Why are old movies sped up?

Answer 1

Three reasons. First, in the 1930s, 40s, and 50s people valued and admired certainty. Especially in the 30s and 40s, times were uncertain, but most people could remember calmer, more stable times. Talking fast conveyed certainty, confidence, clarity. Sometimes it even conveyed bravery. Second, there were no special effects to distract the audience, and people watching a movie could literally hang on every word. Talking fast contributed to the pace of the film. Don't forget, before television people would go to the movies every week (for a nickel) and often would see the same film five or six times. Snappy dialogue was one of the few available tools to get them to come back. Also, if an actor hesitated in delivering a line there was always the inference that he or she didn't know his or her lines, and would be a laughing stock. So, actors and actresses made a conscious effort to deliver their lines "in a professional manner." And third, in its early days film struggled as a medium with issues like the legitimacy of the art form, whether movie actors deserved the acclaim they were receiving, and how to compare the artistic value of a film performance to, say, a stage performance. Delivering lines to a theatrical audience requires a completely different set of skills than a film performance does. The danger, in moving from theater to the screen, is that a performance will be over-drawn. Chest-beating and emoting on stage is one thing; but in front of a camera it can be disastrous. Broad movements on stage, good. Even necessary. Broad movements on camera, silly. Even hammish. The solution is to go minimal, get quiet, and, well, talk faster. Actors needed to talk faster because their audience could fit inside a camera lens. Therefore their performance had to become more concentrated, more intimate.

Answer 2

The hand-cranked cameras ran at a speed slower than what was needed to make the motion seem normal. Paradoxically, the slower the film runs through a camera--given that the projector speed is constant--the faster the motion appears on screen. Contrariwise, when movies are shot in "slow motion," the film runs through the camera at faster than normal speeds.

Some old movies--silent comedies with chase scenes, for example--were shot deliberately at slower speeds so that the motion would seem fast and jerky: directors found that the comedic effect on the audience increased.