Grain was a real problem with film - especially 35mm. Some photographers who wanted to work in 35mm just began to accept it. Some even said that it was equivalent to an artist's brush strokes. After a while, a grainy looking B&W was sometimes seen as "gritty" and, depending on the subject, some thought it more expressive. But grain was always a consequence of the limitations of the film process.
Some, me included, fought grain most of the time and used larger formats to minimize grain - as well as to achieve smoother tones and colors. I came to the conclusion that sharp but as minimal as possible grain was preferable to chemically induce softening of grain because you also lost sharpness with grain reduction. I used Agfa Rodinal for my film developer because it produced crisp images and clear grain. I used 6x7 and 4x5 to minimize grain and rarely shot in 35mm unless absolutely needed. As a little aside, I have watched magazine art directors look at my 35mm and 6x7 chromes side by side on a light table and almost disrespectfully brush the 35mm aside. Given a similar subject and treatment, the larger chrome would always get selected.
Edward Weston, Brett Weston, Ansel Adams, Paul Caponigro, Wynn Bullock, and a whole raft of legendary 20th century masters spent a good deal of effort controlling grain and used larger formats for the increased IQ and reduced grain. Before them, the Pictorialist school of photographers (Gertrude Kasebier, Laura Gilpin, ect.) used grain and soft focus to get emotional results - much like impressionist paintings. BTW if you don't know the work of these photographers, you should. Most larger public libraries have extensive photography books collections and every photographer should know the history and the luminaries of the field - especially those who only came of age during the digital age.
Film has a certain charm but one of the attractions of digital in my mind is it's total lack of grain (digital noise and film grain DO NOT look the same) which is why it always puzzles me when digital photographers artificially introduce grain into their images. But that's a case of each to his own. Long winded answer complete, rant over.
