Part-Talkies - the transition..
Films from the silent-to-talkie transition period. Between 1927 and 1930, a number of films included portions in the brand new "talking pictures" medium, but due to cost or technical limitations (plus the belief that talkies were just a passing fad!) were still mainly silent..
(Incomplete list)
(Incomplete list)
List activity
743 views
• 0 this weekCreate a new list
List your movie, TV & celebrity picks.
57 titles
- DirectorAlan CroslandStarsAl JolsonMay McAvoyWarner OlandThe son of a Jewish Cantor must defy the traditions of his religious father in order to pursue his dream of becoming a jazz singer.The original..
Most of the first talkies were musicals. - DirectorLloyd BaconStarsAl JolsonBetty BronsonJosephine DunnA singing waiter and composer (Al Jolson) loves two women (Betty Bronson, Josephine Dunn), conquers Broadway and holds his dying son, singing "Sonny Boy."
- DirectorPál FejösStarsBarbara KentGlenn TryonFay HoldernessTwo lonely people in the big city meet and enjoy the thrills of an amusement park, only to lose each other in the crowd after spending a great day together. Will they ever see each other again?
- DirectorAlan CroslandStarsDolores CostelloConrad NagelJohn MiljanThe real-life courtship, marriage, and forced breakup of Jérôme Bonaparte, brother of Napoleon, and his rich wife from the American south, Elizabeth Patterson. Napoleon did not approve of the union and fixes him up with another girl.
- DirectorMichael CurtizDarryl F. ZanuckStarsDolores CostelloGeorge O'BrienNoah BeeryThe Biblical story of Noah and the Great Flood, with a parallel story of soldiers in the First World War.
- DirectorLloyd BaconStarsMay McAvoyLionel BarrymoreAlec B. FrancisJudge Ross, on the Federal Bench, rules in favor of a large company in litigation before him, unaware that a smaller company in which he owns considerable stock has been subsumed by the larger firm, thus creating appearance of a conflict of interests. When one of the Judge's enemies plots to ruin the Judge over this apparent improper behavior, Judge Ross's daughter Shirley sets out to prove her father's innocence.
- DirectorRay EnrightStarsRin Tin TinLeila HyamsJohn MiljanIn his first 'barking talkie", set in the far-North in the silver-fox trapping country, Rin-Tin-Tin plays a much-abused dog who is rescued by a young girl and he, in turn, provides protection for this damsel-in-distress. Rinty also has a wife---Nanette the Dog---and seven puppies in this one.
- DirectorHoward BrethertonStarsMay McAvoyConrad NagelMack SwainWealthy Bob visits his mother's Florida houseboat in order to remove her jewelry and stumbles upon a bobbed-hair bandit and her male accomplice, who mistake him for another burglar. A fight is broken up by the arrival of an elderly couple (still more burglars) who are posing as guests. Bob keeps his identity secret and passes himself off as the butler; the girl and her partner pretend to be the maid and the cook. A couple of idiotic detectives, arrive on the scene, closely followed by a heavy fog that traps them all on board.
- DirectorRoy Del RuthStarsAudrey FerrisWilliam Collier Jr.Tom RickettsA young couple, Ed (Willain Collier Jr.) and May (Audrey Ferris) have to stay married for a year in order to receive a large monetary windfall from a kindly relative. If they don't the money goes to a cousin, Claude de Brie (George Beranger as Andre Beranger). Enter the oily cousin whose only agenda is to separate the couple before the year passes. Cad that he is, he uses femme-fatale, vamp-for-hire Miss Pfeffe (Margaret Livingston) as part of his unsavory plan.
- DirectorGeorge FitzmauriceStarsMilton SillsDorothy MackaillBetty CompsonA carnival barker wants his son to become a lawyer, but his son gets side-tracked into joining the carnival too.
- DirectorHoward HigginStarsPhyllis HaverAlan HaleFred KohlerSailors find a baby in a rowboat and head to shore to find a woman who knows how to care for it.
- DirectorJack ConwayStarsWilliam HainesLionel BarrymoreLeila HyamsJimmy is an expert safe cracker that intends to knock over a small town's leading bank, but he stays there and gets a job instead. As a cashier, he falls in love with the president's daughter. Things go along well in his new life, until the arrival of a detective who's been on his trail, who tries to expose Jimmy as a crook, but can't get anyone to believe him.
