On October 6th 1927 the film The Jazz Singer was premiered in New York by Warner Bros. Even though films had been around for some time, this particular film was significant.

It starred the entertainer Al Johnson and was based on the play The Day of Atonement.

What made the film significant was that it was the first feature length film to have synchronised dialogue sequences, where the sound was synchronised with what was happening in the picture. Although this is now a standard, back then it signified the rise of the "talkies" and the decline of the silent film.

The synchronisation was accomplished using 15 fifteen sound discs and 15 reels of film, which both had to be changed at precisely the right time, otherwise the film would not have worked at all - which could have set the talkie industry back years.

Image: By Warner Bros. (original rights holder) (Internet Movie Poster Awards Gallery) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons