The Jazz Singer Premier Vitaphone Promo

[Fyrzon]

When the audience heard him clear his throat, they were probably like "...Wait, was that one of us?"

Then they see him talking, and they shit themselves.

[calvinnme2]

The announcer is John Miljan. He played slimy villain types in the very early days of talking pictures. The trailer probably does not have any of the talking parts of the Jazz Singer in it because it was impossible to splice together different Vitaphone films. All they could do in this Vitaphone trailer is show you the silent parts of The Jazz Singer.

[nuts4clara]

@calvinnme2 John Miljan is in SUSAN LENOX(1931), with Greta Garbo, THE UNCHASTEN LOVER(1925), Theda Bara's next-to-last movie, among others.

[fromthesidelines]

Yes, the "Vitaphone" discs did wear out rather quickly (after about 10 plays for each). But if you know anything about the movie business, 'mbmorrison', this trailer- and the "special engagement" of the film- was designed to be as enticing to the theater patron as possible. By limiting the show times of the film to "twice daily" in each theater it played in, that only made MORE people want to see it. If it appeared more than twice a day, it would have been "just another movie".

[HarborGuy]

I have a copy of the Jazz Singer. It is silent in parts. But the scene where he talking  to his mom made the day! Sound was on its way...........

[a07002]

Was the announcer drunk?

[stoob1969]

@a07002 No, the autocue operator was the drunk one

[szewei85]

i gotta love the late 20s seriously with old fashion of all the HAT on men n thick jewellery plus big dresses on the ladies where showing boobies r not important 2 get serious attention that time haha

[mbmorrison]

The sign on the theatre said "twice daily". If it was sold out for weeks why couldn't they have just run it all day long? The projectors would overheat?

[albertusj]

@mbmorrison The discs would wear out too quickly. Really.

[dyegomarcal]

Its wonderful. Very, very thans for this material. its fascinating, the first time a man TALK in the cinema.

[Frozensmokeprod]

Great. He's the first trailer....

[fromthesidelines]

"The Jazz Singer" was supposed to have been a "synchronized" music and sound effects film (it was mostly shot as a "silent"), with Al Jolson featured in several "talking" musical sequences. But he ad-libbed after his first number, "Wait a minute, you ain't heard nothin' yet..."- and it became a "partial talkie" after the studio added the "Blue Skies" sequence...

[superdavid002]

I mention The Jazz Singer in The Celebrity Song.

[LOYALxTOxNONE]

480p!!!!!!

[olamikkel]

YAAAAY!

[makkertje]

Isn't it weird that all of the people in this clip are dead

[szewei85]

@makkertje that is y its scary 2 think what will happen when our turn dead has come next hahaha

[iThwl]

first complete sound movie!

[calvinnme2]

Taken in context, the announcer isn't so terrible. Everyone talked this way in the earliest talkies. What I find to be ironic is this nearly seven minute promo shows only the silent parts of the Jazz Singer rather than any of the sound portions, which was what drew audiences in to see and hear it in the first place.

[TheMaxx111]

The announcer is terrible!

[dlkunz]

Was this the first time sound was recorded in cinema?

[datalal624]

No, there was synchronized sound before The Jazz Singer, but it wasn't really used in a high-profile Hollywood film before The Jazz Singer was released. It was prohibitively expensive---but this film provided studio incentive to make more sound films. It was the catalyst that brought about the sound film era.

This little short would have been released shortly after the premiere, I'm guessing.

[winfriedstar]

yes, it was.

[aveman3]

indeed

[jfitzy]

the first recorded film with sound was in 1895, in thomas edisons work area by a different guy, i forget his name, but its about 25 seconds or so of a guy playing a violin and two men dancing together. you could prob find it on youtube.

[3investigators]

This announcer is the whole show. Wonderful!

[Zeanu]

His face is truly :D

And I like it, haha. This is classic. Great material.

[varietyguy]

The brunette with Jolson was his second wife, Ethel Delmar, a former George White Scandals showgirl. They divorced in 1926 and must have parted on good terms. They looked pretty happy at the premiere!

[fabulbabe]

It's great to be able to see this. If only the trailer's host had pre-read his cue cards and someone had told him who's in the footage so he wouldn't have to guess. That's just odd.

[redcorncob]

Is this on the 3-disk edition?

[videos4everybody]

Sure is. Find it in the "Trailer Gallery" on Disc 1. And I never thought a trailer would run for seven minutes.

[FunNotNuts]

The announcer slays me LOL. He is so excited he can hardly get thru it.

And the little stick he holds....looks like a conductor.

Al Jolsen had a wonderful voice. I have many of his songs from Limewire.

[1926VictorCredenza]

"Oh Mammy!" It is amazing that this survived! Thanks!

[videos4everybody]

AND preserved on the 3-disc edition.

[coolcat6651]

Fascinating!

[JackCelliars]

Thanks for posting such rare--and fascinating--antiquated footage.

[toy2day]

Thanks for uploading!!!