- DirectorRobert Z. LeonardStarsNorma ShearerLowell ShermanGwen LeeSeasoned grifter Dolly Crandall returns to the 'badger game' but has a change of heart when she falls in love with a young man she believes is a rich Southerner.Talking sequences now lost
- DirectorArchie MayoStarsIrene RichClyde CookAudrey FerrisWomanizer Leonard Gilbert (Richard Tucker) lures a variety of ladies to his apartment, complete with cocktail shakers, plush pillows and a Japanese manservant as symbols of sophistication. Some come to be seduced and others , such as Myra Martin (Irene Rich) , to prevent her younger sister, Helene Martin (Audrey Ferris), from being seduced.Lost
- DirectorMichael CurtizStarsDolores CostelloConrad NagelMitchell LewisRose Shannon, a dancing girl at "Kelly's" in New York City's "Tenderloin" district, worships at a distance Chuck White, a younger member of the gang that uses the place as their hangout. Chuck's interest in her is only just as another plaything. Rose is unknowingly placed in a position in which she is implicated in a crime about which she knows nothing. The police pick her up, and the gang sends Chuck to take care of her in the event that she might know or disclose something that will implicate the gang.Lost
- DirectorArchie MayoStarsConrad NagelMyrna LoyWilliam RussellFramed for the murder of a policeman, gangster Joe Blake commits suicide. "The Bat," a gang leader, is the real murderer. Joe's twin brother, Ralph, joins the gang to get revenge and clear Joe's name. There he meets the daughter of the murdered policeman, Isobel, posing as "State Street Sadie" to get her own revenge. The two become involved in a net of intrigue culminating in the capture of the gang by police. The Bat, trapped on a roof, leaps to his death while Ralph and Isobel contemplate marriage.Lost
- DirectorLloyd BaconStarsIrene RichAudrey FerrisWilliam Collier Jr.A story of two closely-knit relationships, one of which involves John Harrison (Anders Randolph), the mayor of a city and his renewed friendship with a widow and former sweetheart Irene Mervin Hughes (Irene Rich) and the other with the mayor's son, Steve Harrison (William Collier Jr.) and his romance with Irene's pretty daughter Audrey Hughes (Audrey Ferris.)Lost
- DirectorArchie MayoStarsFanny BriceGuinn 'Big Boy' WilliamsEdna MurphyA mailman, lives a normal everyday life, until one day, something unexpected happens, and everything he knew changes.Lost
- DirectorRay EnrightStarsAudrey FerrisJames MurrayRobert EdesonA pair of elderly Civil War veterans, Judge Holt and his friend Joel Ketchum, spent most of their time reminiscing about their wartime experiences. In the meantime, Holt's granddaughter falls in love with a devil-may-care aviator. The only problem is that Holt hates aviators and will do whatever he can to break up the romance.Lost
- DirectorFrank LloydStarsRichard BarthelmessBetty CompsonWilliam HoldenA gangster is put in prison, but finds salvation through music while serving his time. Again on the outside, he finds success elusive and temptations abound.Very impressive example, the synchronisation back and forth several times between silent and talkie is very slick, no awkward jumps here.. (See "glofau"s review for more detail of why this is so special)
- DirectorCharles BrabinStarsLili DamitaErnest TorrenceRaquel TorresA rope bridge over a gorge in the Peruvian Andes snaps, sending five people plunging to their deaths. A priest sets out to find out more about the life of each of the victims.
- DirectorHarry A. PollardArch HeathStarsLaura La PlanteJoseph SchildkrautEmily FitzroyA mostly silent version of Edna Ferber's original novel, with some songs from the musical as a last-minute addition
- DirectorWilliam WylerStarsLaura La PlanteNeil HamiltonRobert EllisA chorus girl loses her job and thus the room she owes back rent on, and ends up being rescued from the street by a dashing rich man. But his family isn't over-accepting of chorus girls joining their family.
- DirectorHarry PielStarsHarry PielBetty BirdPhilipp ManningTaxi at Midnight is a 1929 silent German thriller.
- DirectorGeorge FitzmauriceStarsMilton SillsDorothy MackaillGladden JamesA cabaret dancer, kills her sugar-daddy and escapes to a South Seas island on the yacht of a wealthy admirer, but is captured by the detective trailing her.