The copyright on movies from 1927 expires today. These include the first full-length "talkie"...and here is the first thing moviegoers heard on October 6, 1927!
1-minute OGG Vorbis audio excerpt from the film The Jazz Singer (1927), comprising copious crowd noise, a brief set of spoken remarks—the first spoken words ever heard in a featured film—from the character Jack Robin, and approximately the first 35 seconds of the song "Toot, Toot, Tootsie (Goo' Bye)" sung by Jack Robin, accompanied by the Coffee Den band; dialogue—ad-libbed by Al Jolson (credited screenwriter: Alfred A. Cohn); song—music and lyrics by Gus Kahn, Ernie Erdman, and Dan Russo; performed by Jolson and unidentified musicians
AUDIO from 1927 film.
And yet...
"Although it made its mark on history as the first “talkie” film, there is hardly any talking in the movie – a total of only about two minutes. For all the other “speech” in the film, The Jazz Singer employs the standard silent film technique of caption cards to express what the characters are saying.
The very first words spoken in the movie do not occur until 17½ minutes into the film; but how powerful and prophetic they are! Jolson’s character, Jack, declares to a cabaret crowd – and, by extension, to the whole world: “Wait a minute, wait a minute, you ain’t heard nothin’ yet!”
(Source: https://blog.genealogybank.com/the-jazz-singer-premiere-demise-of-the-silent-film-era.html
(BTW: The Jazz Singer is also noted for Jolson wearing "blackface" makeup).
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