The Jazz Singer is a 1927 American part-talkie musical drama film directed by Alan Crosland and produced by Warner Bros. Pictures. It is the first feature-length motion picture with both synchronized recorded music and lip-synchronous singing and speech. Its release heralded the commercial ascendance of sound films and effectively marked the end of the silent film era with the Vitaphone sound-on-disc system, featuring six songs performed by Al Jolson. Based on the 1925 play of the same title by Samson Raphaelson, the plot was adapted from his short story "The Day of Atonement".
A sound film is a motion picture with synchronized sound, or sound technologically coupled to image, as opposed to a silent film. The first known public exhibition of projected sound films took place in Paris in 1900, but decades passed before sound motion pictures became commercially practical. Reliable synchronization was difficult to achieve with the early sound-on-disc systems, and amplification and recording quality were also inadequate. Innovations in sound-on-film led to the first commercial screening of short motion pictures using the technology, which took place in 1923. Before sound-on-film technology became viable, soundtracks for films was commonly played live with organs or pianos.
Patsy Ruth Miller was an American film actress who played Esméralda in The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1923) opposite Lon Chaney.
The Girl on the Barge is a 1929 American sound part-talkie drama film directed by Edward Sloman and starring Jean Hersholt and Sally O'Neil. In addition to sequences with audible dialogue or talking sequences, the film features a synchronized musical score, singing and sound effects along with English intertitles. The sound was recorded using the Western Electric Sound System process. The film was produced and distributed by Universal Pictures. The film was filmed in Whitehall, NY. The town is looking for a copy of the movie but it appears to no longer be extant.
Gang War is a 1928 American sound part-talkie gangster film directed by Bert Glennon, best known for being the main feature attached to Steamboat Willie, the debut of Mickey Mouse in sound. In addition to sequences with audible dialogue or talking sequences, the film features a synchronized musical score and sound effects along with English intertitles. The soundtrack was recorded using the RCA Photophone sound-on-film system. Despite the synchronised sound as well as the all-star cast, the film is largely unknown in its own right. One reel of an original 35mm positive print of nitrate film survives at the BFI film archive. The rest of the film appears to be lost. The film has been overshadowed by its far more famous preceding short, Steamboat Willie. The film starred Jack Pickford in his last major role as "Clyde", a saxophone player whose love for a dancer named Flowers traps him in the middle of a gang war.
Tiffany Pictures, which also became Tiffany-Stahl Productions for a time, was a Hollywood motion picture studio in operation from 1921 until 1932. It is considered a Poverty Row studio, whose films had lower budgets, lesser-known stars, and overall lower production values than major studios.
Lucky Boy is a 1929 American sound part-talkie musical comedy-drama film directed by Norman Taurog and Charles C. Wilson, most notable for starring George Jessel in his first known surviving feature picture. In addition to sequences with audible dialogue or talking sequences, the film features a synchronized musical score, singing and sound effects along with English intertitles. The sound was recorded using the Tiffany-Tone system using RCA Photophone equipment. The film's plot bore strong similarities to that of the hit 1927 film The Jazz Singer, which had originally been intended to star Jessel before Al Jolson took over the role.
The Doctor's Secret is a 1929 American drama film directed by William C. deMille and written by William C. deMille. The film stars Ruth Chatterton, H. B. Warner, John Loder, Robert Edeson, Wilfred Noy and Ethel Wales. It is based on the 1913 play Half an Hour by J. M. Barrie. The film was released on January 26, 1929, by Paramount Pictures. As part of the policy of multiple-language versions during the early sound era, a separate Swedish version was produced at the Joinville Studios in Paris and released the following year.
Mother Knows Best is a lost 1928 American sound part-talkie film directed by John G. Blystone, based on a novel by Edna Ferber, fictionalizing the life of vaudevillian Elsie Janis. The film was Fox's first part talkie, using the Movietone sound system which had primarily been used for synchronised music scores and effects tracks in Fox features beforehand, although as early as "Mother Machree" (1928), a single synchronous singing sequence was included in the film. The talking sequences in Mother Knows Best were directed by actor Charles Judels, while the synchronized sequences were directed by John G. Blystone. The film starred Madge Bellamy, with Louise Dresser as her domineering mother, Barry Norton, and Albert Gran.
Show Folks is a 1928 American part-talkie sound drama film directed by Paul L. Stein and starring Eddie Quillan, Lina Basquette, and Carole Lombard. Although the film featured a few sequences with audible dialogue, the majority of the film had a synchronized musical score with sound effects. The film was released in both the sound-on-disc and sound-on-film format.
