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A demonstration of the most remarkable invention of the age,
under direction of N. K. Barton of the Servel
Electric Refrigerator Company.

It talks and exhibits motion pictures at the same time. See it!
Hear it! It will be worth your while
to come. It costs you nothing.
September, 1926 - Mobile, Alabama

Mobile, Alabama? Seem a strange place to preview sound movies? No stranger than the fact that sponsorship of this technology was provided by the Servel Electric Refrigerator Company.


Jack Warner puts his foot in his mouth
September 3, 1926 - Associated Press

Jack Warner, head of the the studio that brought you talking pictures, puts his foot in his mouth and takes a huge bite. Even though he and his brothers were behind the sound revolution, they saw sound as being merely music and effects, with little or no recorded dialog.



After over two decades of development, a sound format war was about to begin.

Clippings courtesy of William J. Hooper



Here is a hilarious sound test made by Alfred Hitchcock for Britain's first sound film Blackmail (1929). The actress is Anny Ondra from what is now the Czech Republic. Those Czech women are something else. Originally filmed as a silent picture, Hitchcock reshot much of the film with sound, even when sound wasn't necessary.


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