The Silent Films Era The term silent film is a retronym—a term created to retroactively distinguish something from later developments. Early sound films, starting with The Jazz Singer in 1927, were variously referred to as the "talkies", "sound films", or "talking pictures". The idea of combining motion pictures with recorded sound is older than film (it was suggested almost immediately after Edison introduced the phonograph in 1877), and some early experiments had the projectionist manually adj

1.9K views · 25 reactions | In this sketch, Redd Foxx's History of the Negro, Redd takes us back to the early days of movie history when the films were black and white and silent. The short-lived career of the first Black silent film actor plays out. Hal Smith, also stars. Love this clip? Subscribe to Clown Jewels on YouTube for more classic comedy here: https://bit.ly/ClownJewels_YTSub_FB #reddfoxx #halsmith #parody #sketch #70s #comedy | Clown Jewels | Facebook