1927Reputable sourceWell documented

The Coming of Sound

On the timeline · around 1927 ·

What happened

The first feature-length film with synchronized dialogue, The Jazz Singer (1927), used Warner Brothers' Vitaphone sound-on-disc system. Audiences flocked to hear the 'talkies,' and within a couple of years silent film was effectively dead — a wrenching transition that ended some careers and made others.

Why it matters

Sound transformed cinema completely, reshaping acting, storytelling, and the industry itself. By the early 1930s nearly all feature films were made with synchronized sound.

Sources

National Science and Media Museum. A Very Short History of Cinema · Reputable source

Part of a timelineHistory of Film11 events · From the Lumières' first flickering screenings to the streaming age — how moving pictures became the art form of the modern world, every milestone sourced.View all →