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".
Dame Emma Hamilton, known upon moving to London as Emma Hart, and upon marriage as Lady Hamilton, was an English maid, model, dancer and actress. She began her career in London's demi-monde, becoming the mistress of a series of wealthy men, culminating in the naval hero Lord Nelson, and was the favourite model and muse of the portraitist George Romney.
Vitaphone was a sound film system used for feature films and nearly 1,000 short subjects made by Warner Bros. and its sister studio First National from 1926 to 1931. Vitaphone is the last major analog sound-on-disc system and the only one that was widely used and commercially successful. The soundtrack is not printed on the film, but issued separately on phonograph records. The discs, recorded at 33+1⁄3 rpm and typically 16 inches (41 cm) in diameter, are played on a turntable physically coupled to the projector motor while the film is projected. Its frequency response is 4300 Hz. Many early talkies, such as The Jazz Singer (1927), used the Vitaphone system. The name "Vitaphone" derived from the Latin and Greek words, respectively, for "living" and "sound".
Nathaniel Shilkret was an American musician, composer, conductor and musical director.
Sonny Boy is a 1929 sound part-talkie film released by Warner Bros., directed by Archie Mayo. 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 stars Davey Lee, Edward Everett Horton, and Betty Bronson.
That Hamilton Woman, also known as Lady Hamilton, is a 1941 black-and-white historical film drama produced and directed by Alexander Korda for his British company during his exile in the United States. Set during the Napoleonic Wars, the film tells the story of the rise and fall of Emma Hamilton, dance-hall girl and courtesan, who married Sir William Hamilton, British ambassador to the Kingdom of Naples, and later became Admiral Horatio Nelson's mistress.
Don Juan is a 1926 synchronized sound American romantic adventure film directed by Alan Crosland. It is the first feature-length film to utilize the Vitaphone sound-on-disc sound system with a synchronized musical score and sound effects, though it has no spoken dialogue. The film is inspired by Lord Byron's 1821 epic poem of the same name. The screenplay was written by Bess Meredyth with intertitles by Maude Fulton and Walter Anthony.
George Robert Groves was a film sound pioneer who played a significant role in developing the technology that brought sound to the silent screen. He is also credited as being Hollywood's first ‘sound man’; he was the recording engineer on the seminal Al Jolson picture, The Jazz Singer (1927), as well as many other early talkies. In a career with Warner Brothers that spanned 46 years, he rose to become their Director of Sound and won two Academy Awards out of eight nominations in total.
The Battle of the Sexes is a 1928 American synchronized sound comedy film directed by D. W. Griffith. While the film has no audible dialog, it was released with a synchronized musical score, singing and sound effects using both the sound-on-disc and sound-on-film process. The film starred Jean Hersholt, Phyllis Haver, Belle Bennett, Don Alvarado, and Sally O'Neil. It was released by United Artists. The film was a remake by Griffith of an earlier film he directed in 1914, which starred Lillian Gish. Both films are based on the novel The Single Standard by Daniel Carson Goodman; the story was adapted for this production by Gerrit J. Lloyd.
Lady of the Pavements is a 1929 American sound part-talkie romantic drama film directed by D. W. Griffith and starring Lupe Vélez, William Boyd, and Jetta Goudal. The screenplay was written by Sam Taylor, with contributions from an uncredited Gerrit Lloyd. While the film has a few talking sequences, the majority of the film features a synchronized musical score with sound effects using both the sound-on-disc and sound-on-film process.
The Midnight Taxi is a 1928 American early sound part-talkie thriller picture from Warner Bros. directed by John G. Adolfi and starring Antonio Moreno, Helen Costello, and Myrna Loy. 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.
Why Be Good? is a 1929 American sound comedy film produced by First National Pictures starring Colleen Moore and Neil Hamilton. While the film has no audible dialogue, it is accompanied by a Vitaphone soundtrack that features a musical score with sound effects and some synchronized singing.
