Introduction of Vitaphone Sound Pictures
{{short description|1926 film with Will H. Hays}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=September 2020}}
{{Infobox film
| name = Introduction of Vitaphone Sound Pictures
| image =
| caption =
| director =
| producer =
| writer =
| narrator =
| starring = Will H. Hays
| music =
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| distributor = Warner Bros.
| released = {{Film date|1926|08|06}}
| runtime = 4 minutes
| country = United States
| language = English
| budget =
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Introduction of Vitaphone Sound Pictures is a 1926 Vitaphone short film released by Warner Brothers on August 6, 1926. It was one of the first talking films. It utilized the Vitaphone sound-on-disc sound system.
Premise
File:Introductory Speech By Will H. Hays (1926).webm
Will H. Hays, President of the Motion Picture Producers and Distributors of America, introduces the audience to the Vitaphone sound system and muses on the possibilities of the technological advancement. This short played with a grouping of other shorts at the world premiere of Don Juan,{{cite web |title=[Vitaphone prelude--excerpts] |website=UW-Madison Libraries |url=https://search.library.wisc.edu/catalog/999465843702121 |access-date=2024-06-10}} the first feature film to employ Vitaphone.{{cite magazine|magazine=Variety|date=August 11, 1926|page=10|title=Vitaphone Bow is Hailed a Marvel|url=https://archive.org/stream/variety84-1926-08#page/n57/mode/1up|access-date=May 28, 2018|via=Archive.org}}{{cite book |last=Bohn |first=Thomas W. |last2=Stromgren |first2=Richard L. |last3=Johnson |first3=Daniel H. |title=Light and Shadows: A History of Motion Pictures |publisher=Alfred Pub. Co. |publication-place=Port Washington, NY |year=1975 |oclc=1150213266 |page=[https://archive.org/details/lightshadowshist0000bohn/page/206/mode/2up 207]–[https://archive.org/details/lightshadowshist0000bohn/page/208/mode/2up 208] |url=https://archive.org/details/lightshadowshist0000bohn |url-access=registration |via=Internet Archive}}
In the short film, Hays states:
It has been said that the art of vocalists and instrumentalists is ephemeral, that he creates but for the moment. Now neither the artist nor his art will ever wholly die.{{cite thesis |last=Gautreau |first=Justin Richard |title=Fleeting Fictions: Film Technology, Adaptation, and a History of the Hollywood Novel, 1920-1950 |degree=PhD |publisher=University of California, Riverside |publication-place=Riverside, CA, US |date=2015 |url=https://escholarship.org/uc/item/1dh5x6jk |oclc=1241725711}}
References
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External links
- {{youtube |id=FbIWXbLQw4o |Introduction of Vitaphone Sound Pictures}}
- {{IMDb title}}
{{1920s-US-film-stub}}