“The Jazz Singer” playing at Warner’s Theatre, 1664 Broadway, New York (1927)
I usually feature vintage photos of Los Angeles and Hollywood but today I’m doing a bit of a cheat, but it’s Hollywood-related so I’m sure you’ll forgive me. It’s a photo of the Warners’ Theatre at 1664 Broadway in New York during the original run of “The Jazz Singer” in 1927. You can by the crowds spilling out on the sidewalk what a sensation the film was. What surprises me is that they only had two sessions a day, at 2.30pm and 8.45pm, with a 3pm matinee on Sundays. Say what??? Warner Bros. had the movie that changed an industry and they only played it twice a day???
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There was probably a limit due to the sound equipment. New technology rarely has all the kinks out. Maybe it had to cool down between showings or something.
I did some research and I think I know why it wasn’t shown more often. “The Jazz Singer” used the Vitaphone process. The sound was not on the film as with other processes. It was on separate records. Each record could only be played 20 times before it wore out and had to be replaced. Each print of the film was accompanied by a limited number of sound records so they had to be conservative with the number of times they showed the film.
It was an early “roadshow” type of engagement, marketed with reserved seats like a live stage presentation, hence two performances daily, a matinee and an evening performance.
I didn’t know that, Steve. Thanks for letting us know!
Please help.
This picture is very famous on the internet today.
However can any body tell me a publication (magazine) that used this image between the opening night in 1927 and 1956 ?
It’s driving me mad – there must have been lots.
I can’t find a single one.
Can you help ?
kind regards
Ralph