Lilac Time is a 1928 American synchronized sound romantic war film directed by George Fitzmaurice and starring Colleen Moore and Gary Cooper. While the film has no audible dialog, it was released with a synchronized musical score with sound effects using the sound-on-disc Vitaphone process. The film is about young American aviators fighting for Britain during World War I who are billeted in a field next to a farmhouse in France. The daughter who lives on the farm meets one of the new aviators who is attracted to her. As the flyers head off on a mission, the young aviator promises to return to her.
The Romance of Lady Hamilton is a 1919 British historical drama film directed by Bert Haldane and starring Malvina Longfellow, Humberston Wright and Cecil Humphreys. It follows the love affair between the British Admiral Horatio Nelson and Lady Emma Hamilton during the Napoleonic Wars.
Synthetic Sin is a 1929 American sound comedy film directed by William A. Seiter, based on a play of the same name. While the film has no audible dialog, it was released with a synchronized musical score with sound effects using both the sound-on-disc and sound-on-film process. It was released by Warner Bros. and was recorded using the Vitaphone sound system. Only the soundtrack disc for the last reel is known to survive.
Outcast is a 1928 American synchronized sound drama film produced and distributed by First National Pictures. While the film has no audible dialog, it was released with a synchronized musical score with sound effects using the sound-on-disc Vitaphone process. It was directed by William A. Seiter and stars Corinne Griffith, often considered one of the most beautiful women in film. This story had been filmed in 1917 as The World and the Woman with Jeanne Eagels. In 1922 a Paramount film of the same name with Elsie Ferguson reprising her stage role was released. Both films were based on a 1914 play, Outcast, by Hubert Henry Davies which starred Ferguson. The Seiter/Griffith film was an all silent with Vitaphone music and sound effects. In the sound era the story was filmed once again as The Girl from 10th Avenue starring Bette Davis. According to the Library of Congress database shows a print surviving complete at Cineteca Italiana in Milan.
Vitaphone Varieties is a series title used for all of Warner Bros.', earliest short film "talkies" of the 1920s, initially made using the Vitaphone sound on disc process before a switch to the sound-on-film format early in the 1930s. These were the first major film studio-backed sound films, initially showcased with the 1926 synchronized scored features Don Juan and The Better 'Ole. Although independent producers like Lee de Forest's Phonofilm were successfully making sound film shorts as early as 1922, they were very limited in their distribution and their audio was generally not as loud and clear in theaters as Vitaphone's. The success of the early Vitaphone shorts, initially filmed only in New York, helped launch the sound revolution in Hollywood.
The Better 'Ole is a 1926 American synchronized sound World War I comedy drama film. Released by Warner Bros. Pictures, Inc., this film is the second full-length film to utilize the Vitaphone sound-on-disc process, two months after the first Vitaphone feature Don Juan; with no audible dialogue, the film does have a synchronized musical score and sound effects. This film was also the second onscreen adaptation of the 1917 musical The Better 'Ole by Bruce Bairnsfather and Arthur Elliot. Charlie Chaplin's eldest brother Sydney Chaplin played the main lead as Old Bill in perhaps his best-known film today. This film is also believed by many to have the first spoken word of dialog, "coffee", although there are those who disagree. At one point during the film, Harold Goodwin's character whispers a word to Sydney Chaplin which is also faintly heard. This was discovered by the UCLA's Robert Gitt, during the restoration of the sound discs for the film. The line was recorded in perfect sync, apparently during the orchestra recording sessions rather than live on set, therefore making it the earliest known use of dubbing in a motion picture.
The Whip is a 1928 American synchronized sound drama film directed by Charles Brabin and starring Dorothy Mackaill. While the film has no audible dialog, it was released with a synchronized musical score with sound effects using the sound-on-disc Vitaphone process. It was based on a 1912 play The Whip by Cecil Raleigh and Henry Hamilton and distributed by First National. This sound film was released with a synchronized Vitaphone soundtrack of music and sound effects. It is set in the horse racing world of England.
Saturday's Children is a 1929 American sound part-talkie romantic-comedy film directed by Gregory La Cava, and starring Corinne Griffith, Grant Withers, Albert Conti, Alma Tell, Lucien Littlefield. 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 sound was recorded via the Vitaphone sound-on-disc process. The film was released by Warner Bros. on April 14, 1929. The film is based on the 1927 play Saturday's Children by Maxwell Anderson.
