The Development of the Sound-Film

John E. Abbott

With the appearance of the part-talking film “The Jazz Singer” in 1927 a new era began. Talking films had been introduced before, but not until then had the engineers solved the problem of amplifying as well as of recording and reproducing sound. As often, technical invention preceded creative use and at first the new machines were used clumsily. Yet it is well to recall the character of certain primitive talkies in order to understand what the elements were which stirred the wonderment and curiosity of the public, and it is the only effective way of appreciating the speed and ingenuity with which this apparent retrogression in film-making was overcome during the next few years.

Print ISSN
Published
1942-06
Content type
Original Research
DOI
10.5594/J09890