The local branch of The International Al Jolson Society considers today, October 6, as Talkies Day.

To mark the occasion, the society is mounting an exhibition about the making of the 1927 film The Jazz Singer, starring the renowned late actor Al Jolson. The exhibition is taking place on the second floor of Galleria Cinemas in Fgura until October 11.

For about 24 years silent films were produced in the US and Europe. Various attempts were made through the years so that picturegoers could hear actors speak on the silver screen.

While the musical show The Jazz Singer lingered on the stage of Broadway, a small motion picture company, Warner Brothers, looked for a vehicle to premiere a modern miracle, the talking pictures, or talkies.

In 1927, Warner Brothers gambled on adding sound to its motion pictures, bettering its odds by signing superstar Jolson to appear in its first ‘talkie’ – The Jazz Singer.

When on the evening of October 6, 1927, fans rushed to the Warner theatre in New York where the first reel of The Jazz Singer premiere began to roll, Jolson must have sat back in his seat and smiled. From the long applause, he knew that he had been a great success in the first talking picture movie.

Vitaphone was a process by which recorded music was synchronised at times with action on the screen and seemed to promise an advancement in moviemaking, but no one thought of recording dialogue.