Motion picture acting

Language commentator Geoff Nunberg considers why actors adopt foreign or regional accents in film -- and why they sometimes speak in their natural voice, regardless of the part they play.

Language commentator Geoff Nunberg considers why actors adopt foreign or regional accents in film -- and why they sometimes speak in their natural voice, regardless of the part they play.

Linguist Geoffrey Nunberg examines the curious speech rules that Hollywood uses when it casts biblical era epics. (Rebroadcast. Original date 4/29/87).

Language commentator Geoff Nunberg considers why actors adopt foreign or regional accents in film -- and why they sometimes speak in their natural voice, regardless of the part they play. (REBROADCAST FROM 04/29/1987)

Language commentator Geoff Nunberg considers why actors adopt foreign or regional accents in film -- and why they sometimes speak in their natural voice, regardless of the part they play. (Rebroadcast)

She was the mother of director Martin Scorsese, who cast her in several of his movies. Catherine died this past Monday at the age of 84.