Synopsis

October 6th, 1927, Warner Brothers showcased a film which would inspire great innovation in film history. This film was the first sound film, *The Jazz Singer*, in which Vaudeville star Al Jolson starred, sang, and spoke his lines. Although strictly speaking, *The Jazz Singer* was not a true sound film as it merely presented an audio recreation of instrumental accompaniment, the actors’ singing, and a few dialogue lines, the film rewrote film history as it inspired change in world cinema. At first, it drove Hollywood into a state of confusion as some cheered at the new possibilities sound presented, while others were critical about sound film’s potential to destroy silent cinema’s aesthetic world of imagination. Amongst this controversy, *The Jazz Singer* saved Warner Brothers from bankruptcy and established it as a major studio, while the film’s successors embraced this innovative paradigm called ‘sound,’ inventing new forms and styles. The subsequent emergence of new genres such as music films and musicals were the result of technological advances. Like the ‘holy sound’ that reverberated with God’s words at the beginning of the world, the first sound film, *The Jazz Singer*, brought a new reverberation to the world of cinema. Eighty years later, at Jecheon in 2008, it will truly be a wonderful experience to hear the first sound that was made in film. (Hyuk-sang Denis Lee)

Director

• 
  • Alan Crosland
  • Born in 1894 in New York, Alan Crosland began his career in film in 1912 at the Edison Studios, after writing for the movie magazine *New York Globe*. After directing a few silent short films, he made his feature film debut with *The Unbeliever* in 1918. He then directed *Don Juan* (1926), the first sound film at Warner Brothers, and the next year directed his most famous work, *The Jazz Singer*, the first full-length sound film. He continued working until his death in a traffic accident in 1936, but *The Jazz Singer* remains his most renowned work.