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January 10, 2012

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Larry Ross

I remember reading somewhere, long ago, that the first film with a synchronized recorded soundtrack was a short called "Phonofilm" or something like that. The first feature film with a recorded, synchronized musical soundtrack was "Robin Hood" with John Barrymore, which came out about a year before "The Jazz Singer", which was the first feature film with recorded dialogue.

Kelly Anders

I was referring to the first film that reportedly released a soundtrack for purchase by the public. According to IMDB, that film was "Snow White" (1937). It is listed among the trivia about the film here: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0029583/trivia. But, the beauty of posing such a question on The Faculty Lounge includes the possibility of learning a thing or two from responses such as yours. I checked into "Phonofilm" and found this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phonofilm. So, absent a clearly-stated sale component (which, understanably could be misunderstood by the reference to the soundtrack's "release"), you are correct.

Kelly Anders

I meant "understandably." That'll teach me to post before previewing. ;-)

Jeff Yates

I think that the first film with a soundtrack that was really popular was "The Graduate," but I'm doubting that it was the first one.

Kelly Anders

Yes, that was one of the first, but the film that launched the use of popular music in films was "Blackboard Jungle" (1955), whose theme song was "Rock Around the Clock," by Bill Haley and the Comets.

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