British Received English vs American Proper Speech

 

We know about British Received Pronunciation (RP): Neutral and caracteristic pronunciation of the so-called upper classes, whatever that may mean. 

If you watch American films like "Gone witht the Wind", "Rebecca,"  "All Quiet on the Western Front," you´ll hear actors speak a sort of American-British accent that became popular from the beginning of the talkies until the sixties. Humphrey Bogart, Cary Grant, Spencer Tracy, Katharine Hepburn... all spoke "proper speech," also known  as "Mid-Atlantic accent," a mixture of  American and British RP used by the 20th Century upper class and the Hollywood Industry. Its use declined after the Second World War. But the obsession for judging people by their accents has not. Cf. Harvard accent. 

When I see someone approaching me, his/her clothes don´t say much about them, but when they open their mouths, in either English or Spanish... I get a truckload of information just by hearing a few words.  Try and figure out what that means.