Any assessment of Hollywood movie making must begin with some discussion of sound enhancement to film. The Jazz Singer is legendary as the first sound film. It was made in 1927 and introduced Al Jolson, a New York vaudeville and stage performer. The film created a tremendous demand for sound by the public when it was released in 1929 and the studios heard that demand!

Sound with film had a thirty year history prior to The Jazz Singer. There were many pioneers in the field in the early days. Each had a name for his technique. Beginning as early as 1889, W.K.L. Dickson made a synchronization of word and picture using his kinetograph, the first such an attempt in America or elsewhere. The Edison Company attempted and succeeded in making a crude version of Mother Goose in 1912. The nickelodeons, from 1908 onward, used sound to enliven their presentations.

After World War I, sound took on a new life. Synchronization, sound to film, done by Lee DeForrest, another pioneer, solved some of the problems of amplification. Bell Telephone's research lab, Western Electric, developed and sold a sound-on-film disc process called "Vitaphone" in 1925. A year later, Bell Telephone offered their system to Warner Brothers, who saw the potential and bought the patent. From a small operation, Warner Brothers Studio, within three years, expanded enough to be included in fierce competition with Loew,'s Zukor's and First National, all film and distribution companies. Will Hayes, guardian of movie morals, was the first to appear in a sound film with a welcome address to theater patrons in 1926. This venture was followed by others; a concert by the New York Philharmonic Orchestra plus stars from opera, concert and music hall performers.

William Fox was another ambitious and visionary producer who stepped into the competition. His system was called "Movietone". It was he who developed the first filmed newsreels. In spite of these attempts, it was the aforementioned The Jazz Singer that set the stage for movie making with sound, such a vital and enriching component to the medium.

The new technique necessitated the process of installing sound equipment in the entire chain of theaters, a costly and time consuming process for each distributor. Sound also affected the actors and directors. Foreign stars, whose accents were not acceptable, rendered them dispensable. Americans whose voices didn't match their screen personas were also liabilities. Diction coaches were hired but most of the players were simply not able to overcome their vocal problems. With the advent of sound came dialogue writers, screenwriters and playwrights. Many felt the movies were in danger of becoming imitations of the stage. That was not to be.