Sound film
The primary steps in the commercialization of sound cinema were taken in the mid- to late 1920s. At first, the sound films which included synchronized dialogue, known as "talking pictures", or "talkies", were exclusively shorts. The earliest feature-length movies with recorded sound included only music and effects. The first feature film originally presented as a talkie was "The Jazz Singer", released in October 1927. A major hit, it was made with Vitaphone, which was at the time the leading brand of sound-on-disc technology. Sound-on-film, however, would soon become the standard for talking pictures.
King Vidor
Vidor's first sound film was "Hallelujah", a groundbreaking film featuring an African-American cast. He had no difficulty adjusting to sound and he continued making feature films until the late 1950s. Some of his better known sound films include "Stella Dallas", "Our Daily Bread", "The Citadel", "Duel in the Sun", "The Fountainhead", and "War and Peace". He directed the Kansas sequences in "The Wizard of Oz" (including "Over the Rainbow" and the twister) when director Victor Fleming had to replace George Cukor on "Gone with the Wind", but did not receive screen credit.