Hollywood Finds Its Voice

Warner Bros. was still the smaller studio chasing Paramount and MGM when it bet its future on a sound technology called Vitaphone, and the brother who pushed hardest for that bet didn't live to see whether it paid off.

On October 6, 1927, The Jazz Singer premiered at the Warner Theatre in New York, becoming the first feature film to include synchronized spoken dialogue, most famously Al Jolson's line, "Wait a minute, wait a minute, you ain't heard nothin' yet." Sam Warner, the driving force behind the studio's investment in sound, had died of pneumonia the day before, and his three surviving brothers weren't even in the theater that night, having already returned to California for his funeral. The film's success reshaped the film industry within two years, ending the silent era and launching Warner Bros. into the top tier of Hollywood studios, a triumph that arrived alongside the uncomfortable legacy of Jolson's blackface performances in the same film.

This is bsnsHistory, the daily podcast about the moments when business quietly reshaped the world.

Written and hosted by Ron Trucks. Research and editing by Rodney Russ. Sound design by Angela Cahoy. Music by Cody Martin and Soundstripe.

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