6 October 1927: Premiere of The Jazz Singer

On this day in 1927, cinema-goers descended on the premiere of The Jazz Singer to see “the world's greatest entertainer” Al Jolson in one of the first “talkies”.

Al Jolson in the Jazz Singer © George Rinhart/Corbis via Getty Images
Jolson captured the public's imagination
(Image credit: © George Rinhart/Corbis via Getty Images)

On this day in 1927, New York movie-goers were treated to the premiere of Warner Brothers' film The Jazz Singer, starring Al Jolson. It is widely accepted as the film that swept the silent movie era aside, and, with Jolson's famous line “Wait a minute! Wait a minute! You ain't heard nothin' yet!”, it ushered in a fantastic new world of “talkies”.

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Ben Judge

Ben studied modern languages at London University's Queen Mary College. After dabbling unhappily in local government finance for a while, he went to work for The Scotsman newspaper in Edinburgh. The launch of the paper's website, scotsman.com, in the early years of the dotcom craze, saw Ben move online to manage the Business and Motors channels before becoming deputy editor with responsibility for all aspects of online production for The Scotsman, Scotland on Sunday and the Edinburgh Evening News websites, along with the papers' Edinburgh Festivals website.

Ben joined MoneyWeek as website editor in 2008, just as the Great Financial Crisis was brewing. He has written extensively for the website and magazine, with a particular emphasis on alternative finance and fintech, including blockchain and bitcoin. 

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