The Voice That Thrilled the World

This short traces the history of sound in the movies, beginning with French scientist Leon Scott's experiments in 1857. Featured are snippets from early sound pictures.

History Documentary

Art Gilmore

(Narrator (voice))

Sheldon Jett

(Audience Member (uncredited))

Harold Miller

(Audience Member (uncredited))

Edwin Tuttle

(Audience Member (uncredited))

Giovanni Martinelli

(Canio in 'Pagliacci' (segment 'Vesti la giubba') (archive footage))

George Arliss

(Self (segment 'Disraeli') (archive footage))

John Barrymore

(Self (segments 'Don Juan' & 'Richard III') (archive footage))

Eugenie Besserer

(Self (segment 'The Jazz Singer') (archive footage))

James Cagney

(Self (segment 'Yankee Doodle Dandy') (archive footage))

Jeanne Cagney

(Self (segment 'Yankee Doodle Dandy') (archive footage))

Gary Cooper

(Self (segment 'Sergeant York') (archive footage))

Bette Davis

(Self (segment 'Dangerous') (archive footage))

Rosemary DeCamp

(Self (segment 'Yankee Doodle Dandy') (archive footage))

Robert Elliott

(Self (segment 'Lights of New York') (archive footage))

Walter Huston

(Jerry Cohan (archive footage))

Josephine Hutchinson

(Self (segment 'The Story of Louis Pasteur') (archive footage))

Al Jolson

(Self (segment 'The Jazz Singer') (archive footage))

Cullen Landis

(Self (segment 'Lights of New York') (archive footage))

Joan Leslie

(Self (segment 'Yankee Doodle Dandy') (archive footage))

Paul Muni

(Self ('Story of Pasteur' & 'Life of Zola') (archive footage))

Benito Mussolini

(Self (archive footage))

Eugene Pallette

(Self (segment 'Lights of New York') (archive footage))

Stanley Ridges

(Self (segment 'Sergeant York') (archive footage))

Franchot Tone

(Self (segment 'Dangerous') (archive footage))

David Torrence

(Self (segment 'Disraeli') (archive footage))

Harry M. Warner

(Self (archive footage))

Jack L. Warner

(Self (archive footage))

Ethel Waters

(Self (segment 'On with the Show!') (archive footage))