As I predicted, Sgt. Mom got the last one without breaking a sweat.

This one should be MUCH more challenging:

To what Hollywood bigshot can this infamous quote (concerning the proponents of “talkies”) be attributed?

They fail to take into account the international language of the silent pictures. And the unconscious share of each onlooker in creating the play, the action, the plot and the imagined dialogue, for himself.

(from an AP story of 9/03/1926)

BTW: I have to agree with our subject. There is a quality to silent films, shared with radio drama and books, in that, by compelling one to use their own imagination, the story becomes more engrossing and enriching.