The Dawn of Sound: How Movies Learned to Talk (2007)

Included in Warner Brother's 2007 three-disc set for THE JAZZ SINGER, this 85 minute, 17.56-second feature-length extra perfectly rounds out an amazing collection of material with about every tidbit of information a person needs to understand the necessity for motion picture sound and the torturous route the industry took to meet this demand (far more important than the transition to color, and hardly a frill like the current 3D revival). Featuring such well-known DVD featurette talking heads as film critic Leonard Maltin, film historian Rudy Behlmer, and 80-year entertainment industry vet Rose Marie (of BABY ROSE MARIE THE CHILD WONDER, 1929, fame), this extra includes interviews with less frequently seen experts such as actress Thelma White, silent films crossover Harold Lloyd's granddaughter Suzanne, Vitaphone Project representative Ron Hutchinson, unsuccessful silent films crossover John Gilbert's daughter Leatrice Fountain, sound designer Ben Burtt, and Vitaphone composer Sanford Green. All this is ably narrated by Mark Hunt, and sprinkled with vintage clips of stars such as Al Jolson, Charlie Chaplin, Buster Keaton, Greta Garbo, and Orson Welles.

This latter-day documentary about the transition from silent to sound on film was produced with the intent for inclusion in The Jazz Singer DVD set since that landmark movie was the center of that change. One person I did not know about beforehand was that of Thomas Case who first worked on Lee De Forest's Phonofilms then on William Fox's Movietone process. Of course, most of the lion's share of the story is on the Warner Brothers' contribution particularly that of Sam who was a champion of the Vitaphone sound-on-disc process that led to The Jazz Singer's success. Unfortunately, he died before that day's film premiere so it was a mixed victory for siblings Harry, Al, and Jack. Still, they reaped the benefits of Sam's labor and became one with the Majors to this day. I also loved hearing Rose Marie's comments about her child self's debut in those Vitaphone shorts and historian Leonard Maltin's observation about the aftermath of many silent stars' responses like that of Charlie Chaplin who resisted talking until he made The Great Dictator in 1940. So on that note, The Dawn of Sound: How Movies Learned to Talk is well worth seeing.

I am about to say something that may shock some readers. The movie "The Jazz Singer", though super-important historically, is not a particularly enjoyable film if you see it today. I know back in 1927 it made a huge splash and revolutionized the motion pictures, but today it all seems very, very dated and clichéd. Plus, the sound in this 'Talkie' was only used here and there--most of the film was still a silent. However, regardless of my opinion about the watchability of this film, I strongly recommend you buy the DVD set because of all the wonderful extras--two disks of them. One of the most interesting was "The Dawn of Sound"--a wonderful history of sound in the movies.Why did I like it so much? Well, I am a huge film history buff and I always thought that there were only a couple sound films (all shorts) before "The Jazz Singer". However, this documentary shows clips of many experimental sound films. Plus, it turns out the history of sound in films is much, much older than I thought. I had thought sound was first experimented on with films in the early 1920s--but in reality, a primitive sound system was synchronized with a film as early as the 1890s!! Fascinating interviews, tons and tons of great footage and excellent direction make this one of the best made and informative shows I've ever seen. Truly a must for film fans!

Dawn of Sound, The: How Movies Learned to Talk (2007) **** (out of 4)Another brilliant documentary from Warner, this time teaching how sound came to be in movies. The documentary does a great job at showing all that went into the process as well as what all went out including several silent film stars careers. We see early experimental sound films from 1894 (available on DVD) as well as "talking attractions" like Griffith's Dream Street, which would turn out to be a disaster and turn studios off of sound films for many years. The Jazz Singer and it's role in history gets a lot of talk and the documentary runs up to the final silent film and Chaplin's The Great Dictator, which would put the nail in silent films forever. Anyone interested in the process of this piece of history will certainly learn it all here.