Warning: SPOILERS for Downton Abbey: A New Era
Though the remarkably detailed Old Hollywood themes in Downton Abbey: A New Era distinguish the film from its predecessor, there remain inaccuracies in its depiction of movie history. There is information either left out or glossed over where this Downton Abbey sequel could have instead delved more into the specifics of pre-Hays Code era filmmaking. While the film captures the glamour of early cinema, it doesn't fully grasp the underbelly of the industry and its challenging period of transition between silent pictures and talkies.
Downton Abbey: A New Era introduces new characters in the form of successful film stars, crew, and director Jack Barber (played by NBC Hannibal's Hugh Dancy). Barber comes to Downton in hopes of filming his next silent picture there but trouble brews when his production company sends word that they'll only be accepting talking pictures. Downton Abbey's second film sequel persists in revealing the turbulent ins and outs of the quick transition period between silent film and talkies, as films with audible dialogue were called back in the 1920s-30s. Lady Mary gets herself caught up in the production by having to voice over Myrna Dalgleish's dialogue since she does not have a voice fit for the role. Barber's film is successfully shot and Myrna and her co-star Guy Dexter leave Downton with uncertain expectations of where their newfound careers in talkies will take them.
While Jack Barber's frustration over the technicalities of his film being turned into a talkie reflects the attitudes of filmmakers in the 1920s, starring Gene Kelly narratively emulates these issues with actors accustomed to silent film forgetting to direct their mouths towards their microphones. As a result, the audio for those films fluctuated in pitch and audibility unless the director allowed more takes which they often didn't have the funds for back then. In Downton Abbey: A New Era, audio recorded for these silent films is clear and coherent which poorly reflects the bad quality of early cinema technology. The ease shown by these inexperienced actors manually syncing up their voiced dialogue with the original silent reel is also an over-exaggeration of perfection that rarely existed in Old Hollywood audio recording sessions.
In Downton Abbey: A New Era Lady Mary is told by Jack Barber of the first few talkies to be released which are actual examples of transition films with negative reception due to their substandard production. The scene contains missing historical information, however, as he and Mary discuss how The Jazz Singer isn't the first legitimate all-talking picture with only a few minutes of audible dialogue. Barber notes the first all-talking picture released in Britain is The Terror which is true, but the actual first all-talking picture released is a film called Lights of New York. The 1928 crime drama's reception reflects the society's attitudes toward talkies then, entranced yet skeptical about their longevity. A New Era shows the dismissive attitude of older generations in relation to talkies but doesn't fully grasp the negativity these films stirred and romanticizes the floundering Hollywood process in the 1920s.
While the Hollywood focus adds a joyous atmosphere to the new Downton sequel, the film fails to represent the truths about movie history. Despite his frazzled persona, Jack Barber deals with little resistance in his efforts to turn his silent picture into a talkie. Downton Abbey: A New Era makes an effort to portray the history of film properly but leaves out integral information and representation that would have made it fully accurate.
