In the mid-twenties, struggling studio Warner Bros acquired Vitaphone, a sound-on-disc system, and gambled everything on the possibility of ‘talking pictures’.  The studio premiered the technique with Don Juan in 1926, which incorporated a synchronised score and sound effects, and included a spoken introduction by Will Hays saluting the new era of “sound and pictures” but, crucially, featured no actual dialogue in the film.  It would be another year before this revolutionary technique caused a sensation, when audiences heard the first spoken movie dialogue of The Jazz Singer.

Technically, the first voice heard in the film is that of Bobbie Gordon – playing the younger version of Jolson’s character – when he sings in the mosque.  However, the first line of dialogue is the famous quote from Jolson, after singing ‘Mother I still Have You.’  Originally it was assumed to have been a spontaneous aside to a stage technician, but the singer had previously used the line many times on stage.

The first ‘all-talking’ picture came a year later: Lights of New York, also from Warners.

The Academy gave Warners a special Oscar for The Jazz Singer, for making ‘the pioneer outstanding talking picture, which has revolutionised the industry.’