NAPISY NA EKRANACH KIN II RZECZYPOSPOLITEJ
POLISH SUBTITLING IN THE 1930S

Summary/Abstract: This article presents the results of an archival study on Polish subtitling of pre-WWII films (until 1939). The main focus will be on the technical aspects of subtitling in Poland in the 1930s, such as the number of lines, number of characters per line, and subtitle display times. We will show the development of Polish film translation in its initial phase. In our article, we will present previously unpublished pictures of early film subtitles, which come from original archival research. Contrary to some previous claims, film translation did not start with the introduction of sound in films – which occurred in Poland in the 1929/30 cinema season. Prior to that, in the silent cinema period, intertitles were a tested way of delivering content to the viewer. And these silent movies’ intertitles were translated. Copies of various foreign films have even been preserved with Polish intertitle translation rather than the original intertitles. Imitating intertitles in silent films, subtitles began to appear in films with sound and dialogue. These were “inserted subtitles” – between scene edits. Only later were subtitles burnt into the image, which began modern film subtitling.

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