Scottish silent-era film may predate The Jazz Singer as first 'talkie'

For almost a century, The Jazz Singer has been celebrated as the world's first feature-length film to include synchronised dialogue, known as a 'talkie', and English as the first language of cinema. A newly uncovered film could challenge that history.

According to research by historian Marc David Jacobs, a film called Till the Bells Ring, written in Scots and made in Glasgow, premiered a full year before the 1927 Hollywood film that featured spoken words by Al Jolson.

A chance discovery

Jacobs, who describes himself as a self-confessed film enthusiast, came across the story of Till the Bells Ring while researching a book on the first wave of British sound films. The find suggests that synchronised-dialogue filmmaking may have developed in Scotland before it reached Hollywood.

If confirmed, the discovery would represent a significant revision of film history, shifting credit for a milestone long attributed exclusively to American cinema toward an earlier, lesser-known British production.

Further research is expected to examine surviving records and any remaining materials related to Till the Bells Ring to corroborate the timeline and clarify how the film was received at the time of its release.