The nearly three-hour-long Don Juan (1926) was the first major motion picture to employ a synchronized sound system of any type throughout. Its soundtrack contained a musical score and sound effects, but no recorded dialogue-in other words, it had been staged and shot as a silent film.
The first feature-length talkie was The Jazz Singer (1927).
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That is very good to know. 1927 was the year my grandfather was born. That means he grew up his entire life and even his generation was used to movies with sound and dialogue. I guess movies have come a long way!
ReplyDeleteDon Juan must have been quite the breakthrough in 1926. Even that however, must have been a pretty lame movie. How can you watch a movie with no dialog. I wonder did they used to have subtitles prior to the days of sound in movies? If not I would probably have been a big time fan of books back than.
ReplyDeleteit is so great to see the advancements in the movie industry. as a cinema/video production major i think that the advancements have blow away what we ever thought was possible for the produtions of major motion pictures.
ReplyDeleteWith the phonograph (invented in the late 1800s), the concept of a movie with sound should not have been too far off. However, it was an added cost, and there may have been difficulty in recording sound. There are few people today that can even conceive a movie without dialogue. The year 1927 was during a boom period, shortly before the Great Depression. History has taught us that the entertainment business fares well during these times as an escape from the harsh reality. In other words, movies with dialogue came at a good time from that perspective.
ReplyDeleteThis must of been the coolest thing since sliced bread at that time. To think of the things that we take for granted now and days people cherised back then. I love watching movies especially with alot of action and sounds. To think that I would just have to watch it without sound would suck!
ReplyDeleteThis must have seemed so advanced for everyone. For them to acutally watch something with sound was probably unbeleivable.
ReplyDeleteI can't believe they had TV with no sound and even when this first movie came out with sound, there was no dialogue. That must have been an extremely long 3 hours. I can't even imagine that. Technology has come along way. Now there are almost no movies without words.
ReplyDeleteI'm not surprised at many people's comments about how they find silent movies unappealing. To be honest, the only "classics" I can watch through are Charlie Chaplin films. They're virtually unwatchable and inaccessible to a modern audience because they require the viewer to engage parts of their brains they don't normally use to fill in the blanks. French electronic music composers/DJs Daft Punk put out a "silent" film "Electroma" about a year ago. I personally felt it was difficult to watch unless I was in the proper state, but it was an intriguing experiment with an old medium.
ReplyDeleteHowever, has anyone ever watched "My Dinner With Andre"? It's from the early 80's and is STRICTLY dialogue. Or how about the more recent "Waking Life"?
I couldn't imagine watching a movie with no sound, but I guess if that's all I knew I would enjoy it. I've tried to watch some older movies and I can't, I'm so use to the technology that we have today and its tough to sit through an old movie. I wonder what the movies would be like today with no sound, would people even watch them?
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