The first feature-length talkie was mostly silent.

1927

The Jazz Singer of 1927 has synchronised sound only in a few scenes of Al Jolson singing and talking; the rest uses title cards.

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The event

• The Jazz Singer and the talkies1927 · New York. In October 1927 Warner Bros. released The Jazz Singer starring Al Jolson, the first feature-length film with synchronised songs and dialogue. Its success ended the silent film era within a few years.

20th century

More amazing facts

• 1926 Australia and New Zealand have argued for decades over who invented the pavlova.
• 1927 · 1952 The last wild European bison was killed in the Caucasus in 1927.
• 1927 · 1961 · 2000 The keeper of the pitch drop experiment waited 52 years to see a drop fall, and never did. John Mainstone once missed one by stepping out for tea, and in 2000 the camera failed in a thunderstorm.
• 1928 1928: Fleming came back from holiday to find a mould killing his bacteria, sliced bread went on sale for the first time, and Mickey Mouse made his public debut in Steamboat Willie.
• 1928 · 1943 The US once banned sliced bread.
• 1928 · 1943 Penicillin for millions of soldiers came from a rotten melon.

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