“…you ain’t heard nothin’ yet.” – Al Jolson, October 6, 1927

Today marks the 83rd anniversary of perhaps the most significant development in the history of motion pictures–the introduction of spoken words.  They came from actor and singer Al Jolson, a huge star of stage, who was playing the lead role of a cantor’s son named Jack Robin (formerly Jackie Rabinowitz) in the 1927 film “The Jazz Singer.”

British historian Michael Freedland, author of Jolson, noted the cultural spark provided by Jolson’s words in an article published three years ago in The Independent.  He begins the piece:

Hollywood lives by its clichés, and there had been catalytic events there before, all of which had been called revolutionary. But what happened at the Warner Theatre on Broadway, on 6 October 1927, really was a revolution.

One sentence uttered on screen that night [83] years ago changed the movie industry as it had never been changed before – and perhaps would never be altered quite so excitingly again. Colour, widescreen, and television all made huge impacts on the movie industry. But The Jazz Singer was altogether different. Al Jolson calling to the orchestra, “Wait a minute, wait a minute I tell yer, you ain’t heard nothin’ yet” not only marked the arrival of what from that moment on became known as the talkies, it instantly – and I do mean instantly – killed off the silent cinema.

Read Freedland’s entire article on Jolson’s historically-quotable moment here.

Listen to Jolson sing “You Ain’t Heard Nothing Yet” from his breakthrough success, the 1918-19 Broadway musical “Sinbad,” here.

Watch Jolson perform “Toot, Toot, Tootsie” right after speaking his ground-breaking quote from the movie “The Jazz Singer” here.  Then try to get that tune out of your head for the rest of the day.