. Roosevelt and, of course, countless films, newsreels and radio shows from the 30s and 40s.

SOURCES:

[TonyDupre]

You look like you're about to go bowling

[scenepunk]

I just thought everyone talked like that back then.

[kalandarkclaw]

If you notice they also spoke very fast because film was expensive. Get those lines out quick and don't make mistakes or you hurt the budget

[Joe-poxn]

"Heck yeah, drop that bass!"

1940's radio: *silence*

[alecmcjarison]

The trick to nailing this accent is to say "see" after, well everything

[freedomfitness]

My husband talks like this all the time, just to entertain himself!

[AmeshaSpentaArmaiti]

This has literally bothered me since I was in middle school. It was straight up disturbing. I thought it was just how old microphones made everyone sound and I just couldn't pick it out irl.

[ironcladranchandforge]

I remember when my Grandparents (born late 1800's, early 1900's) would sometimes use the word "why" at the beginning of a sentence. For example, if I asked them what it was like in the old days on the farm they might say, "why, we didn't have electricity and used wagons". I noticed this in old movies from the 1930's and 1940's as well.

[phoenixwiseman]

Hit that 't' like it stole something

[vafon]

2108 ： Why Do People In Old Internet Talk Weird?

[XanderEwald]

Mid-Atlantic is actually still commonly requested for Engiish voice-overs in Europe. Clients think that by using an accent that can’t be located, they can use one version of their TVC or Internet ad in all English-speaking markets and don’t have to record separate versions for UK, US, AUS etc. It usually results in a voice-over that sounds weird for all markets, but clients still keep demanding it, and voice talent offer it.

[KTheFirst]

One thing my Dad has always complained about these old movies is that they usually seem to speak so fast it's hard to keep track. And now it's gone the other way, where a lot of movies - usually dramas - will have the dialogue be so low and soft he can barely hear them.

[king_big_pp]

I remember seeing bloopers from a movie in the 30s. An actor messed up his lines, so he laughed and spoke to everyone in what sounded like our modern American accent. Watching that clip blew my freaking mind.

[odietamo]

Maybe the speed or the accent was acted, but I never have had trouble understanding old movies because they were recorded in a way that was clearer and sharper than many films or television series now, which are so muddy and bass heavy. I also like films from the 30s and 40s, among other reasons, because they remind me of my late father, born in 1912. He didn’t speak with a Mid-Atlantic accent, or especially fast, but he did use a lot of slang and expressions that I hear in 30s movies. It’s a delight whenever I hear a character in an old film suddenly use slang I remember from my dad.

[Me-wkdz]

I always thought the accent sounded cool, particularly when it was spoken with a deep voice

[AdamCharlton]

People in old movies don't talk weird, people NOW talk weird see?!

[richardtheconquerer]

This still doesn't explain why they spoke 100 miles an hour

[tedwojtasik]

That was fantastic my good man. Quick, concise, and entertaining. BULLY!!!

[totallyunmemorable]

His Girl Friday is a great movie. Cary Grant and Rosalind Russell were so good together. Amazing writing where the dialog is concerned. The very definition of "witty repartee". So many fantastic movies were made in the Forties.

[coljdwilx]

Carrie Fisher used the accent as Princess Leia in the first Star Wars movie.