Final answer:
The article by Truffaut criticizing French cinema is 'A Certain Tendency of French Cinema.' The first successful talking motion picture is 'The Jazz Singer,' and the novel satirizing American middle-class conformity is 'Babbitt.'
Step-by-step explanation:
The article written by François Truffaut, criticizing mainstream French cinema or 'the tradition of quality,' is titled A Certain Tendency of French Cinema. This influential essay was published in 1954 in the respected film magazine Cahiers du cinéma, where Truffaut was a critic. In the essay, Truffaut argued against the prevailing style of French filmmaking at the time, which he felt was characterized by its reliance on literary adaptations, overly polished aesthetics, and lack of personal vision from the directors. According to Truffaut, the 'tradition of quality' stifled innovation and the incorporation of a more personal and auteur-driven approach to cinema, an approach that he and his peers would go on to champion as part of the French New Wave movement.
Answering the other questions related to the literary and cinema movements of their respective eras:
- The first successful talking motion picture released in 1927 was C. The Jazz Singer.
- The novel that satirized the conformity of the American middle class is D. Babbitt, written by Sinclair Lewis.