The Voice That Thrilled the World (1943)

Director:

Jean Negulesco

Writer:

James Bloodworth (narration)

Genre:

Documentary | Short | History

Plot:

This short traces the history of sound in the movies, beginning with French scientist Leon Scott's experiments in 1857.

Plot Keywords:

Film Industry | Title Spoken By Character

Cast

Art Gilmore	...	Narrator (voice)
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Giovanni Martinelli	...	Canio in 'Pagliacci' (segment "Vesti la giubba") (archive footage)
George Arliss	...	Himself (segment "Disreali") (uncredited) (archive footage)
John Barrymore	...	Himself (segments "Don Juan" & "Richard III") (uncredited) (archive footage)
Eugenie Besserer	...	Herself (segment "The Jazz Singer") (archive footage) (uncredited)
James Cagney	...	Himself (segment "Yankee Doodle Dandy") (uncredited) (archive footage)
Jeanne Cagney	...	Herself (segment "Yankee Doodle Dandy") (archive footage) (uncredited)
Gary Cooper	...	Himself (segment "Sergeant York") (uncredited) (archive footage)
Bette Davis	...	Herself (segment "Dangerous") (archive footage) (uncredited)
Rosemary DeCamp	...	Herself (segment "Yankee Doodle Dandy") (archive footage) (uncredited)
Robert Elliott	...	Himself (segment "Lights of New York") (uncredited) (archive footage)
Walter Huston	...	Himself (segment "Yankee Doodle Dandy") (uncredited) (archive footage)
Josephine Hutchinson	...	Herself (segment "The Story of Louis Pasteur") (archive footage) (uncredited)
Sheldon Jett	...	Audience Member (uncredited)
Al Jolson	...	Himself (segment "The Jazz singer") (uncredited) (archive footage)
Cullen Landis	...	Himself (segment "Lights of New York") (uncredited) (archive footage)
Joan Leslie	...	Herself (segment "Yankee Doodle Dandy") (archive footage) (uncredited)
Harold Miller	...	Audience member at 'Don Juan' (uncredited)
Paul Muni	...	Himself (segment "The Story of Louis Pasteur" & "The Life of Emile Zola") (uncredited) (archive footage)
Benito Mussolini	...	Himself (uncredited) (archive footage)
Eugene Pallette	...	Himself (segment "Lights of New York") (uncredited) (archive footage)
Stanley Ridges	...	Himself (segment "Sergeant York") (uncredited) (archive footage)
Franchot Tone	...	Himself (segment "Dangerous") (uncredited) (archive footage)
David Torrence	...	Himself (segment "Disreali') (uncredited) (archive footage)
Albert Warner	...	Himself (archive footage) (uncredited)
Harry M. Warner	...	Himself (archive footage) (uncredited)
Jack L. Warner	...	Himself (archive footage) (uncredited)
Sam Warner	...	Himself (archive footage) (uncredited)
Ethel Waters	...	Herself (segment "On with the Show!") (archive footage) (uncredited)

Directed by
Jean Negulesco

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
James Bloodworth		narration

Produced by
Gordon Hollingshead	....	producer

Cinematography by
Sidney Hickox

Film Editing by
Thomas Pratt

Art Direction by
Roland Hill

Music Department
Howard Jackson	....	composer: music cues (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Warner Bros

Distributors

• Warner Bros (1943) (USA) (theatrical)
• Warner Home Video (2007) (USA) (DVD)

Runtime:

18 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Filming Locations:

Warner Brothers Burbank Studios - 4000 Warner Boulevard, Burbank, California, USA

Company:

Warner Bros

Trivia:

Vitaphone release number 1179A.

Movie Connections:

Features Vesti la giubba (1926)

Soundtrack:

Overture from Tannhäuser

The Voice That Thrilled was pretty good while The Voice from the Screen not so much

This Warner Bros. documentary short tells of their contribution to sound films which started with late sibling Sam's championing the Vitaphone process which contributed to the development of The Jazz Singer's success and the first all-talking picture Lights of New York of which a pertinent clip is shown. I'll just now say that this was quite an educational experience even though it was biased toward this particular studio's efforts. I'd now like to move on to another short on The Jazz Singer DVD that's not listed on this site: The Voice from the Screen. Hosted by Edward B. Craft, executive vice president of the Bell Telephone Laboratories, Inc., he presented before the New York Electrical Society on Oct. 27, 1926, the Vitaphone method of recording sound for film that-as filmed here-now looks very boring especially when there no cuts or different camera angles depicted even when having a director demonstrate filming the guitar-and-ukulele singing duo of Witt & Berg. At least that same duo is later in close-up when singing their next song. That one gets a two while the other short's rating is above...