Metal mold for casting discs and label, 1929.

Eighty years ago an innovation called “Vitaphone” introduced synchronized sound to the movies, changing the movie industry forever. This risky venture by Western Electric and the Warner brothers (Harry, Sam, Albert and Jack) used a “sound-on-disc” method (one of several technologies being explored at the time) to synchronize dialogue, music and sound effects to moving images on the screen. On August 6, 1926, Vitaphone premiered in New York City with a number of short films and the feature Don Juan, starring John Barrymore, to the extreme delight of an enthusiastic audience. This success was soon followed by The Jazz Singer and hundreds of other Vitaphone shorts and feature films. Until the summer of 1926, studios had frowned upon the idea of “talkies,” but the triumph of Vitaphone proved unequivocally that synchronized sound was here to stay.

The Council’s exhibition entitled “In Synch: The Birth of Vitaphone” tells the remarkable story of the Vitaphone Corporation by showcasing the people, the inventions and the impact of this revolutionary technology. It features an original lathe used for cutting Vitaphone wax records; a projector turntable; original wax, metal and plastic discs; and a special keepsake of Jack Warner’s – the original sound-mixing panel from The Jazz Singer.

Located in the foyer of the Linwood Dunn Theater at the Academy’s Pickford Center for Motion Picture Study, the exhibition runs through December 3 and can be viewed during all Academy public programs being hosted at the Dunn.

The Academy’s Linwood Dunn Theater is located at 1313 Vine Street in Hollywood, California. Free parking is available behind the building, through the entrance on Homewood Avenue (one block north of Fountain). For more information, please call the Academy at (310) 247-3600.