American accents in 1930s
Sat, 22 Oct 2005, 03:20 pmWalter Plinge3 posts in thread
American accents in 1930s
Sat, 22 Oct 2005, 03:20 pmhi I take drama in high school and one of my asignments at the moment is to create a soap opera performance for theatre. My 5 friends and I have decided to do something different so we are having our play set in 1939 during the war between america and Japan. Rather than it being about the men at war it is about the women's lives and how they are affected by the men being away and dying, at this time they are working in a munitions factory (making weapons and bombs).
Our characters are all different but we all speak american in the 1930 to 1940s style (i have also heard there were a lot of immigrants living in america mainly from ireland and england, would this affect the accent of our characters?). Does anyone know how to do these accents? how and does anyone know any films that are on video/dvd that show the accents? HELP! I have no idea how to do these accents.
Our characters are all different but we all speak american in the 1930 to 1940s style (i have also heard there were a lot of immigrants living in america mainly from ireland and england, would this affect the accent of our characters?). Does anyone know how to do these accents? how and does anyone know any films that are on video/dvd that show the accents? HELP! I have no idea how to do these accents.
Walter PlingeSat, 22 Oct 2005, 03:20 pm
hi I take drama in high school and one of my asignments at the moment is to create a soap opera performance for theatre. My 5 friends and I have decided to do something different so we are having our play set in 1939 during the war between america and Japan. Rather than it being about the men at war it is about the women's lives and how they are affected by the men being away and dying, at this time they are working in a munitions factory (making weapons and bombs).
Our characters are all different but we all speak american in the 1930 to 1940s style (i have also heard there were a lot of immigrants living in america mainly from ireland and england, would this affect the accent of our characters?). Does anyone know how to do these accents? how and does anyone know any films that are on video/dvd that show the accents? HELP! I have no idea how to do these accents.
Our characters are all different but we all speak american in the 1930 to 1940s style (i have also heard there were a lot of immigrants living in america mainly from ireland and england, would this affect the accent of our characters?). Does anyone know how to do these accents? how and does anyone know any films that are on video/dvd that show the accents? HELP! I have no idea how to do these accents.
Walter PlingeFri, 2 Dec 2005, 10:15 pm
Re: American accents in 1930s
Hi Joanna,
First off the American accent you hear in most films today is not all that far off from the accent it was in the '30's. If you wanted to add a few characters with a bit of a twang in either the English or Irish accents I would suggest the following films:
Pearl Harbour (since it's set in the time period and has American accent)
Far and Away (Nicole Kidman and Tom Cruise, set near the '30's with Irish accents)
any other film made in perhaps the '40's, try Dark Passage, Key Largo, or any of those type of Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall movies.
Does that help?
First off the American accent you hear in most films today is not all that far off from the accent it was in the '30's. If you wanted to add a few characters with a bit of a twang in either the English or Irish accents I would suggest the following films:
Pearl Harbour (since it's set in the time period and has American accent)
Far and Away (Nicole Kidman and Tom Cruise, set near the '30's with Irish accents)
any other film made in perhaps the '40's, try Dark Passage, Key Largo, or any of those type of Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall movies.
Does that help?
Walter PlingeSat, 3 Dec 2005, 11:29 pm
Re: American accents in 1930s
The American accent of the 1930s depends more on where you set the soap opera. In the North East, there was a large tendency for a slightly British or Irish pronunciation. In the South, a southern drawl (though not nearly as harsh of one as in Gone with the Wind). On the West coast I think it would be more common to how we sound today. If you have a more specific location in mind, let me know and I'll try to give you a better idea of what you're looking at in terms of accents.
Ashley
(presently stuck in the states)
Ashley
(presently stuck in the states)