Iluminace 2025, 37(2):11-30 | DOI: 10.58193/ilu.1808

Fascinating Rhythm. The Screenwriting of Sound Symphonies for American and European Film of the 1930s

Claus Tieber ORCID...
Music and Arts University of the City of Vienna, Austria ✉

This paper examines the role of rhythm in screenwriting in the 1930s. By analyzing how the transformation to sound enhanced the musicality of screenplays, the study highlights the emergence of so-called “sound symphonies” and the rhythmic integration of noises in American and German films from that decade. Focusing on the development of this device from the advent of sound until the end of the 1930s, the article reflects how broader shifts in film production shaped screenplay notation practices. The Austrian screenwriter Walter Reisch, who had to migrate to the United States in 1936, serves as a guiding thread throughout this short history of the Sound Symphony. Analyzing several case studies reveals that the evolution of this device and its notation in screenplays was transnational and did not follow a linear path. While early sound films often featured the musicalization of noises as standalone musical numbers, later years saw these elements integrated into larger musical sequences. Despite this shift, screenplay notation continued to vary until the end of the decade, depending on production modes and filmmakers’ backgrounds. Ultimately, this investigation demonstrates that analysis of screenplays can offer valuable insights into film and production history.

Keywords: screenwriting history, sound film, film rhythm, film music, musical numbers

Received: March 7, 2025; Revised: August 28, 2025; Accepted: September 16, 2025; Published: November 10, 2025  Show citation

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Tieber, C. (2025). Fascinating Rhythm. The Screenwriting of Sound Symphonies for American and European Film of the 1930s. Iluminace, 37(2), 11-30. doi: 10.58193/ilu.1808
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