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.
Dracula is a 1931 American pre-Code supernatural horror film directed and co-produced by Tod Browning from a screenplay written by Garrett Fort and starring Bela Lugosi in the titular role. It is based on the 1924 stage play Dracula by Hamilton Deane and John L. Balderston, which in turn is adapted from the 1897 novel Dracula by Bram Stoker. Lugosi portrays Count Dracula, a vampire who emigrates from Transylvania to England and preys upon the blood of living victims, including a young man's fiancée.
Hell's Angels is a 1930 American pre-Code independent epic war film directed and produced by Howard Hughes and director of dialogue James Whale. Written by Harry Behn and Howard Estabrook and starring Ben Lyon, James Hall and Jean Harlow, it was released through United Artists. It follows two dissimilar brothers, both members of the British Royal Flying Corps during the First World War.
Singin' in the Rain is a 1952 American musical romantic comedy film directed and choreographed by Gene Kelly and Stanley Donen, starring Kelly, Donald O'Connor, and Debbie Reynolds and featuring Jean Hagen, Millard Mitchell and Cyd Charisse. It offers a lighthearted depiction of Hollywood in the late 1920s, with the three stars portraying performers caught up in the transition from silent films to "talkies".
The Singing Fool is a 1928 American musical drama part-talkie motion picture directed by Lloyd Bacon which was released by Warner Bros. The film stars Al Jolson and is a follow-up to his previous film, The Jazz Singer. It is credited with helping to cement the popularity of American films of both sound and the musical genre.
The Virginian is a 1929 American pre-Code Western film directed by Victor Fleming and starring Gary Cooper, Walter Huston, and Richard Arlen. The film was based on the 1902 novel The Virginian by Owen Wister and adapted from the popular 1904 theatrical play Wister had collaborated on with playwright Kirke La Shelle.
A part-talkie is a partly, and most often primarily, silent film which includes one or more synchronous sound sequences with audible dialog or singing. During the silent portions, lines of dialog are presented as "titles"—printed text briefly filling the screen—and the soundtrack is used only to supply musical accompaniment and sound effects.
Lucky Star is a 1929 American romantic drama silent film starring Janet Gaynor and Charles Farrell, and directed by Frank Borzage. The plot involves the impact of World War I upon a farm girl (Gaynor) and a returning soldier (Farrell).
The Shopworn Angel is a 1938 American drama film directed by H. C. Potter and starring James Stewart, Margaret Sullavan, and Walter Pidgeon. The MGM release featured the second screen pairing of Margaret Sullavan and James Stewart following their successful teaming in the Universal Pictures production Next Time We Love two years earlier.
Paramount on Parade is a 1930 all-star American pre-Code revue released by Paramount Pictures, directed by several directors including Edmund Goulding, Dorothy Arzner, Ernst Lubitsch, Rowland V. Lee, A. Edward Sutherland, Lothar Mendes, Otto Brower, Edwin H. Knopf, Frank Tuttle, and Victor Schertzinger—all supervised by the production supervisor, singer, actress, and songwriter Elsie Janis.
American actor Gary Cooper started his career in 1925 as a film extra and stuntman. He made his official cinematic debut in 1926 in the Samuel Goldwyn production The Winning of Barbara Worth. He went on to become a contract player with Paramount Pictures where he established himself as a popular leading man prior to the end of the silent film era.
My Man is a 1928 black and white part-talkie American comedy-drama musical film directed by Archie Mayo starring Fanny Brice and featuring Guinn "Big Boy" Williams. It was Brice's feature film debut at the age of 37. She was a star in the Ziegfeld Follies before she started acting in motion pictures. At the time Warner Bros. made this film there were still some silent movies in production and being released. My Man used intertitles but included talking sequences, synchronized music, and sound effects using a Vitaphone sound-on-disc system. It was not until 1929 that talking movies would completely take over, but Warner Bros. had completely stopped making silent movies and switched to sound pictures by the end of that year, either part talking or full talking. Warner Bros. also started making movies in color as well as sound movies.
His Glorious Night is a 1929 pre-Code American romance film directed by Lionel Barrymore and starring John Gilbert in his first released talkie. The film is based on the 1928 play Olympia by Ferenc Molnár.
Lilac Time is a 1928 American silent romantic war film directed by George Fitzmaurice and starring Colleen Moore and Gary Cooper. 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 Heart of Maryland (1927) is a silent film costume Vitaphone drama produced and distributed by Warner Bros. and directed by Lloyd Bacon. The film stars Dolores Costello in the title character and features Jason Robards, Sr. It is based on David Belasco's 1895 play The Heart of Maryland performed on Broadway. The film is the last silent version of the often filmed Victorian story, with versions having been produced in 1915 and 1921.
Betrayal is a 1929 American silent drama film produced for Famous Players-Lasky and released by Paramount Pictures. The film is the last silent film directed by Lewis Milestone, the last silent performance by Gary Cooper, the last silent performance by Germany's Emil Jannings, and the only onscreen pairing of Cooper and Jannings. It is considered a lost film.
The Man I Love (1929) is a part-talking sound film from Paramount Pictures produced in parallel silent and sound versions. This film survives in a copy sold to television in the 1950s. The film stars Richard Arlen. Some sources refer to this as Arlen's first sound film, but he co-starred Nancy Carroll in Dorothy Arzner's Manhattan Cocktail (1928), another part-talking picture released by Paramount.
Easy Come, Easy Go is a 1928 American comedy silent film directed by Frank Tuttle and written by Owen Davis, George Marion Jr. and Florence Ryerson. The film stars Richard Dix, Nancy Carroll, Charles Sellon, Frank Currier, Arnold Kent and Christian J. Frank. The film was released on April 21, 1928, by Paramount Pictures.
The Man and the Moment is a formerly lost 1929 part-talkie romantic comedy film directed by George Fitzmaurice and starring Billie Dove. The film is mainly a silent film, with talking sequences as well as a synchronized music score and sound effects by the Vitaphone sound-on-disc process. In the restored print, many scenes feature intertitles shown immediately after the spoken dialogue conveying the same words. Title cards at the beginning of the restored print explain that the visuals for the talking sequences came from a dupe internegative that was distributed in some territories in silent form; the intertitles were left in the sequences during the restoration to maintain synchronization with the Vitaphone soundtrack, but were not originally part of the film. The story is from a 1914 novel by Elinor Glyn, the famous novelist. The film was produced by Richard A. Rowland and released by First National Pictures. A British silent film had been film of the same story in 1918.
Land of the Silver Fox is a 1928 American adventure film directed by Ray Enright and written by Howard Smith and Joseph Jackson. The film stars Rin Tin Tin, Leila Hyams, John Miljan, Carroll Nye, Tom Santschi, and Neola May. The film was released by Warner Bros. on October 18, 1928. As was common that year, Land of the Silver Fox was released in both silent and sound versions.
