Musicals in particular proliferated during the early talkie era, partially because between-song, plot-driven narration could often be easily replaced with intertitles or, as in the case with MLVs, be reshot using local actors.
Many are still widely known to modern audiences, including Marlene Dietrich, Greta Garbo, Alfred Hitchcock, Buster Keaton, Fritz Lang and John Wayne.
Within a two-year period between 1929 and 1931 he oversaw the production of many of them for his top acts, including Laurel and Hardy, Charley Chase, Harry Langdon and Our Gang.
Some notable exceptions are Anna Christie (1930); The Blue Angel (1930); Dracula's Spanish-language incarnation, Drácula (1931); M (1931); The Threepenny Opera (1931) and various Laurel and Hardy films.
Within a few years the practice had peaked, largely because of the additional production complications and expenses incurred, along with improvements in dubbing and subtitling techniques.