The Jazz Singer (1927)
Sunday, October 21st, 2007You ain’t heard nothin’ yet.
Economists have a term known as creative destruction. That’s when a new innovation appears on the market and the established order of an industry has the proverbial rug pulled out from under its feet. The introduction of synchronized sound, especially dialog, had that sort of effect on the film industry. Not only were careers ended for performers who couldn’t adapt to the new demands, but silent films already in production were either shelved or reshot with sound. Within a couple of years, silent films had gone from being state of the art to yesterday’s relics. They were the 1920’s equivalent of last year’s iPod.
