"This short traces the history of sound in the movies, beginning with French scientist Leon Scott's experiments in 1857. Featured are snippets from early sound pictures."
Art Gilmore
as Narrator (voice)
Sheldon Jett
as Audience Member (uncredited)
Harold Miller
Edwin Tuttle
Giovanni Martinelli
as Canio in 'Pagliacci' (segment 'Vesti la giubba') (archive footage)
George Arliss
as Self (segment 'Disraeli') (archive footage)
John Barrymore
as Self (segments 'Don Juan' & 'Richard III') (archive footage)
Eugenie Besserer
as Self (segment 'The Jazz Singer') (archive footage)
James Cagney
as Self (segment 'Yankee Doodle Dandy') (archive footage)
Jeanne Cagney
Gary Cooper
as Self (segment 'Sergeant York') (archive footage)
Bette Davis
as Self (segment 'Dangerous') (archive footage)
Rosemary DeCamp
Robert Elliott
as Self (segment 'Lights of New York') (archive footage)
Walter Huston
as Jerry Cohan (archive footage)
Josephine Hutchinson
as Self (segment 'The Story of Louis Pasteur') (archive footage)
Al Jolson
Cullen Landis
Joan Leslie
Paul Muni
as Self ('Story of Pasteur' & 'Life of Zola') (archive footage)
Benito Mussolini
as Self (archive footage)
Eugene Pallette
Stanley Ridges
Franchot Tone
David Torrence
Harry M. Warner
Jack L. Warner
Ethel Waters
as Self (segment 'On with the Show!') (archive footage)
Jean Negulesco
Director
James Bloodworth
Writer
Gordon Hollingshead
Producer
Thomas Pratt
Editor
Roland E. Hill Sr.
Art Direction
Howard Jackson
Music
Sidney Hickox
Director of Photography