Those Movie Trailers Didn’t Always Talk

Given the plethora of writings on esoteric film subjects over the last couple of decades, it’s surprising no one seems to have done a study of trailers. Hence the historical error in your article on the subject (“Naked Trailers,” Aug. 25).

Coming attractions go back to the early ‘20s, if not earlier. Examples of silent trailers, gleaned from outtakes separated by title cards, exist in a number of archives, as does a sound trailer for “The Jazz Singer.”

The sound trailer was an offshoot of the development of the optical printer and improved duplicating film stock in the early ‘30s, which made possible not only the use of dupes of actual scenes used in films but also superimposed titles and fancy “wipes” and other optical effects.

Incidentally, your article seemed to imply that today’s trailers are better than those of the past. Having had occasion recently to look at a large number of trailers from the ‘30s through the ‘70s, I have to disagree. I saw many more enticing trailers for films I hadn’t seen and might not have been inclined to see from the past, whereas current trailers often discourage me from seeing films.

RICK MITCHELL

Los Angeles