Marianne is a 1929 pre-Code romantic-musical film set at the end of World War I. Marianne is French farm girl who, although her French fiancé is away, fighting, falls in love with an American soldier. It is a remake of a silent film that was released earlier in 1929. Although the films feature mostly different casts, Marion Davies starred in both versions. This was Davies' first released talking movie. The pictures were released less than eleven years after the Armistice, and the title would have had a profound meaning for European audiences. “Marianne” has been a beloved personification of France and the battle for democracy—and the courage of French women in particular—since the Revolution. She was a key figure in French propaganda, and American men who served in Europe in 1917-1918 would have seen representations of her all around them, in public buildings, on posters and in newspapers, on coins and postage stamps.
The Lone Wolf's Daughter is a lost 1929 feature part-talkie sound film. While the film had a few sequences with audible dialog, the majority of the film featured a synchronized musical score with sound effects using both the sound-on-disc and sound-on-film process. It was directed by Albert S. Rogell and stars Bert Lytell. It was produced and distributed by Columbia Pictures.
The Little Wildcat is a 1928 American sound part-talkie comedy drama directed by Ray Enright and starring Audrey Ferris, James Murray and Robert Edeson. In addition to sequences with audible dialogue or talking sequences, the film features a synchronized musical score and sound effects along with English intertitles. The soundtrack was recorded using the Vitaphone sound-on-disc system.
The Sap is a 1929 American sound part-talkie comedy film directed by Archie Mayo and written by De Leon Anthony and Robert Lord. In addition to sequences with audible dialogue or talking sequences, the film features a synchronized musical score and sound effects along with English intertitles. The soundtrack was recorded using the Vitaphone sound-on-disc system. The film is based on the 1924 play The Sap by William A. Grew. The film stars Edward Everett Horton, Alan Hale Sr., Patsy Ruth Miller, Russell Simpson, Jerry Mandy and Edna Murphy. The film was released by Warner Bros. on November 9, 1929. This film was the last "part-talkie" produced by the studio.
Molly and Me is a 1929 sound part-talkie American comedy film directed by Albert Ray. In addition to sequences with audible dialogue or talking sequences, the film features a synchronized musical score and sound effects along with English intertitles. The soundtrack was recorded using the Tiffany-Tone sound system. The film stars Belle Bennett, Joe E. Brown and Alberta Vaughn.
Two Men and a Maid is a 1929 American sound part-talkie romantic drama film directed by George Archainbaud and starring William Collier Jr., Alma Bennett and Eddie Gribbon. In addition to sequences with audible dialogue or talking sequences, the film features a synchronized musical score and sound effects along with English intertitles. The soundtrack was recorded using the Tiffany-Tone sound-on-film system using RCA Photophone equipment.
New Orleans is a 1929 American sound part-talkie drama film directed by Reginald Barker and starring Ricardo Cortez, William Collier Jr., Alma Bennett. In addition to sequences with audible dialogue or talking sequences, the film features a synchronized musical score and sound effects along with English intertitles. The soundtrack was recorded using the Tiffany-Tone sound-on-film system using RCA Photophone equipment. The was produced and distributed by the independent Tiffany Pictures.
My Lady's Past is a 1929 American sound part-talkie drama film directed by Albert Ray and starring Belle Bennett, Joe E. Brown and Alma Bennett. In addition to sequences with audible dialogue or talking sequences, the film features a synchronized musical score and sound effects along with English intertitles. The soundtrack was recorded using the Tiffany-Tone sound-on-film system using RCA Photophone equipment. After completing his first novel, a writer abandons his wife for his secretary. The film survives at BFI/National Film And Television Archive.
Midstream is a 1929 American sound part-talkie science fiction film directed by James Flood and starring Ricardo Cortez, Claire Windsor, and Montagu Love. In addition to sequences with audible dialogue or talking sequences, the film features a synchronized musical score and sound effects along with English intertitles. The soundtrack was recorded using the Tiffany-Tone sound-on-film system using RCA Photophone equipment.
Whispering Winds is a 1929 American sound part-talkie pre-Code drama film directed by James Flood and starring Patsy Ruth Miller, Malcolm McGregor and Eve Southern. In addition to sequences with audible dialogue or talking sequences, the film features a synchronized musical score and sound effects along with English intertitles. The soundtrack was recorded using the Tiffany-Tone sound-on-film system using RCA Photophone equipment.
