In this 1923 de Forest Phonofilm, you will see and hear one of the earliest sound-on-film recordings of a live solo piano performance synchronized on film using Lee de Forest and Theodore Case's optical process of recording directly on film.

Pianist, Composer, and iconic showman and national treasure Eubie Blake (bn: James Hubert Blake) (1883-1983), performs 2 versions (takes) of the same song, a Eubie Blake arrangement of his "Fantasy on Swanee River" (aka "Old Folks At Home"), melody written by Stephen Foster in 1851.

This video comes from the Library of Congress and has had noise-reduction added (de-hum, de-click, de-noise), gamma-corrected - and re-engineered (not too intensively) to make a more enjoyable listening experience - NOT ARCHIVAL. As I focused on removing the hum and artifacts, there is another post of this Phonofilm on YT using de-oldify which is interesting as well.

Everybody always thought Al Jolson's Vitaphone 1927 "The Jazz Singer" was the first 'talking picture" (using a synchronized disc process).

That is not true. Lee de Forest and Theodore Case began their experiments in 1918 and continued throughout the 1920s. This would lead to RCA Photophone, Fox Movietone (and the Western Electric process), and other optical film sound systems.

Eubie Blake, originally from Baltimore, MD - would be 39 years old in this performance on film, shot in de Forest's studio in NYC.

As for Phonofilm, on March 12, 1923, de Forest presented a demonstration of Phonofilm to the press. On April 12, 1923, de Forest gave a private demonstration of the process to electrical engineers at the Engineering Society Building's Auditorium at 33 West 39th Street in New York City.

On April 15, 1923, de Forest premiered 18 short films made in Phonofilm — including vaudeville acts, musical performers, opera, and ballet — at the Rivoli Theater at 1620 Broadway in New York City. The Rivoli's music director Hugo Riesenfeld co-hosted the presentation.

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Watch Eubie perform at Carnegie Hall in 1981 his Charleston Rag, composed by Eubie in 1899 in the end screen video link).

#filmhistory #1920s #blackhistory