Hollywood Musicals is a delightful book that comes accompanied by a CD. The introduction to the book starts with "In the beginning there was light. Electric light."
In that vein, starting with Edison, the book continues with the technical history of the photography, moving pictures, Kinetograph and the Nickelodeon, ten-minute shorts of Griffith, and the silent films that followed.
Among the first silent films, the book cites Edwin S. Porter's (1903) "Life of an American fireman" and "The Great Train Robbery," Griffith's (1915) "Birth of a Nation" and "Intolerance." Together with the top producer Cecil Blount De Mille, the stars of the silent era are also mentioned: Mary Pickford, Dorothy and Lillian Gish, Charlie Chaplin, Douglas Fairbanks, Greta Garbo, and Rudolph Valentino.
Sound to the movies came through the efforts of four Warner Brothers: Harry, Sam, Albert, and Jack. The Jazz Singer (1927), starring Al Jolson is considered to be the first talking picture, in which Jolson spoke the prophetic words: "Wait a minute...You ain't heard nothin' yet."
Talking pictures or the talkies had their birthing pains. Big stars like Pola Negri, Norma Talmadge, and John Gilbert were snuffed out because their voices did not sound good in the talkies. Yet, some actors like Greta Garbo made a spectacular transition and became etched in the history of the motion pictures.
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